Principal Java Engineer - Hybrid (South Belfast)

Ocho People; Belfast; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

A global security company in Belfast is looking for a Principal Java Engineer to lead complex distributed systems and mentor engineering teams. This hybrid role offers a salary between £90k-£95k, emphasizing collaborative culture and strong career growth. Ideal candidates will have extensive experience in Java and cloud-native technologies, with a focus on architectural direction and performance optimization.

Benefits

Salary £90k-£95k

Hybrid working

Career progression opportunities

Qualifications

• Extensive commercial experience as a Principal / Lead Java Engineer.
• Expertise with modern distributed systems design.
• Background in mentoring and leading engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• Leading the design and delivery of large-scale, cloud-native systems.
• Defining technical architecture and influencing engineering strategy.
• Mentoring engineers and raising the technical bar across the team.

Skills

Java 17+

Spring Boot

Kubernetes (EKS)

Microservice architecture

CI/CD

Job description

Overview

Principal Java Engineer - Hybrid (South Belfast) | £90k-£95k

Join a leading global security company building scalable, resilient platforms used by enterprise clients worldwide. We're expanding our Belfast engineering hub and seeking a Principal Java Engineer to take ownership of complex distributed systems, drive architectural direction, and mentor high-performing teams.

This is a hybrid role based in South Belfast, with two days per week onsite, offering the chance to be part of a collaborative engineering culture while retaining flexibility.

What you'll be doing

• Leading the design and delivery of large-scale, cloud-native systems using Java and Spring Boot
• Defining technical architecture and influencing long-term engineering strategy
• Building and optimising high-performance microservices deployed on Kubernetes (EKS)
• Designing and implementing CI/CD pipelines, deployment automation, and observability practices
• Mentoring engineers, shaping hiring decisions, and raising the technical bar across the team
• Collaborating closely with product and InfoSec teams to deliver secure, customer-focused solutions

What we're looking for

• Extensive commercial experience as a Principal / Lead Java Engineer
• Expertise with Java 17+ (ideally Java 21), Spring Boot, and modern distributed systems design
• Strong track record delivering microservice architectures on Kubernetes and AWS
• Hands-on experience with CI/CD, automation, monitoring, and cost-optimisation at scale
• Background in mentoring and leading engineering teams within agile environments
• Previous exposure to security, fintech, or other high-throughput systems a plus

What's on offer

• Salary £90k-£95k depending on experience
• Hybrid working with 2 days onsite in South Belfast
• Opportunity to shape technical direction in a high-impact security platform
• Collaborative engineering culture with strong career progression pathways

Apply here or reach out to Aaron Somers at Ocho for more information via LinkedIn.