Principal Backend Development Engineer (Contract Role)

QUESS SINGAPORE; Singapore; On-site; SGD 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

QUESS SINGAPORE is seeking an accomplished Senior Backend Architect to own the architecture, design and delivery of enterprise backend services primarily in Java. You will drive modular microservice models, ensure high concurrency and reliability, and lead technical decisions that shape scalable, maintainable systems.

You will mentor engineers, collaborate with product, QA and infra teams, and promote best practices in automated testing, CI/CD and tooling usage across the squad.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology or closely related discipline.
• At least 10 years of professional software development experience with substantial backend engineering.
• Strong practical Java development experience and track record of enterprise-scale backend apps.
• Experience with microservice architecture, service integration, API design and distributed systems.
• Experience designing or operating systems with high concurrency, throughput, availability and reliability.
• Strong understanding of software architecture, performance, data integrity and maintainable design.
• Experience leading technical design decisions, code/design reviews and ownership of complex deliverables.
• Practical experience with automated testing and software delivery, including Docker, Jenkins and CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience diagnosing production issues, managing releases and improving live systems.

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture, design, development, testing and ongoing improvement of core backend services using Java.
• Design and evolve modular microservice architectures and interfaces for scalability and reliability.
• Engineer high-concurrency, high-availability backend systems and resolve performance bottlenecks.
• Design robust business workflows with data integrity, traceability and recoverability.
• Set technical direction via architecture reviews, design discussions and coding standards.
• Lead complex production investigations, root-cause analysis and preventive improvements.
• Strengthen software delivery with automated testing, CI/CD and deployment controls.
• Collaborate with product, QA, infra and others to translate requirements into maintainable solutions.
• Coach and mentor engineers, promote sound engineering practices across the team.
• Evaluate and adopt engineering tools, including AI-assisted development, when beneficial.

Skills

Java backend

Microservices

API design

Distributed systems

Concurrency

Performance tuning

CI/CD

Docker

Jenkins

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology

Tools

Docker

Jenkins

CI/CD Pipelines

Job description

Key responsibilities

• Own the architecture, design, development, testing and ongoing improvement of core backend services and enterprise applications, primarily using Java.
• Design and evolve modular microservice architectures and service interfaces that support scalability, maintainability and reliable integration.
• Engineer high-concurrency, high-availability backend systems, identifying and resolving performance bottlenecks across application and service layers.
• Design robust business workflows and data-processing components, with careful attention to data integrity, consistency, traceability and recovery.
• Set technical direction through architecture reviews, design discussions, code reviews and clear engineering standards.
• Lead complex production investigations, coordinate root-cause analysis and implement preventive improvements to system stability and operational reliability.
• Strengthen software delivery practices through automated testing, continuous integration and deployment, release controls and development tooling.
• Work closely with product, QA, infrastructure and other engineering stakeholders to translate requirements into maintainable technical solutions.
• Coach and mentor engineers, support technical capability development and promote sound engineering practices across the team.
• Evaluate and responsibly adopt engineering tools, including AI-assisted development tools, where they improve implementation, debugging, test validation and technical documentation.

Essential requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology or a closely related discipline.
• At least 10 years of professional software development experience, including substantial hands-on backend engineering experience.
• Strong, practical Java development experience and a track record of designing, building and maintaining enterprise-scale backend applications.
• Demonstrated experience with microservice architecture, service integration, API design and distributed application principles.
• Experience designing or operating systems with demanding concurrency, throughput, availability, scalability and reliability requirements.
• Strong understanding of software architecture, application performance, data integrity, fault handling and maintainable system design.
• Experience leading technical design decisions, conducting code and design reviews, and taking ownership of complex engineering deliverables.
• Practical experience with automated testing and software delivery practices, including Docker, Jenkins and CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience diagnosing production issues, managing releases and improving the stability and quality of live systems.
• Ability to communicate technical trade-offs clearly and collaborate effectively across engineering and business functions.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers and raise the technical standards of a development team.

Advantageous experience

• Experience integrating AI-assisted development tools into established engineering workflows, with appropriate human review, testing and quality controls.
• Experience designing enterprise workflows involving complex business rules, reconciliation, data migration or high-volume order and inventory processing.
• Experience establishing engineering standards, improving development productivity or leading cross-functional technical initiatives.