Backend Java Developer

Photon; Jersey City (NJ); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Photon is seeking an experienced Backend Developer to design, build, and maintain scalable backend services in a modern tech stack. You will design robust RESTful APIs and microservices, optimize data models, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver high-performance solutions.

The role emphasizes architecture participation, secure authentication, DevOps collaboration, and mentoring junior developers to drive quality and reliability across systems.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of hands-on experience in backend design, development, and maintenance.
• Experience with REST APIs and microservices architecture.
• Strong knowledge of databases, cloud platforms, and DevOps practices.
• Familiarity with security, authentication, and data protection features.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable backend applications.
• Develop and integrate RESTful APIs and microservices.
• Participate in architecture and technical design discussions.
• Design and optimize database schemas, queries, indexes, and data models.
• Identify and resolve performance, scalability, and reliability issues.
• Implement secure authentication, authorization, and data protection mechanisms.
• Write clean, reusable, maintainable, and well-tested code.
• Develop unit, integration, and automated tests.
• Conduct code reviews and ensure adherence to coding standards.
• Troubleshoot production issues and perform root-cause analysis.
• Work with DevOps teams on CI/CD, deployment, monitoring, and release management.
• Collaborate with frontend developers, QA engineers, DevOps, product managers, and business teams.
• Contribute to technical documentation and knowledge-sharing initiatives.
• Mentor junior developers and provide guidance where required.

Skills

Node.js / Express

C# / .NET

Go

REST APIs & microservices

OAuth2 / JWT

SQL databases

NoSQL databases

AWS

Docker

Kubernetes

Git

Agile / Scrum

Unit testing

Job description

We are looking for an experienced Backend Developer with 5+ years of hands-on experience in designing, developing, and maintaining scalable backend applications and services. The candidate should have strong expertise in backend development, API design, databases, microservices, cloud technologies, and software engineering best practices.

The ideal candidate will be responsible for developing robust backend solutions, contributing to system architecture and design, optimizing application performance, and working closely with cross-functional teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable and high-performance backend applications.
• Develop and integrate RESTful APIs and microservices.
• Participate in architecture and technical design discussions.
• Design and optimize database schemas, queries, indexes, and data models.
• Identify and resolve performance, scalability, and reliability issues.
• Implement secure authentication, authorization, and data protection mechanisms.
• Write clean, reusable, maintainable, and well-tested code.
• Develop unit, integration, and automated tests.
• Conduct code reviews and ensure adherence to coding standards and best practices.
• Troubleshoot production issues and perform root-cause analysis.
• Work with DevOps teams on CI/CD, deployment, monitoring, and release management.
• Collaborate with frontend developers, QA engineers, DevOps, product managers, and business teams.
• Contribute to technical documentation and knowledge-sharing initiatives.
• Mentor junior developers and provide technical guidance where required.

Required Technical Skills Backend Development

• Strong hands-on experience with at least one backend technology:
• Node.js / Express
• C# / .NET
• Go
• Strong understanding of OOP, design patterns, data structures, and algorithms.
• Strong experience designing and developing REST APIs and microservices.
• Good understanding of API security, authentication, authorization, OAuth2, and JWT.

Database

• Strong experience with relational databases such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, or SQL Server.
• Experience with query optimization, indexing, transactions, and database design.
• Working knowledge of NoSQL databases such as MongoDB, DynamoDB, or Redis.
• Hands-on experience with at least one cloud platform:
• AWS
• Experience with Docker and CI/CD pipelines.
• Knowledge of Kubernetes is preferred.
• Familiarity with logging, monitoring, and application performance management tools.

Messaging & Distributed Systems

• Experience with messaging/event-driven technologies such as Kafka, RabbitMQ, AWS SQS/SNS, or Azure Service Bus.
• Understanding of distributed systems, asynchronous processing, caching, scalability, and fault tolerance.

Development Practices

• Strong experience with Git and version control.
• Experience with Agile/Scrum development methodologies.
• Strong understanding of unit testing, integration testing, debugging, and code quality practices.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience designing and implementing large-scale or high-volume applications.
• Experience with microservices architecture and distributed systems.
• Knowledge of system design and scalability principles.
• Experience with performance tuning and production optimization.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.