Java Kafka Developer (Hybrid)

Alluvial Concepts; Ashburn (VA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology firm in Virginia is seeking a Full-Time Java Kafka Developer to join their Agile Scrum team. The ideal candidate will focus on backend development within an event-driven, microservices architecture, utilizing Kafka and Spring Boot. Responsibilities include designing and implementing software solutions and collaborating with the team to deliver high-quality products. Candidates should have at least 7 years of software development experience and a degree in a relevant field. This is a hybrid role requiring U.S. citizenship and local residency.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional software development experience.
• 5+ years of Java backend development.
• 3+ years of hands-on Spring Boot experience.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and implement custom software and database applications.
• Build and support event-driven, distributed systems using Kafka.
• Participate in sprint planning and backlog refinement.

Skills

Apache Kafka

Java backend development

Spring Boot

Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)

Containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)

CI/CD practices

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field

Tools

PostgreSQL

SQL Server

Oracle

Job description

Java Kafka Developer – Full-Time (Hybrid – 1 to 2 days onsite / 3 to 4 days remote, Ashburn, VA). Must be a U.S. Citizen and currently reside in the Metro Washington, D.C. area. We have an immediate opening for a Java Kafka Developer to join an Agile Scrum team supporting a federal program. This role focuses on backend development within an event-driven, microservices architecture, delivering releasable software in short sprint cycles.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and implement custom software and database applications across legacy and modernized systems
• Build and support event-driven, distributed systems using Kafka-based architectures
• Collaborate within Agile Scrum teams to deliver high-quality software in short sprint cycles
• Participate in sprint planning, backlog refinement, testing, demos, retrospectives, and releases
• Analyze complex technical challenges and develop scalable, innovative solutions
• Ensure product quality, timeliness, and performance standards
• Contribute to engineering standards and architectural best practices
• Mentor junior developers and support team growth

Required Qualifications

• U.S. Citizen able to pass a CBP background investigation:
  • 3-year felony conviction check
  • 1-year illegal drug use check
  • 1-year misconduct check (e.g., theft or fraud)
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• 7+ years of professional software development experience
• 5+ years of Java backend development
• 3+ years of hands‑on Spring Boot experience

Technical Expertise

• Deep expertise in Apache Kafka:
  • Producer & Consumer APIs
  • Kafka Streams
  • Topics, partitions, consumer groups, offsets
  • Schema Registry (schema evolution & governance)
• Strong experience implementing Kafka with Spring Framework
• Event-driven architecture and microservices design patterns
• Relational databases (PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle)
• ORM frameworks (Spring Data JPA, Hibernate)
• Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
• Containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
• CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and debugging skills
• Excellent communication and collaboration abilities

Desired / Nice to Have

• Experience with Confluent Kafka
• NoSQL databases (MongoDB, Cassandra) or in-memory data stores (Redis)
• Data governance and data quality principles in event-driven systems
• Advanced DevOps / CI/CD automation experience