Java Tech Lead – Vice President

Citi; Irving (TX); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Job summary

Citi seeks an experienced Java Tech Lead (Vice President level) to drive architectural strategy and hands-on delivery across large scale digital initiatives. You will lead design reviews, shape engineering standards, and empower cross-functional teams to build resilient, scalable Citi digital products and services.

This high-ownership role requires deep Java expertise, strong architectural judgment, and the ability to influence technology direction across the organization.

Qualifications

• 6–10 years of software engineering experience with senior/lead focus.
• Deep expertise in Java and Spring Boot; hands-on microservices.
• Experience designing distributed systems for scalability.
• Hands-on with cloud platforms (AWS, PCF) and content delivery (Akamai).
• Experience automating code quality, performance testing, and CI/CD.

Responsibilities

• Drive architectural strategy and hands-on delivery for large-scale initiatives.
• Lead design reviews and set engineering standards across teams.
• Mentor SDEs and cross-functional teams; influence technology direction.
• Collaborate with TPMs/engineering managers to identify risks and dependencies.
• Publish design patterns and contribute to NGA and POR projects.
• Support preplanning and align with CTO guidelines and platform.

Skills

Java

Spring Boot

Microservices

Cloud AWS

PCF

Akamai

CI/CD

Algorithms & data structures

Education

Bachelor's degree in a technical field

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Angular

React

Job description

Citi is looking for an experienced Java Tech Lead to join its Digital engineering organization, where you will drive architectural strategy and hands‑on technical delivery across large‑scale, Next Generation platform initiatives. In this Vice President‑level role, you will serve as a recognized technical authority leading design reviews, shaping engineering standards, and enabling high‑performing engineering teams to build resilient, scalable solutions that directly impact Citi's digital products and services. This is a high‑ownership role for a senior Java Tech Lead who combines deep Java expertise with the ability to influence technology direction across cross‑functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Accountable for executing and driving results on large‑scale efforts or multiple smaller efforts and serving as a development lead for most medium and large projects. This includes expertise with application development methodologies and standards for program analysis, design, coding, testing, debugging and implementation.
• Accountable for exhibiting a strong understanding of client core business functions.
• Required to support situations in which end user consultation is required to identify system function specifications and incorporate them into overall system design and delivery. Additionally, utilize comprehensive knowledge of multiple areas within technology to achieve technological objectives.
• Independent work style, requiring little or no guidance by more senior developers. Decisions will make a significant, measurable impact on the business goals for the client organization. During team discussions you will play a significant role with TPMs and engineering managers to determine potential risks to a schedule.
• Assist in the planning and managing of application development assignments generally involving large budgets, cross functional projects or multiple projects. This includes effectively understanding and analyzing both technical and business risks and impact.
• Expected to effectively communicate those risks to the business owners, so that they can make informed decisions.
• Accountable for providing guidance on architecturally significant efforts during the preplanning phase, and ensuring principles and best practices are followed prior to initiation of work. In doing so, closely watch and evaluate Digital roadmaps, including impacts to support upcoming journeys.
• Publish design review extensions, and provide documented guidance aligned to sprint plans and timelines.
• Be part of the design review board that will focus on the design process, search for generic patterns, and, at the same time, share best practices across the organization.
• Publish design patterns across lines of business and domain commonalities. Drive design reviews for Next Gen Architecture (NGA) and Plan of Record (POR) projects, supporting design principles and best practices.
• Participate in micro services and NGA code reviews.
• Empower SDEs and their teams by mentoring and coaching.
• Have a comprehensive understanding of the business domain, the systems, and the products in your space. Understand their accountabilities, boundaries, limitations, scale factors and the reasons behind architectural decisions.
• Provide a long‑term perspective for business and technology choices; using technical judgment to vet architecture as required.
• Able to direct teams on how to develop and deliver systems that are efficient with resource usage such as hardware, runtime, performance, load, and memory requirements.
• Responsible for broader design decisions and development of long‑term strategies that significantly influence the development process and standards.
• Accountable for Design Reviews of Agile and Plan of Record (POR) projects as well as accountable for Code Reviews of Next Gen Architecture (NGA) projects and are expected to elaborate, promote and communicate Design Patterns applicable to NGA architectures and solutions.
• Accountable for providing architectural guidance to the SDE’s based on best practices and in alignment with CTO guidelines and platform.
• Drive clarity and work with complete independence as business and or technical strategy is not defined.
• Provide the corresponding architectural guidance, and conduct design reviews and code reviews based on the projects assigned to your LOB. The product definition and technical planning is out of scope.
• Accountable for the overall strategy and for driving the teams inside and outside of your organization to deliver expected results. Drive mindful discussion with business and technical stakeholders that lead to timely decisions. Participate in discussions to drive smart trade‑off decisions that balance efforts, delivery timelines, features, and technical constraints. Identify and remove blockers and always find the path forward in challenging situations.
• Create plans that have a clear path to delivery. Solve for dependencies between agile and waterfall delivery efforts. Help your teams organize for delivery while maximizing resources for the greater good of the Digital organization. Understand engineering best practices and apply best practices to the software development lifecycle (SDLC)
• Accountable for Design Reviews for Citi Agile and POR projects as well as Code Reviews for the NGA projects. Accountable for providing architectural guidance to the SDE’s based on best practices and in alignment with CTO guidelines and platform. Elaborate, promote and communicate Design Patterns applicable to NGA architectures and solutions.
• Elaborate, bring and communicate clear metrics on Design Reviews, Code Reviews, CI/CD and Design Patterns adoption.
• Communicate progress, anticipate bottlenecks, provide escalation management, identify, assess, track and mitigate issues/risks at multiple levels. Recognize discordant views and take part in constructive dialog to resolve them.
• Demonstrate the ability to implement continuous improvement and the induction of new technology. Demonstrate examples of influence in scrum teams beyond your own area of focus.
• Appropriately assess risk when business decisions are made, demonstrating particular consideration for the firm's reputation and safeguarding Citigroup, its clients and assets, by driving compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, adhering to Policy, applying sound ethical judgment regarding personal behavior, conduct and business practices, and escalating, managing and reporting control issues with transparency.

Required Qualifications & Skills

• 6–10 years of software engineering experience, with a focus on application development or enterprise architecture at a senior or lead level.
• Deep expertise in Java and Spring Boot, with hands‑on experience building and delivering production‑grade microservices architectures.
• Proven ability to design distributed systems with a strong grasp of algorithms, data structures, networking, and system scalability.
• Hands‑on experience with cloud platforms, including AWS and PCF (Pivotal Cloud Foundry), and content delivery technologies such as Akamai.
• Demonstrated ability to automate code quality, performance testing, and build processes within CI/CD pipelines.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in a relevant technical discipline.

Beneficial Skills & Qualifications

• Experience with front‑end technologies such as Angular or React, enabling effective collaboration with full‑stack engineering teams.
• Exposure to Artificial Intelligence concepts and their practical application within software engineering contexts.
• Master's degree in a relevant technical discipline.

Education

• Bachelor's/University degree or equivalent experience, Master's degree preferred.

What We Offer

• Hybrid working model with 3 days in the office and 2 days working remotely, supporting flexibility and effective team collaboration.
• Strategic technical leadership at Vice President level, with the authority to shape architectural direction across Citi's