Lead Application Developer – Java

ZealHire Inc.; Philadelphia, Northern (Philadelphia County, KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

ZealHire Inc. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States is seeking a Lead Application Developer – Java to provide technical direction and hands-on coding leadership across enterprise initiatives.

This role balances architectural guidance with hands-on development, partnering with business stakeholders, product teams, and technology leadership to deliver scalable solutions. Strong Java/Spring Boot and communication skills are essential.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of application development experience with senior/lead responsibilities.
• Strong Java and Spring Boot hands-on development background.
• Experience designing, building, and supporting enterprise APIs and integrations.
• Ability to guide developers and provide technical mentorship.
• Excellent ability to translate business requirements into technical solutions and communicate with stakeholders.
• Familiarity with RESTful APIs, SQL, and modern architecture practices.
• Experience with source control, automated testing, and CI/CD processes.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and day-to-day direction to application development teams.
• Guide design, development approaches, troubleshooting, and implementation.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders to translate objectives into tech solutions.
• Communicate risks, dependencies, and recommendations clearly to all audiences.
• Lead architecture reviews and solution planning sessions.
• Remain hands-on with development ~25–30% of the time.
• Develop and support backend services using Java/Spring Boot and RESTful APIs.
• Mentor developers and promote modern software engineering practices.
• Drive delivery of application initiatives from design to production support.

Skills

Java

Spring Boot

REST APIs

Mentorship

Technical leadership

Communication

CI/CD

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

GCP

Job description

ZealHire. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Contract Deadline: Nov 1, 2026

USC/GC- W2 Need LinkedIn, VISA DL3 days on-site, 2 days remote! 12 month contract that could extend or convert to FT

Lead Application Developer – Java

Local

Summary

The Lead Application Developer is a senior technical resource responsible for providing technical direction and leadership across enterprise application development initiatives while remaining actively involved in hands-on development.

This role serves as a key connection point between application development teams, business stakeholders, architects, product teams, and technology leadership. The Lead Application Developer will help guide technical solutions, provide direction and mentorship to developers, and ensure technology initiatives align with both business objectives and established architecture and development standards.

The ideal candidate combines a strong Java application development background with demonstrated technical leadership and excellent business-facing communication skills. This individual should be someone development teams naturally look to for technical guidance while also being comfortable representing technology in conversations with business stakeholders and leadership.

Approximately 25–30% of the role will remain hands-on with development, with the balance focused on technical leadership, solution direction, mentoring, stakeholder collaboration, and successful delivery of application initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and day-to-day direction to application development teams.
• Serve as a trusted technical resource for developers, helping guide solution design, development approaches, troubleshooting, and implementation.
• Partner directly with business stakeholders to understand business objectives and translate them into practical technology solutions.
• Communicate technical concepts, risks, dependencies, and recommendations clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Lead and participate in application architecture, technical design reviews, and solution planning sessions.
• Remain hands-on with application development approximately 25–30% of the time.
• Develop and support backend services using Java and Spring Boot, including RESTful APIs and enterprise integrations.
• Provide code reviews and technical oversight to ensure solutions adhere to established development, architecture, security, and quality standards.
• Mentor developers and promote modern software engineering practices across the team.
• Help drive application initiatives through design, development, testing, implementation, and production support.
• Collaborate closely with architects, product teams, business analysts, DevOps, and other technology teams.
• Identify technical challenges, dependencies, and risks and proactively recommend solutions.
• Balance business priorities, delivery timelines, and technical considerations when providing direction to development teams.
• Support scalable web applications, APIs, integrations, and cloud-based solutions.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of development practices, including the appropriate use of AI-assisted software development tools.
• Participate in Agile planning, estimation, backlog refinement, and other delivery activities.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of application development experience, including experience operating in a senior developer or technical lead capacity.
• Strong hands-on development experience with Java and Spring Boot.
• Experience designing, developing, and supporting enterprise applications, APIs, and integration services.
• Demonstrated experience providing technical direction, mentorship, or leadership to other developers.
• Ability to evaluate technical approaches and guide development teams toward scalable, maintainable solutions.
• Experience working directly with business stakeholders and translating business requirements into technical solutions.
• Strong verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively across both technical and business audiences.
• Experience with RESTful APIs, relational databases, and SQL.
• Understanding of modern application architecture and software engineering practices.
• Experience with source control, automated testing, and CI/CD processes.
• Strong troubleshooting, critical-thinking, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to balance hands-on technical responsibilities with broader leadership and stakeholder responsibilities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) or similar cloud environments.
• Experience with React and/or Angular.
• Experience with cloud-native applications and microservices architectures.
• Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, API gateways, event-driven architectures, or enterprise integrations.
• Experience supporting financial, billing, payment, or transaction-based applications.
• Experience within healthcare, insurance, financial services, or another regulated industry.
• Experience working within Agile software development environments.
• Familiarity with application security and secure coding practices.
• Experience utilizing AI-powered software development tools such as GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, or similar technologies.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a strong developer who has naturally progressed into a technical leadership role and has become someone other developers look to for guidance and direction.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States 19160

Salary Range:

$000,000 – $000,000 Salary range is not shown on the candidate portal