Lead/Expert Software Java Engineer (LatAm)

Upstaff LTD; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Upstaff LTD seeks a Lead/Expert Software Engineer (Java) to drive technical architecture and engineering excellence for a real estate technology platform serving corporate clients in the United States.

The role combines deep Java expertise with architectural ownership, cross-team leadership, and responsibility for building scalable, secure software in a global cloud environment.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in Java software engineering for lead/expert level.
• Strong background in architecture and enterprise app design.
• Experience guiding architectural decisions across multiple teams.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve application and platform architecture, including service boundaries and API standards.
• Lead architecture reviews and guide decisions for maintainability, scalability, and performance.
• Promote engineering best practices: design, testing, CI/CD, and production readiness.
• Lead modernization initiatives, refactoring, performance optimization, and data migrations.
• Mentor engineers, drive cross-team collaboration, and improve documentation and processes.

Skills

Java/J2EE

Architecture

Cloud platforms

React/Vue.js

SQL/Databases

Security & compliance

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Master's degree preferred

Job description

• Location: Latin America (Mexico, Argentina, Brazil)
• 10+ years in software engineering with 5+ years as Staff/Principal engineer in B2B SaaS startups, specializing in Java/J2EE, Oracle, Postgres, AWS, GCP, Azure, React, and Vue.js.
• Directed multi-region global cloud deployments and FedRAMP/government cloud certification readiness.
• Skilled in modernization of legacy Java/J2EE systems and driving cross-team execution.
• Expert in service boundaries, integration patterns, API standards, and shared services design.
• Mentored engineers and technical leads, established best practices in secure coding, CI/CD, and production readiness.

Role Overview

We are looking for a Lead/Expert Software Engineer (Java) to drive technical architecture and engineering excellence for a real estate technology platform serving corporate clients in the United States.

The platform supports enterprise real estate operations, including site selection, lease administration, property maintenance, ESG reporting, and workspace optimization. The role combines deep Java expertise with architectural ownership, cross-team technical leadership, and responsibility for building scalable, secure, and maintainable software in a global cloud environment.

The engineer will guide architectural decisions, lead complex modernization initiatives, improve engineering standards, and collaborate with development, security, and compliance teams. The role also involves supporting high-impact production issues, mentoring engineers, and contributing to the platform's long-term technical direction.

Responsibilities

Architecture & Technical Strategy

• Own and evolve application and platform architecture, including service boundaries, integration patterns, data modeling, and API standards.
• Lead architecture reviews and guide technical decisions that balance immediate delivery needs with long-term maintainability, scalability, and performance.
• Identify opportunities to simplify systems, improve modularity, and develop reusable services and components across teams.
• Evaluate new technologies through targeted experiments, assess outcomes, and guide adoption where they provide clear value.

Engineering Excellence & Modernization

• Establish and promote engineering best practices for software design, testing, secure coding, CI/CD, and production readiness.
• Develop reference implementations, reusable templates, and technical guidelines to improve consistency and code quality.
• Lead or support complex modernization initiatives, major refactoring, performance optimization, data migrations, and distributed systems improvements.
• Help resolve high-severity production issues and translate lessons learned into better engineering practices and preventive measures.

Cloud Architecture & Compliance

• Guide architecture for global cloud deployments, considering multi-region availability, disaster recovery, resilience, and operational reliability.
• Work with Security and Compliance teams to support FedRAMP and government cloud compliance readiness.
• Contribute to technical control implementation plans and ensure that security and compliance requirements are reflected in architectural decisions.

Collaboration & Technical Leadership

• Collaborate across engineering teams to resolve complex technical challenges and align stakeholders on architectural trade-offs.
• Mentor engineers and coach technical leads on system design, execution, and technical decision-making.
• Facilitate knowledge sharing through architecture discussions, technical presentations, design workshops, and post-incident reviews.
• Promote continuous improvement in engineering quality, documentation, and cross-team collaboration.

Technologies & Tools

• Backend: Java, J2EE
• Databases: Oracle, PostgreSQL
• Cloud Platforms: AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Microsoft Azure
• Frontend: React, Vue.js
• Architecture: Distributed systems, API design, service-oriented architecture, system modernization
• DevOps & Quality: CI/CD, automated testing, secure coding, production readiness
• Cloud Security & Compliance: FedRAMP, government cloud environments, disaster recovery, multi-region architecture

Requirements

• Extensive experience in Java software engineering, with expertise appropriate for a Lead or Expert-level role.
• Strong background in software architecture and the design of complex enterprise applications.
• Experience leading architectural decisions and driving technical improvements across multiple teams.
• Experience with system modernization, refactoring, performance optimization, and distributed systems.
• Familiarity with relational databases such as Oracle and PostgreSQL.
• Experience with major cloud platforms, particularly AWS, GCP, or Azure.
• Understanding of scalable, highly available, and resilient cloud architectures.
• Experience establishing engineering standards, CI/CD practices, testing strategies, and secure coding practices.
• Ability to collaborate with security and compliance stakeholders in regulated environments.
• Strong communication, technical leadership, and mentoring skills.

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field.
• Master's degree preferred.