Lead Java Backend Engineer

Robotic Technologies Automation; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 89,000 - 126,000; Full time

Job summary

Robotic Technologies Automation seeks a hands-on Lead Java Backend Engineer to design, develop, and scale enterprise APIs and microservices on an AWS-hosted platform. You will lead a team of about 12–13 engineers, drive architecture decisions, review designs, and mentor peers while continuing hands-on Java/Spring Boot work.

The ideal candidate has 10+ years of software engineering experience with Java/Spring Boot, RESTful APIs, and strong AWS experience.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including hands-on Java backend development.
• Strong Java 17+ (21 preferred) and Spring Boot experience.
• Extensive API design and RESTful API development experience.
• Significant AWS/cloud experience with production deployments.
• Proven technical leadership in architecture reviews, design decisions, and mentoring.
• Experience with API management tools such as Apigee/OpenAPI/Gateway.
• Experience with automated testing, CI/CD pipelines, and end-to-end delivery.
• Hands-on backend coding alongside leadership responsibilities.
• Good to have knowledge of streaming/events (Kafka) and security patterns.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture decisions and code reviews while guiding a team of engineers.
• Design, develop, and scale enterprise APIs and microservices on AWS-hosted platform.
• Mentor developers and own critical delivery milestones.
• Maintain hands-on development and ensure robust testing and deployment pipelines.

Skills

Java backend

Spring Boot

REST APIs

AWS cloud

Tech leadership

API design

CI/CD

Testing (JUnit)

Microservices

Hands-on coding

Tools

Apigee/API Gateway

OpenAPI/Swagger

Kafka

PostgreSQL

MongoDB

DynamoDB

Jenkins

Azure DevOps

GoCD

Redis

Elasticsearch

Job description

US Citizen, Green Card, H-1B, OPT-EAD, CPT, Other

Job Title: Lead Java Backend Engineer
Location: Chicago, IL(Remote)
Duration: 24 Months + Extension
Bill Rate: $78/hour (C2C)
Job Type: W-2, 1099, C2C
Client: To Be Discussed Later
Work Authorization: US Citizen, Green Card, OPT-EAD, CPT, H-4-EAD, Other

Job Description

Looking for a hands-on Lead Java Backend Engineer to help design, develop, and scale enterprise-level APIs and microservices supporting its AWS-hosted digital platform.
This is a technical leadership role on a team of approximately 12–13 engineers. The ideal candidate can drive architecture and design decisions, guide other developers, and take ownership of complex initiatives while remaining actively involved in hands-on backend development.
This is NOT a pure architect or people management role. Candidates must still be hands-on with Java/Spring Boot development.

Must-Have Requirements

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including extensive hands-on Java backend development.
• Java 17+ (Java 21 preferred) and strong Spring Boot experience.
• Extensive experience designing and developing RESTful APIs and microservices.
• Strong AWS/cloud experience, including deploying and supporting production applications.
• Proven technical leadership experience involving architecture decisions, design reviews, code reviews, and mentoring engineers.
• Strong API design and integration experience; Apigee/API Gateway experience highly preferred.
• Experience with automated testing, CI/CD pipelines, and end-to-end software delivery.
• Must be able to work onsite in Chicago Mondays and Wednesdays.

Highly Preferred Technical Experience

• API Management: Apigee, OpenAPI/Swagger, API-first architecture.
• Security: OAuth 2.0, JWT, service-to-service authentication.
• Event-Driven Architecture: Kafka, AWS SQS/SNS/Kinesis, RabbitMQ, or similar.
• Databases: PostgreSQL, Oracle, MongoDB, DynamoDB, or similar SQL/NoSQL databases.
• CI/CD: Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GoCD.
• Testing: JUnit, Mockito, integration and performance testing.
• Additional: Redis, Elasticsearch, GitHub Copilot/Cursor, Agile/Scrum.

Candidate Screening Guidelines

Prioritize candidates who have

• Recent hands-on Java/Spring Boot development experience, not just architecture oversight.
• Experience functioning as a technical lead on enterprise backend/API projects.
• Strong AWS and microservices architecture experience.
• Stable work history with reasonable tenure.

We are an equal opportunity employer. All aspects of employment including the decision to hire, promote, discipline, or discharge, will be based on merit, competence, performance, and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, citizenship/ immigration status, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.