Senior Back-End Java Developer — Trading Platforms

Citi; Jersey City (NJ); On-site; USD 142,000 - 213,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental & vision coverage

401(k)

Life, accident & disability insurance

Wellness programs

Paid time off & holidays

Job summary

Citi in Jersey City, NJ is seeking a Senior Back-End Java Developer to design, build, and sustain high‑performance back-office trading applications. You will lead through code, design scalable microservices, and champion trunk‑based delivery.

You will work with Kafka, Kubernetes, OpenShift, and CI/CD while mentoring juniors and collaborating with product owners to ensure reliability and security in enterprise trading systems.

Qualifications

• Strong hands-on coding in Kotlin, Java, and Python for production-grade applications.
• Deep expertise in microservices architecture, Spring Boot, and low-latency systems.
• Experience with event-driven messaging and distributed pipelines (Kafka, Solace, Tibco, MQ).
• Proficient with containerization and cloud-native platforms (Kubernetes, Docker, OpenShift).
• Solid SQL experience in high-performance transactional environments.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable back-office trading applications following SOLID principles and modern patterns.
• Implement trunk-based development, feature flags, and progressive delivery for CI/CD.
• Apply TDD/BDD to ensure high test coverage and production reliability.
• Drive CI/CD, DevOps practices, IaC, and automated testing for reliability and velocity.
• Design and deliver distributed, event-driven microservices using Kafka, Solace, Tibco, and MQ.
• Conduct code reviews and vulnerability assessments to enforce secure coding standards.
• Collaborate with architects, product owners, and cross-functional teams on scalable architectures.
• Mentor junior engineers and lead technical discussions in agile teams.

Skills

Kotlin

Java

Python

Spring Boot

Microservices

Distributed systems

TDD/BDD

CI/CD

DevOps

Low-latency

Education

Bachelor's in CS/SE

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Kafka

Solace

Tibco

MQ

Docker

Kubernetes

OpenShift

Oracle SQL

Job description

Job Overview

We are seeking a highly skilled and hands‑on Senior Back-End Java Developer to join a back-office trading application technology team within a leading financial institution. In this role, you will design, build, and sustain scalable, high-performance software solutions at the intersection of engineering excellence and financial technology transformation. You will champion modern delivery practices — including trunk-based development, test automation, and secure coding — while contributing to mission‑critical trading infrastructure. This is a senior individual contributor and team leadership opportunity for an engineer who thrives in high‑velocity, quality‑first environments and is passionate about distributed systems, microservices, and continuous delivery at enterprise scale.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain robust, scalable, and high-performance back-office trading applications following SOLID principles, clean code standards, and modern software design patterns.
• Implement trunk‑based development practices, feature flags, and progressive delivery strategies to enable continuous integration and rapid, safe deployment cycles.
• Apply Test‑Driven Development (TDD) and Behavior‑Driven Development (BDD) methodologies to ensure high unit test coverage, code quality, and production reliability.
• Drive the adoption of CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, infrastructure as code, and automated testing to enhance system reliability and delivery velocity.
• Design and deliver distributed, event‑driven microservices leveraging messaging platforms such as Kafka, Solace, Tibco, and MQ, with a focus on low‑latency and high‑availability requirements.
• Conduct rigorous code reviews and vulnerability assessments, enforcing secure coding standards and ensuring compliance with organizational security policies.
• Collaborate with architects, product owners, and cross‑functional teams to design scalable, resilient system architectures and contribute to technical design documentation.
• Partner with DevOps teams to optimize deployment pipelines, observability tooling, and production resilience for critical trading systems.
• Mentor junior engineers, lead technical discussions, and foster a culture of continuous learning, engineering excellence, and shared accountability.

Qualifications

• Strong hands‑on coding proficiency in Kotlin, Java, and Python, with demonstrated experience building production‑grade, enterprise‑scale applications.
• Deep expertise in microservices architecture and system design, including Spring Boot, distributed systems, high availability, fault tolerance, and low‑latency computing.
• Proficiency in event‑driven and messaging systems — including Kafka, Solace, Tibco, and MQ — with experience designing and operating high‑throughput data pipelines.
• Hands‑on experience with containerization and cloud‑native platforms, specifically Kubernetes, Docker, and OpenShift.
• Solid experience with relational databases, particularly Oracle SQL, within high‑performance transactional environments.
• Proven experience with trunk‑based development, feature flags, and progressive delivery in an enterprise engineering context.
• Strong command of TDD, BDD, and automation‑first testing practices, with a track record of maintaining high test coverage in agile delivery environments.
• Proficiency in CI/CD pipeline design and operation, with a firm understanding of DevOps principles, secure coding practices, and vulnerability assessment methodologies.
• Experience conducting code reviews, leading technical discussions, and mentoring engineers within cross‑functional, agile product teams.
• Familiarity with performance tuning, observability, and production monitoring practices in distributed, high‑availability financial systems.

Education

• Bachelor’s in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field, or industry equivalent experience required
• Master’s degree preferred

Job Details

• Time Type: Full time
• Primary Location: Jersey City New Jersey United States

Salary

Primary Location Full Time Salary Range: $142,320.00 - $213,480.00

Benefits

• Citi offers competitive employee benefits, including: medical, dental & vision coverage; 401(k); life, accident, and disability insurance; and wellness programs.
• Citi also offers paid time off packages, including planned time off (vacation), unplanned time off (sick leave), and paid holidays.

Diversity & Inclusion

Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you are a person with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation to use our search tools and/or apply for a career opportunity review Accessibility at Citi.

View Citi’s EEO Policy Statement and the Know Your Rights poster.

Automated Processing and AI

We use automated processing, including artificial intelligence, for our legitimate business interests (or our reasonable and appropriate business purposes) to identify and align the candidate's skills and abilities with a specific job opening. Additionally, if you so choose, or consent, we can match your skills and abilities to other suitable roles at Citi.

Importantly, all our hiring processes and decisions, including determining your suitability for a role, are conducted, checked, and decided by individuals. Our automated processing and AI do not involve relying on automatic or autonomous decision-making. Please refer to any Jurisdictional Considerations, with specific provisions for your country (where relevant) for further details.

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