Senior Backend Engineer (Java/Kotlin) - Cloud-Native APIs

Cognizant; Atlanta (GA); Remote; USD 63,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance

Paid holidays + PTO

401(k) plan

Disability leave

Parental Leave

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Job summary

Cognizant is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer (Java/Kotlin) to design, build, and support scalable backend platforms and APIs that power critical business applications. You will collaborate with engineering, product, security, and partner teams to deliver secure, cloud-native solutions while serving as a technical advisor for integration initiatives.

You will design and maintain microservices with Java/Kotlin, work on REST and GraphQL APIs, implement OAuth security, and contribute to CI/CD,

Qualifications

• 8+ years of software engineering experience with strong expertise in Java and/or Kotlin development.
• Hands‑on experience building RESTful APIs, GraphQL services, and microservice-based architectures.
• Strong proficiency with Spring Boot and modern backend development practices.
• Experience implementing OAuth 2.0, authentication, authorization, and API security controls.
• Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS or GCP.
• Proficiency with containerization and orchestration technologies, including Docker and Kubernetes.
• Experience building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines and working in Git‑based development environments.
• Hands‑on experience with automated testing frameworks such as JUnit, Mockito, or similar tools.
• Strong understanding of distributed systems and API integrations.
• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot and resolve complex production issues.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable backend services and microservices using Java and/or Kotlin.
• Serve as a technical consultant to internal and external stakeholders, providing guidance on API capabilities and integration best practices.
• Collaborate with partner teams to onboard, troubleshoot, and resolve integration challenges involving REST APIs, GraphQL services, and OAuth-based authentication.
• Gather and analyze business and technical requirements and translate them into secure, scalable technology solutions.
• Create and maintain technical documentation, integration guides, and sample applications to support developers and partners.
• Enhance application performance, reliability, monitoring, and observability in cloud-native environments.
• Implement and support automated testing frameworks, CI/CD pipelines, and deployment processes.
• Partner with product, engineering, and security teams to ensure solutions meet compliance, security, and operational standards.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex production issues within distributed systems and microservice architectures.
• Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives, driving engineering excellence and operational efficiency.

Skills

Java/Kotlin

REST APIs

GraphQL

Spring Boot

OAuth 2.0 / API security

AWS or GCP

Docker / Kubernetes

CI/CD

JUnit / Mockito

Distributed systems

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Git

Job description

Cognizant is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer (Java/Kotlin) to design, build, and support scalable backend platforms and APIs that power critical business applications. You will collaborate with engineering, product, security, and partner teams to deliver secure, cloud-native solutions while serving as a technical advisor for integration initiatives.

You will design and maintain microservices with Java/Kotlin, work on REST and GraphQL APIs, implement OAuth security, and contribute to CI/CD,