Technical Lead – GDS & Cloud Platforms

Cognizant; Denver (CO); Remote; USD 103,000 - 163,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance

Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off

401(k) plan and contributions

Long-term/Short-term Disability

Paid Parental Leave

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Job summary

Cognizant is seeking a Technical Lead – GDS & Cloud Platforms in the United States (remote). You will translate travel-industry requirements into scalable engineering solutions, guide modernization of airline and distribution platforms, and work with client leaders to shape architecture and delivery.

You will lead Java/Spring Boot services, Kafka integrations, MongoDB layers, and Python workloads in AWS, champion secure, highly available designs, and mentor teams within Agile/SAFe environments.

Qualifications

• 15+ years architecting enterprise solutions with Java, Spring Boot, microservices, REST/SOAP, XML/JSON.
• Deep airline/travel domain knowledge, including PSS, GDS (Galileo/Worldspan), and pricing.
• AWS security, scalability and availability (ECS/EKS, Lambda, IAM, API Gateway).
• Kafka and event-driven architectures with real-time streaming.
• MongoDB data solutions and Agile delivery.
• Python for data workflows, automation, or microservices.
• Modernizing legacy or mainframe travel apps to cloud.
• Knowledge of airline Offer & Order workflows and host integrations.
• Observability tools: Datadog, Jira, Confluence, ServiceNow, Postman, SoapUI, CI/CD.
• Tech mentorship across teams in Agile/SAFe.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture and technical delivery across airline API and GDS workstreams.
• Design and guide modernization of legacy services into AWS-based microservices and event-driven architectures.
• Provide technical leadership across Java/Spring Boot services, APIs, Kafka, MongoDB, Python, and cloud infrastructure.
• Serve as SME for Airline, GDS, uAPI, SOAP/XML and REST integrations.
• Partner with stakeholders to manage dependencies, delivery quality, architecture decisions, and successful releases.

Skills

Java

Spring Boot

Spring Cloud

Microservices

REST APIs

SOAP APIs

XML

JSON

AWS

ECS

EKS

Lambda

Kafka

MongoDB

Agile

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering

Tools

Datadog

Jira

Confluence

ServiceNow

Postman

SoapUI

CI/CD

Job description

About the role

As a Technical Lead – GDS & Cloud Platforms, you will make an impact by translating complex travel-industry requirements into scalable engineering solutions and guiding the modernization of business-critical airline and distribution platforms.

You will work collaboratively with client engineering leaders, Product Owners, and cross-functional engineering teams to shape architecture, guide technical delivery, and help transition legacy capabilities to modern, cloud-native solutions.

In this role, you will:

• Lead architecture and technical delivery across airline API and GDS workstreams, translating complex business requirements into scalable engineering solutions.
• Design and guide modernization of legacy services and integrations into AWS-based, microservices and event-driven architectures.
• Provide technical leadership across Java/Spring Boot services, APIs, Kafka-based integrations, MongoDB data layers, Python workloads, and cloud infrastructure.
• Serve as a technical and domain SME for Airline, GDS, uAPI, SOAP/XML and REST-based integrations.
• Partner with client stakeholders, Product Owners, developers, QA teams, and business analysts to manage technical dependencies, delivery quality, architecture decisions, and successful releases.

Work model

We strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role's business requirements, this is a remote position open to qualified applicants in the United States. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance through our various wellbeing programs.

The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. This may change based on the project you're engaged in, as well as business and client requirements. Rest assured; we will always be clear about role expectations.

What you need to have to be considered

• 15+ years Strong experience architecting and delivering enterprise solutions using Java, Spring Boot, Spring Cloud, microservices, REST/SOAP APIs, XML and JSON.
• Deep knowledge of the airline/travel domain, including Airline PSS, GDS platforms such as Galileo and Worldspan, and Fares & Pricing.
• Experience designing secure, scalable, highly available solutions on AWS, including technologies such as ECS/EKS, Lambda, IAM and API Gateway.
• Proven experience with Apache Kafka and event-driven architectures, including real-time streaming and decoupled service integrations.
• Strong experience designing and integrating modern data solutions using MongoDB and working across Agile delivery environments.

These will help you stand out

• Hands-on experience with Python for data workflows, AI/ML utilities, automation, or supporting microservices.
• Experience modernizing or migrating legacy/mainframe or TPF-based travel applications to cloud-native environments.
• Knowledge of airline Offer & Order management workflows and complex host integrations.
• Experience with observability and engineering tools such as Datadog, Jira, Confluence, ServiceNow, Postman, SoapUI and CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience providing technical mentorship across engineering teams and working within Agile/SAFe delivery models.

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

Applications will be accepted till October 15th, 2026

Salary and Other Compensation:

The annual salary for this position is between $102,600 to $162,500 depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.

Benefits

Cognizant offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:

• Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance
• Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off
• 401(k) plan and contributions
• Long-term/Short-term Disability
• Paid Parental Leave
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Disclaimer: The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.