Senior Java Backend Architect - Java EE, Spring, AWS

Sabenza IT & Recruitment; Pretoria; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Sabenza IT & Recruitment is seeking an experienced Senior Java EE/Jakarta EE Developer to design, build, and optimize enterprise-grade backend systems. You will drive API and microservice development, qualify architectures, and mentor junior engineers across cross-functional teams.

The role emphasizes performance, security, and scalable backend design, with hands-on coding, code reviews, and collaboration with analysts and product owners.

Qualifications

• Strong experience in Java EE/Jakarta EE, Spring, SpringBoot, and ORM frameworks.
• Strong experience with DevOps and ability to build andmanage pipelines and support development.
• Solid understanding of REST APIs, microservicesarchitecture, and enterprise integration.
• In depth AWS experience with experience encompassingservices like API Gateway, EC2, Lambda, etc.
• Strong SQL and database design experience.
• Experience with message brokers (JMS, Kafka, RabbitMQ)and service-oriented architectures.
• Experience with Git and CI/CD automation.
• Experience deploying and monitoring Java applications incloud or hybrid environments.
• Experience with Kubernetes / OpenShift, Apache Camel,MuleSoft, or other integration frameworks
• Monitoring tools (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, Splunk)
• Caching frameworks (Redis, Hazelcast)
• Cloud certifications (AWS, Azure, GCP) are beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain enterprise-grade backend applications using Java EE/Jakarta EE standards.
• Build and optimize APIs, microservices, and integration layers using frameworks such as Spring / Spring Boot, JAX-RS, JPA, EJB, Hibernate.
• Develop and maintain high-performance server-side components and batch processing workflows.
• Implement unit tests, integration tests, and ensure code quality through best practices and standards.
• Participate in solution architecture design sessions for new and existing systems.
• Contribute to the design of scalable, modular, and resilient backend architectures.
• Identify performance bottlenecks and recommend system improvements.
• Work with relational databases such as PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL, SQL Server.
• Develop efficient SQL queries, stored procedures, and ORM mappings.
• Integrate systems using REST, SOAP, JMS, Kafka, or other messaging platforms.
• Develop and maintain middleware components and enterprise integration patterns (EIP).
• Work with CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub Actions,GitLab CI, Azure DevOps, etc.).
• Build containerized services using Docker; experiencewith Kubernetes is a plus.
• Experience deploying Java applications in AWS, Azure, oron-premise environments.
• Familiarity with infrastructure automation/configurationtools is considered an advantage.
• Implement application security best practices(authentication, authorization, OWASP standards).
• Work with identity providers (OAuth2, SSO, JWT, Keycloak,Azure AD, etc.).
• Lead development streams and mentor junior developers.
• Conduct code reviews and enforce development standards.
• Work closely with business analysts, testers, and productowners.

Skills

Java EE/Jakarta EE

Spring

Spring Boot

ORM frameworks

REST APIs

Microservices architecture

JMS

Kafka

RabbitMQ

Git

CI/CD automation

AWS

SQL

Kubernetes/OpenShift

OpenShift

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Jenkins

GitHub Actions

GitLab CI

Azure DevOps

OpenShift

Apache Camel

MuleSoft

Prometheus

Grafana

ELK

Splunk

Job description

Sabenza IT & Recruitment is seeking an experienced Senior Java EE/Jakarta EE Developer to design, build, and optimize enterprise-grade backend systems. You will drive API and microservice development, qualify architectures, and mentor junior engineers across cross-functional teams.

The role emphasizes performance, security, and scalable backend design, with hands-on coding, code reviews, and collaboration with analysts and product owners.