Senior Java Developer

Zohorecruit; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Zohorecruit is seeking a Senior Java EE Developer to design, build, and optimize enterprise backend systems in Johannesburg. You will work on secure, scalable services, APIs, and batch processes, guiding cross-functional teams through architecture decisions.

You will contribute to solution design, drive DevOps practices, and mentor junior engineers while collaborating with product owners and testers to deliver robust business applications.

Qualifications

• Proven design and development of enterprise Java applications.
• Strong experience with Java EE/Jakarta EE, Spring, and ORM frameworks.
• Experience building secure, scalable backend services and APIs.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain enterprise backend applications using Java EE/Jakarta EE standards.
• Lead API design and microservices development with Spring/Spring Boot.
• Mentor junior developers and participate in code reviews to enforce standards.

Skills

Java EE/Jakarta EE

Spring/Spring Boot

API Design/REST

SQL/DB Design

AWS Cloud

DevOps/CI/CD

Kubernetes/OpenShift

Security/Owasp

Mentoring

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Git

Jenkins

GitHub Actions

OpenShift

Apache Camel

Kafka

Prometheus

ELK/Splunk

Job description

Johannesburg, South Africa | Posted on 06/10/2026

We are looking for an experienced Senior Java EE Developer with hands-on enterprise Java development experience. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in building secure, scalable, and high-performance backend systems within complex enterprise environments. You will contribute to solution architecture, lead development efforts, and collaborate across multidisciplinary teams to deliver robust business applications.

Key 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.
• Ensure data integrity, performance, and security.
• 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; experience with Kubernetes is a plus.
• Experience deploying Java applications in AWS, Azure, or on-premise environments.
• Familiarity with infrastructure automation/configuration tools 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 product owners.

Requirements

• Strong experience in Java EE/Jakarta EE, Spring, Spring Boot, and ORM frameworks.
• Strong experience with DevOps and ability to build and manage pipelines and support development.
• Solid understanding of REST APIs, microservices architecture, and enterprise integration.
• In depth AWS experience with experience encompassing services 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 in cloud 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.