Senior Java Developer

Sabenza IT & Recruitment; South Africa; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Sabenza IT & Recruitment is seeking an experienced Senior Java EE Developer to design, develop, and deliver enterprise-grade backend systems. You will lead development streams, mentor junior engineers, and collaborate across multidisciplinary teams to build scalable APIs and microservices.

The role requires strong Java EE/Jakarta EE expertise, Spring/Spring Boot, and hands-on DevOps and cloud deployment experience in enterprise environments.

Qualifications

• 7+ years enterprise Java development experience.
• Strong experience with Java EE/Jakarta EE, Spring, Hibernate/JPA.
• DevOps mindset with pipelines automation experience.
• REST/microservices architecture and ESB/integration exposure.
• AWS/Azure cloud or hybrid deployment experience.
• Strong SQL and database design capabilities.
• Experience with messaging (JMS, Kafka) and ORM mappings.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain backend applications using Java EE/Jakarta EE.
• Build and optimize APIs, microservices, and integration layers with Spring/Spring Boot.
• Develop high-performance server-side components and batch processes.
• Implement unit and integration tests to ensure code quality.
• Contribute to solution architecture and lead development streams.
• Mentor junior developers and conduct code reviews.
• Work with CI/CD pipelines and containerized services (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Deploy applications in AWS/Azure or on-premise and monitor performance.
• Collaborate with business analysts, testers, and product owners.

Skills

Java EE/Jakarta EE

Spring / Spring Boot

REST APIs

Microservices

DevOps

CI/CD

Cloud (AWS/Azure)

SQL/Database design

JMS/Kafka

ORM frameworks

Git & CI/CD automation

Kubernetes/OpenShift

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Jenkins

GitHub Actions

GitLab CI

Azure DevOps

MuleSoft/Apache Camel

Job description

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

• Requirements 7+ years enterprise Java development experience (required).
• 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 frameworksMonitoring tools (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, Splunk)Caching frameworks (Redis, Hazelcast)Cloud certifications (AWS, Azure, GCP) are beneficial.