Lead Software Engineer

We are looking for a Lead Engineer to lead the design, development, and scaling of our core applications. This role is primarily backend-oriented, with a strong emphasis on Java, Spring Boot, microservices, APIs, databases, and system design, while also contributing to frontend development when required.

About the Role

You will take ownership of critical technical initiatives, work closely with Product, Engineering, and QA teams, mentor engineers, and drive engineering best practices. The ideal candidate is someone who remains hands-on while also providing strong technical direction to the team.

Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Ownership

• Lead the design and development of scalable, reliable backend services using Java and Spring Boot.
• Own complex features and technical initiatives from architecture and design through development, deployment, and production.
• Drive technical decisions around scalability, performance, security, reliability, and maintainability.
• Conduct code and design reviews and establish high engineering standards.
• Mentor and guide engineers, helping improve technical capabilities and coding practices.

Backend & API Development

• Design and develop robust RESTful APIs and microservices.
• Build highly scalable and performant server-side applications using Java and Spring Boot.
• Implement authentication, authorization, and security using Spring Security.
• Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks across applications and services.

System Design & Architecture

• Participate in and lead high-level and low-level system design discussions.
• Design distributed systems and microservices that can scale with business requirements.
• Evaluate technical trade-offs and recommend appropriate architecture and technologies.
• Drive improvements in application reliability, observability, and fault tolerance.

Database & Data Management

• Design and optimize database schemas and queries using PostgreSQL/MySQL.
• Work extensively with JPA/Hibernate and relational data models.
• Troubleshoot database performance and scalability challenges.

Engineering Excellence

• Establish strong practices around unit testing, integration testing, code reviews, and documentation.
• Drive CI/CD, automation, and deployment best practices.
• Collaborate with Product, QA, DevOps, and other engineering teams in an Agile environment.

Qualifications

• 7–10 years of professional software development experience with strong backend expertise.
• Strong proficiency in Java 11/17+ and advanced Object-Oriented Programming concepts.
• Extensive hands-on experience with Spring Boot, Spring Data JPA, and Spring Security.
• Strong experience designing and building REST APIs and microservices.
• Strong understanding of system design, distributed systems, scalability, and performance optimization.
• Hands-on experience with PostgreSQL/MySQL and advanced SQL.
• Strong experience with JPA/Hibernate and database optimization.
• Professional experience with React or Angular and modern JavaScript.
• Strong understanding of software engineering best practices, design patterns, and clean architecture.
• Experience conducting code/design reviews and mentoring engineers.
• Strong experience with Git, Maven/Gradle, and API testing tools such as Postman.

Preferred Skills

• Experience working with AWS, GCP, or Azure.
• Hands-on experience with Docker and Kubernetes.
• Strong understanding of Kafka, RabbitMQ, or other messaging systems.
• Experience designing event-driven and distributed architectures.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines such as Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or GitLab CI.
• Exposure to observability tools, logging, monitoring, and production troubleshooting.
• Experience owning services in a high-scale, high-traffic production environment.