Sr Java Backend (Miami Lakes)

About the role

You will own the full lifecycle of production-grade Java microservices from initial design through deployment and ongoing optimization in a high-stakes environment. This role requires you to architect robust backend services that are scalable, resilient, and aligned with strict enterprise standards. You will be deeply involved in building event-driven architectures that power critical business workflows and integrating advanced AI capabilities responsibly. You will act as a technical owner, ensuring that every service you deliver meets rigorous quality, security, and performance benchmarks. This position demands strong collaboration with international stakeholders to translate complex requirements into elegant technical solutions. You will leverage your expertise to solve challenging distributed systems problems while mentoring and elevating the overall engineering bar. Your work will directly influence the strategic direction of our digital initiatives and long-term platform evolution.

Key facts

What you'll do

Architect and develop scalable Spring Boot microservices that adhere to strict team standards and architectural principles.

Design and implement event-driven architectures utilizing publish/subscribe messaging patterns for asynchronous processing.

Own complex distributed transaction management using saga or orchestration patterns to ensure data consistency across services.

Design and consume RESTful APIs, webhooks, and subscription-based interfaces while actively shaping API contracts and versioning strategies.

Build and maintain robust CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure-as-code configurations specifically for AWS cloud environments.

Diagnose, troubleshoot, and resolve intricate issues across distributed service landscapes using advanced observability tools.

Integrate Large Language Models into production services, including function and tool calling, structured outputs, and MCP implementations.

Implement comprehensive AI safety and governance frameworks, including guardrails and stringent PII/PCI handling procedures.

Contribute strategic direction to API design and ensure seamless integration with third-party payment networks and financial systems.

Champion best practices in cloud-native engineering, security, and performance optimization across the entire service portfolio.

Lead technical discussions and design reviews, providing mentorship and guidance to cross-functional engineering teams.

Ensure all services are highly available, fault-tolerant, and capable of scaling under significant production load.

Implement monitoring, logging, and tracing strategies to gain deep insights into system health and performance metrics.

Collaborate closely with product managers and international stakeholders to refine requirements and deliver high-impact solutions.

Drive the adoption of modern development practices and emerging technologies within the engineering organization.

Requirements

You must possess a strong academic or professional background demonstrating 8+ years of hands-on experience building backend services using Java.

You must have a minimum of 2+ years of direct, production experience building microservices and event-driven systems.

You must have deep, hands-on mastery of Java version 17 or later, including a profound understanding of object-oriented principles and concurrency models.

You must have extensive, production-level experience with the Spring Boot framework and Spring Cloud for building robust microservices.

You must demonstrate solid, verifiable experience with core AWS services including DynamoDB, Kinesis, SQS, SNS, KMS, API Gateway, ECS/EKS, Lambda, IAM, and RDS.

You must be highly proficient with AI-assisted development tools such as Claude Code or GitHub Copilot, with the critical judgment to review and validate AI-generated code.

You must have a strong foundation in software testing methodologies, including hands-on experience with JUnit and Mockito for unit and integration testing.

You must be physically located within the Miami / Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area and be available to work 100% on-site for the duration of the contract.

Nice to have

You will bring additional value if you have financial services or payments domain experience, specifically with payments messaging standards like ISO 20022 and the legacy FAIM (Fedwire) format.

You will have a strong working knowledge of containers and orchestration platforms, particularly Docker and Kubernetes.

You will have practical experience with Infrastructure as Code tools such as Terraform, CloudFormation, or the AWS CDK.

You will have hands-on experience with workflow and orchestration engines like Temporal, Camunda, or AWS Step Functions.

You will possess advanced AI skills, including vector stores, RAG implementations, prompt engineering techniques, and AI observability practices.

Practical notes

This role requires 100% on-site presence in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area.

This is a contract engagement offering high impact and autonomy within a modern engineering culture.

The position is strategically located in the Miami Lakes area to drive high-stakes initiatives.

Candidates must be available for immediate or near-term start dates due to project urgency.

Collaboration with an international team necessitates strong written and verbal communication skills.

Success in this role requires a proactive mindset and the ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.