Job Title: Java Backend Developer with Kotlin and AWS
in person interview Required
Location: Chicago, IL (Hybrid)
Duration: 12 months w/ extension
Job Description:
Position Contributions to Work Group:
The Lead Software Engineer will provide deep technical leadership for the design and implementation of Java based, cloud native systems on AWS, defining service architecture, data flows, and integration patterns to meet strict scalability, availability, and security requirements. This role will drive architectural decisions across microservices, event driven, and asynchronous processing patterns, ensuring clear service ownership and well-defined contracts.
The position will lead development of core backend services using modern Java frameworks and AWS native patterns, including RESTful and event-based APIs, message driven processing, and distributed data management. The Lead Engineer will guide adoption of AWS services such as managed compute, messaging, storage, and databases, and will define standards for infrastructure as code, resiliency, fault tolerance, and graceful degradation.
In addition, this role will establish technical best practices for CI/CD automation, observability, logging, metrics, and tracing to support reliable operation of distributed systems in production. By proactively identifying architectural bottlenecks, scalability constraints, and technical debt, the Lead Software Engineer will directly improve system performance, reliability, and long-term maintainability while enabling the work group to scale features and throughput efficiently.
Typical task breakdown:
Hands on development (Java / AWS): ~45–55%
Designing and implementing backend services, cloud native components, and core platform functionality.
Production support & bug fixes: ~15–20%
Investigating and resolving defects, performance issues, and production incidents; implementing fixes and improvements to ensure system stability and reliability
Code reviews & technical design: ~15–20%
Reviewing pull requests, leading technical design discussions, and defining architecture and implementation standards.
Technical collaboration & cross team alignment: ~5–10%
Participating in architecture reviews, integration discussions, and coordination with other engineering teams.
Agile & required technical ceremonies: ~5–10%
Sprint planning, backlog refinement, stand ups, retrospectives, and necessary technical or operational calls.
Interaction with team:
The Lead Software Engineer will work closely with the engineering team to guide design and implementation of Java based services on AWS. The role will collaborate with other engineering teams to align on APIs, integrations, and shared cloud architecture. The position will also partner with Product Owners and engineering managers to translate requirements into technical solutions and align execution with delivery priorities.
Required Technical Skills
(Required)