Senior Java Developer

Senior Java/Python Engineer – SC Cleared

Location: UK – Hybrid, 2 days onsite

Clearance: Active SC Clearance required

Contract: Contract

Role: Senior Java/Python Engineer

We are looking for an experienced Senior Java/Python Engineer to join a high-performing Agile engineering team delivering secure, highly available and scalable microservices and API platforms.

You will be hands-on with modern engineering technologies, working across microservices, APIs, Kafka, cloud databases, containers and observability, while also providing technical leadership and mentoring junior engineers.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and develop scalable Java/Python microservices and REST APIs.
• Build and operate event-driven solutions using Apache Kafka.
• Design and optimise AWS Aurora PostgreSQL databases and data platforms.
• Deploy and support applications using Docker and Kubernetes.
• Develop API integrations using REST, JSON and modern API design practices.
• Implement resilient systems with appropriate retry, timeout and error-handling mechanisms.
• Work with monitoring and observability tools including Grafana, Prometheus and Dynatrace.
• Provide hands-on production support, troubleshooting and root cause analysis.
• Support P1/P2 incidents within a 24x7 support environment.
• Contribute to technical architecture, engineering standards and documentation.
• Mentor junior engineers and promote Agile engineering best practices.

Essential Skills

• Strong hands-on Java and/or Python development experience.
• Advanced SQL.
• Strong Apache Kafka experience.
• Experience with AWS Aurora / PostgreSQL.
• Production experience with Docker and Kubernetes.
• Strong REST API and microservices experience.
• Experience with Grafana, Prometheus or Dynatrace.
• Strong debugging, troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.
• Experience working with highly available and scalable systems.
• Experience with API resilience, retries, timeouts and idempotency.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.

Desirable

• OpenAPI / Swagger
• OAuth2 / token-based authentication
• API gateways
• Event-driven architecture
• Data observability
• Public sector or regulated environment experience
• Data security and privacy

What We're Looking For

We're looking for someone who is genuinely hands-on, enjoys solving complex technical problems and can work effectively within a multidisciplinary Agile team. You should also be comfortable providing technical guidance and mentoring less experienced engineers.

Security: Active SC Clearance is essential.

If you're an experienced Java/Python Engineer looking for your next challenging opportunity working with modern microservices, Kafka, Kubernetes and cloud technologies, we'd love to hear from you.