Lead Full Stack Java Engineer

Job Purpose
As a Full Stack Java Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in our agile development team, leading initiatives that drive innovation and efficiency. You will collaborate closely with UI/UX designers, fellow engineers, and cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality, scalable software solutions, ensuring alignment with business goals and technical excellence.

We foster an open, inclusive environment where all perspectives are valued. Our team is focused on driving innovation, leveraging cutting-edge AI technologies, and maximising engineering efficiency, with a strong focus on clean architecture, real-time performance, and data quality.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build and maintain high-performing, scalable full stack applications using Java, Spring, and modern front-end frameworks (Angular or React).
• Write clean, well-tested code using Test Driven Development principles and frameworks such as JUnit, Mockito and JMock.
• Design and optimise relational databases (e.g. Oracle), including writing efficient SQL queries and stored procedures, and diagnosing performance issues.
• Build and maintain RESTful services using Spring REST, Spring Boot, and Spring Integration/Batch frameworks.
• Profile applications and monitor system performance (CPU, memory, processes, threads, network) to identify and resolve issues.
• Apply AI-enhanced development tools (e.g. GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Amazon CodeWhisperer) to improve code quality and accelerate development cycles.
• Integrate AI services (e.g. Azure OpenAI, AWS Bedrock, Hugging Face APIs) into applications to solve real-world business problems.
• Collaborate with UI/UX designers, engineers, and cross-functional teams within an agile development environment.
• Contribute to technical design and architecture decisions, and clearly communicate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Support CI/CD pipelines, version control (GIT), and build/release processes using tools such as Maven.

Essential Skills & Experience

• 9+ years' experience as a Full Stack Developer, with deep expertise in Java and UI technologies (Angular or React).
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field — or equivalent practical experience.
• Expert-level Java coding experience, with hands-on experience building applications using the Spring platform.
• Strong command of HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript/TypeScript for building responsive, component-driven UIs.
• Strong experience with relational databases (e.g. Oracle), database design, SQL, and stored procedures.
• Proficiency in OOP, Design Patterns, and Data Structures.
• Experience with build & release tools (e.g. Maven) and Continuous Integration.
• Hands-on experience with version control (GIT), CI/CD, DevOps tooling, and Infrastructure-as-Code.
• Demonstrated experience using AI-enhanced development tools to improve code quality and development speed.
• Familiarity with prompt engineering, LLM-assisted development/testing, or using AI to automate documentation, code reviews, or monitoring.
• Familiarity with modern cloud platforms, particularly AWS or equivalent.
• Strong problem-solving skills, a growth mindset, and excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration abilities.
• Ability to work independently and proactively within an agile team environment.

Desirable Skills

• Proven experience monitoring, analysing, and optimising large-scale distributed systems in a cloud environment.
• Background managing web-based production systems, network configurations, and server performance in the cloud.
• Strong scripting and automation skills (PowerShell, Bash, Python), ideally paired with AI-based infrastructure tools.
• AWS certification or similar cloud credentials.
• Experience in technical design/architecture for problem solving.
• Experience with DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, or observability tooling.

Equal Opportunities Statement
At Gresham, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We actively encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds and are dedicated to providing a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected and supported.

We make employment decisions based on merit, skills and potential, and do not discriminate based on any protected characteristic. We are also committed to making reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process and employment lifecycle.