Java Microservices Development Lead

Citi is looking for a Java & Microservices Development Lead – Vice President to architect, build, and lead the engineering of mission-critical, distributed backend systems that power financial transactions on a global, 24x7 scale. In this role, you will provide technical leadership for high-throughput, low-latency platforms that support real-time Payments processing. You will drive cloud-native Java microservices using Spring Boot, Kafka, and modern AI-accelerated engineering practices (AI-PDLC, GitHub Copilot, Devin), directly shaping the reliability, performance, and 99.999% availability of critical platforms. You will partner with product managers, enterprise architects, and cross-functional engineering squads to translate complex business and regulatory requirements into robust, production-ready solutions.

Responsibilities

• Architect and lead the end-to-end development of high-throughput, low-latency Java microservices for 24x7 real-time transaction processing, applying core patterns to ensure zero data loss and uninterrupted availability.
• Build event-driven streaming and messaging architectures using Apache Kafka
• Champion and institutionalize the AI-Assisted Product Development Lifecycle (AI-PDLC) across engineering squads, leveraging generative AI developer tools and autonomous agents (such as GitHub Copilot, Devin, and AI-driven automated testing/code review tools) to accelerate delivery velocity while enforcing firmwide security and governance standards.
• Construct resilient cloud-native services utilizing Spring Boot and Spring Cloud components, establishing centralized configuration management, service discovery, distributed tracing, and mTLS security for financial service-to-service communication.
• Implement modern financial messaging standards and payment protocols, including ISO 20022 (pacs, pain, camt), real-time payment schemes, and industry-standard financial networks, ensuring strict alignment with data security standards and cryptographic controls.
• Optimize data access and persistence tiers across distributed SQL and in-memory caching solutions to maximize throughput and achieve sub-millisecond execution times.
• Apply deep expertise in core Java concurrency, Virtual Threads, memory management, and JVM garbage collection tuning to deliver ultra-performant, thread-safe backend architectures.
• Partner with Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) to establish observability standards (OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Grafana, Splunk) and lead performance profiling, chaos engineering experiments, and volume stress testing across all transaction paths.
• Lead technical design reviews and code reviews, providing mentorship and architectural guidance that elevates engineering excellence, code quality, and security posture across multiple squads.
• Guide containerized workload deployment and management on Docker and Kubernetes / OpenShift, supporting modern CI/CD automation and zero-downtime deployment strategies.

Required qualifications & skills

• Hands-on Java software engineering and architecture experience of 10+ years, with deep proficiency in Java 17/21, concurrency utilities, Virtual Threads, memory management, and advanced JVM performance tuning.
• Demonstrable track record of designing, developing, and operating production-grade microservices using Spring Boot, Spring Cloud, and reactive programming paradigms.
• Deep expertise in event streaming and messaging architectures using Apache Kafka or RabbitMQ, with practical mastery of partitioning strategies, distributed transactions, and idempotency patterns.
• Practical mastery of microservices architecture patterns
• Hands-on experience integrating AI-assisted developer tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Devin, AI code analysis tools) and AI-PDLC practices into team delivery workflows.
• Proficiency with containerization and orchestration platforms using Docker and Kubernetes / OpenShift in high-availability environments.
• Competency with Git-based version control workflows, automated CI/CD pipelines, and Agile delivery methodologies (Scrum/Kanban).
• Exceptional analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills, with the ability to influence cross-functional technical, product, and business leadership.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree/University degree or equivalent experience
• Master’s degree preferred

This job description provides a high-level review of the types of work performed. Other job-related duties may be assigned as required.

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Job Family Group:

Technology

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Job Family:

Applications Development

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Time Type:

Full time

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Primary Location:

Tampa Florida United States

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Primary Location Full Time Salary Range:

$113,840.00 - $170,760.00

In addition to salary, Citi’s offerings may also include, for eligible employees, discretionary and formulaic incentive and retention awards. Citi offers competitive employee benefits, including: medical, dental & vision coverage; 401(k); life, accident, and disability insurance; and wellness programs. Citi also offers paid time off packages, including planned time off (vacation), unplanned time off (sick leave), and paid holidays. For additional information regarding Citi employee benefits, please visit citibenefits.com. Available offerings may vary by jurisdiction, job level, and date of hire.

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Most Relevant Skills

Please see the requirements listed above.

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Other Relevant Skills

For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter.

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Anticipated Posting Close Date:

Oct 20, 2026

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Automated Processing and AI

We use automated processing, including artificial intelligence, for our legitimate business interests (or our reasonable and appropriate business purposes) to identify and align the candidate's skills and abilities with a specific job opening. Additionally, if you so choose, or consent, we can match your skills and abilities to other suitable roles at Citi.

Importantly, all our hiring processes and decisions, including determining your suitability for a role, are conducted, checked, and decided by individuals. Our automated processing and AI do not involve relying on automatic or autonomous decision-making. Please refer to any Jurisdictional Considerations, with specific provisions for your country (where relevant) for further details.

Illinois residents – AI Notice and Right

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Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you are a person with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation to use our search tools and/or apply for a career opportunity review Accessibility at Citi.

View Citi’s EEO Policy Statement and the Know Your Rights poster.