Principal Software Engineer - Backend (Java/Spring Framework)

Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software Engineer

Job Role: Principal Software Engineer - Backend (Java/Spring Framework)

Location: Hyderabad, India - Hybrid Model

About Elemica

Elemica offers a state-of-the-art supply chain operating network in the areas of customer & supplier management and logistics—promoting new levels of efficiency and profitability for a leaner and more fully optimized supply chain. Elemica's clients achieve significant value from reduced cost of operations, faster process execution with fewer resources through the automation of key business processes, removal of transactional barriers, and seamless information flow between business partners.

Elemica Values

At Elemica, we believe that embodying our values is essential for all team members. These qualities show up in our interactions with each other, our customers, and our collective community.

Curiosity – We delight in the discovery of new challenges and feel compelled to solve them

Integrity – We are relatable and trustworthy, steadfast in our commitment to our colleagues, customers, and partners

Accountability – We show up and deliver measurable, meaningful business value consistently

Passion – We have a shared enthusiasm for transforming our clients' supply chain

Education Requirement

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field; Master's degree preferred

Experience Range

Minimum 10 Years, including at least 3 years in a lead engineering role on an enterprise-scale product

Role Overview

As a Principal Software Engineer at Elemica, you own the technical direction of the core product. You set the architecture, engineering standards, and technical roadmap that multiple teams build on, and you lead the largest and most ambiguous technical initiatives from idea through production. We help our Fortune 100 clients revolutionize their operations and supply chains, creating more value through connected products and enterprise data integrations, including advanced analytics and AI. You are a systems thinker and solver of complex challenges, always seeking new ways to achieve better results for our team and our customers through your leadership abilities and professional strengths.

Level of Problem Solving

Strategic Problem Solving: Anticipates systemic and cross-team problems before they surface, frames ambiguous business needs as well-defined technical problems, and chooses solutions by weighing long-term platform health, cost, risk, and delivery speed.

Key Job Responsibilities

• Own the architecture and technical roadmap of the product, keeping it aligned with business strategy and the long-term platform vision

• Define, document, and enforce engineering standards for architecture, coding, testing, security, and CI quality gates across all teams

• Lead the design and delivery of large cross-cutting initiatives such as platform modernization, framework and runtime upgrades, modularization, and cloud-native evolution

• Act as the final technical authority on scalability, performance, reliability, security, and data integrity for the core product

• Drive the technical-debt strategy: identify, prioritize, and sequence structural improvements and secure the investment to deliver them

• Lead architecture and design reviews, arbitrate technical trade-offs, and make decisions that stick when teams disagree

• Stay hands-on on the hardest problems: complex production incidents, performance bottlenecks, concurrency and data-consistency issues

• Mentor and grow senior engineers and team leads, build the next generation of technical leaders, and raise the engineering bar through coaching and example

• Evaluate emerging technologies, including AI-assisted engineering and agentic integrations, prove them with prototypes, and lead their adoption where they deliver value

• Champion engineering effectiveness: build and CI/CD performance, developer tooling, test automation strategy, observability, and incident post-mortems

• Partner with product management, SRE, and QA leadership to translate business goals into technical strategy and realistic delivery plans

• Represent engineering with customers, partners, and executive stakeholders on technical topics, integrations, and solution design

Skills Needed

Required Skills & Knowledge (Must Have):

• Java 17+ – expert-level command of the language, JVM internals, concurrency, memory management, and performance tuning

• Spring ecosystem – deep expertise in Spring Framework Core, Web MVC, Security, Batch, and Integration, including AOP, transaction management, and configuration at scale

• Hibernate / JPA and SQL – advanced data modelling, query optimization, schema migration strategy, and multi-tenant persistence on PostgreSQL or a comparable RDBMS

• REST API design and governance – versioning, backward compatibility, security, and consistency standards applied across a large API surface

• Distributed systems and messaging – asynchronous processing with JMS, message brokers, distributed caching, clustering, and failure handling in multi-node deployments

• Architecture and system design – proven track record of designing and evolving large enterprise systems, including modularization, layering, and integration patterns

• Test strategy – defining and driving a layered automated test strategy across unit, integration, and system tests using JUnit, Mockito, and API/UI test frameworks

• CI/CD and build engineering – Maven, GitHub Actions or comparable pipelines, build caching, static analysis, and quality gates

• AWS cloud services – designing and operating production workloads on EC2, S3, RDS, and container services

• Technical leadership – demonstrated experience leading multi-team technical initiatives, setting standards, and mentoring senior engineers

• SDLC and Agile – deep understanding of the complete software delivery lifecycle in an enterprise software environment, including release management and operational support

Preferred Skills (Good to Have):

• Java 21+ and adoption of modern language features across an existing codebase

• AI and LLM integration such as Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, agentic workflows, and AI-assisted engineering practices

• Security practices including OAuth2, SAML, Spring Security hardening, dependency vulnerability management, and secure coding reviews

• Code quality tooling such as ArchUnit, Semgrep, SonarQube or similar static analysis and architecture-enforcement tools

• Observability platforms such as Datadog for metrics, tracing, logging, and incident analysis

• Docker and container orchestration on ECS, Kubernetes, or similar runtime platforms

• EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) patterns and practices for B2B and partner integrations

• TypeScript, Angular, JSF for guiding full-stack design decisions

• Playwright, Selenium, or RestAssured for system-level test automation

• UML and C4 for architecture documentation and communication

• Supply chain, logistics, or transportation management domain knowledge

• Algorithms and data structures applied to performance optimization at scale

Competencies Required

1. Technical Mastery

Recognized expert in the backend stack; sets the technical standard for the organization, anticipates platform risks, and resolves the most complex technical problems with authority.

2. Strategic Problem Solving

Frames ambiguous, cross-system problems, performs rigorous root-cause analysis, and selects solutions that balance long-term platform health with business impact and delivery risk.

3. Engineering Excellence & Quality

Defines code quality, testing, and review standards across teams, builds the tooling and guardrails that enforce them, and holds the organization accountable to them.

4. Architecture & System Design

Owns the end-to-end architecture, designs for scalability, security, and maintainability across modules and teams, and evolves legacy systems without disrupting delivery.

5. Technical Leadership & Influence

Leads without authority across teams, mentors senior engineers and leads, communicates complex technical decisions clearly to executives and customers, and builds consensus on direction.

6. Business & Product Acumen

Understands customer needs and the supply chain domain, connects technical investment to business outcomes, and partners with product leadership on roadmap priorities.

What We Offer

• Opportunity to work with Fortune 100 clients on cutting-edge supply chain solutions

• Collaborative and innovative work environment with a strong engineering culture

• Professional growth and development opportunities through mentorship and challenging projects

• Competitive compensation and benefits package

• Hybrid work model offering flexibility and work-life balance

• Exposure to advanced technologies including AI, analytics, and cloud computing

• Career progression path into Distinguished Engineer, Chief Architect, or engineering leadership roles

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

Elemica is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

Disclaimer

This job description is intended to convey information essential to understanding the scope of the position and is not an exhaustive list of skills, efforts, duties, responsibilities, or working conditions associated with it. Management reserves the right to modify, add, or remove duties and to assign other duties as necessary.