Lead Java Developer - Contract Role

• Lead end-to-end development of scalable, secure Java services within a multi-team environment.
• Provide technical leadership, mentoring and direction to Java engineers.
• Work closely with architects, product managers, BAs and DevOps teams to shape and deliver solutions.
• Drive best practices around clean code, testing, performance, and maintainability.
• Oversee code reviews, technical decisions, and engineering governance.
• Influence solution design and contribute to architectural discussions.
• Ensure services comply with public sector, accessibility, and security standards.
• Support continuous integration and deployment pipelines.

• Strong, hands-on Java development experience (Java 11+).
• Experience leading engineering teams in an Agile, user-centred environment.
• Spring Boot, microservices, RESTful APIs.
• CI/CD (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or similar).
• Containerisation using Docker/Kubernetes.
• Strong understanding of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or equivalent).
• TDD/BDD, JUnit, Mockito, performance optimisation.
• Experience working on large-scale government or public-sector digital services.

Nice-to-Have

• Knowledge of GDS standards (GOV.UK patterns, service design principles).
• Exposure to event-driven architectures/Kafka.
• Experience with Terraform or IaC.
• Working knowledge of security standards and secure coding practices.