Technical Lead - Java API / Web Services with Database Exp

We are seeking a Technical Lead with strong Java and database expertise to lead Web Services and API development initiatives. This is a contract position based in Denver, Colorado, with a duration of 6+ months. You will work closely with Database, QA, DevOps, and Product teams to drive end-to-end application delivery while ensuring scalability, reliability, security, and adherence to enterprise engineering standards.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of Java and API developers, driving solution architecture and technical reviews.
• Ensure adherence to coding standards, security guidelines, and development best practices through code reviews and technical guidance.
• Own sprint commitments and delivery milestones, including backlog grooming, story estimation, sprint planning, and retrospectives.
• Lead resolution of critical production incidents and perform root cause analysis.
• Drive application performance tuning and scalability initiatives, optimizing APIs, backend services, and database interactions.
• Review and validate database design changes and work closely with database teams on schema modifications and query optimization.
• Coordinate deployments, hotfixes, and release activities to ensure system stability and operational excellence.
• Monitor JVM performance, memory utilization, thread management, and overall system health.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams during incident response, recovery, and production readiness activities.
• Act as the technical point of contact for critical project initiatives and demonstrate strong ownership and accountability.

Technical Leadership, Web Services, Java, Application Programming Interface (API), Java, Web Services, DevOps, Technical Leadership, Application Programming Interface (API), Quality Assurance, * Required

• 8-15+ years of hands-on software development experience
• Minimum 2+ years in a Technical Lead or Module Lead role
• Proven experience supporting enterprise-scale applications and production environments
• Experience leading Agile teams and driving delivery commitments
• Strong stakeholder and client management skills
• Java 8, 11, or 17
• Spring Boot and Microservices Architecture
• RESTful API Design, Development, and Integration
• Event-Driven Architecture using Kafka
• API Security, Authentication, and Authorization mechanisms
• API Performance Tuning and Scalability Optimization
• Git-based Source Control
• CI/CD Pipeline Implementation
• Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, or GitHub Actions
• Unit Testing using JUnit and Mockito
• Code Quality Management using SonarQube
• Design Reviews, Code Reviews, and Release Governance
• Incident Management and Root Cause Analysis
• Production Deployment and Release Support
• Application Monitoring and Troubleshooting
• Service Reliability and Availability Management
• Strong working knowledge of database design and performance engineering
• PostgreSQL
• Oracle Database
• Advanced SQL Development and Query Optimization
• Database Schema Design and Data Modeling
• Indexing Strategy and Performance Tuning
• Stored Procedures, Functions, and Packages
• Database Deployment and Migration Scripts
• Data Migration and Remediation Activities
• Database Health Monitoring and Troubleshooting
• Understanding of Replication, Backup, Recovery, and Failover Concepts
• Lock Analysis, Query Performance Monitoring, and Capacity Planning
• Excellent communication and analytical problem-solving capabilities
• Ability to mentor and develop engineers
• Proactive risk identification and mitigation
• Ability to work effectively in high-pressure production environments
• Preferred
• Banking and Financial Services domain experience
• Customer Profile Management (CPM) experience