Lead Java Developer

Summary: We are seeking a Lead Java Developer with extensive experience in delivering solutions for Central Government projects. This role involves hands-on technical leadership within Agile Scrum teams, focusing on modernizing legacy services into scalable, cloud-aligned platforms. The position requires collaboration with various teams to ensure high-quality delivery while maintaining coding standards and best practices. The ideal candidate will also mentor junior developers and drive the technical direction of the project.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the design and development of Back End services using Java and Spring Boot.
• Drive modernisation and refactoring of Legacy Java services.
• Define and uphold coding standards, architectural patterns, and best practices.
• Ensure robust test coverage using JUnit and Mockito.
• Support containerised deployments in Kubernetes environments.
• Review pull requests and provide technical leadership across the team.
• Collaborate with Product, Frontend, and QA teams to ensure high-quality delivery.

Key Skills:

• Java, Spring Boot, JUnit, Kubernetes
• Experience working on Central Government projects

Salary (Rate): undetermined

City: Telford

Country: undetermined

Working Arrangements: hybrid

IR35 Status: inside IR35

Seniority Level: undetermined

Industry: IT

Detailed Description From Employer:

Lead Java Developer - Central Government Projects

Location: Telford (ideally 2 days per week on-site, with flexibility)
Contract: Inside IR35, until end of year
Clearance: BPSS mandatory; SC preferred or eligibility required

Role Summary

We are seeking a Lead Java Developer with proven experience delivering solutions for Central Government projects. You will work in Agile Scrum teams alongside Java Engineers, Frontend Developers, and Quality Engineers to modernise Legacy services into scalable, cloud-aligned platforms. This is a hands-on technical leadership role, responsible for design, code quality, and mentoring.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of Back End services using Java and Spring Boot.
• Drive modernisation and refactoring of Legacy Java services.
• Define and uphold coding standards, architectural patterns, and best practices.
• Ensure robust test coverage using JUnit and Mockito.
• Support containerised deployments in Kubernetes environments.
• Review pull requests and provide technical leadership across the team.
• Collaborate with Product, Frontend, and QA teams to ensure high-quality delivery.

Required Skills

• Java, Spring Boot, JUnit, Kubernetes
• Experience working on Central Government projects

Desirable Skills

• JPA, Maven, Mockito, AWS, GitLab CI/CD, Helm, OpenAPI, SQL, Kibana, Shell Scripting