Java Dev Lead - Senior

OVERVIEW

We are seeking an experienced Java Development Lead with a strong background in Spring Boot to join our dynamic team. In this role, you will be responsible for leading the design, development, and maintenance of enterprise-grade microservices, with a significant emphasis on Oracle SQL-driven business logic. You will guide a team while remaining hands-on in development, ensuring high-quality deliverables and adherence to best practices.

The ideal candidate will possess a robust technical background, demonstrating systems thinking and the ability to influence architectural decisions. You will thrive in a collaborative environment, mentoring junior developers and engaging with cross-functional teams to drive project success. Your strong communication skills and analytical mindset will be essential in navigating complex technical challenges and fostering team alignment.

Location: Mississauga, ON (Hybrid)

Contract Length: 12 months, with the possibility of extension or conversion to FTE

Hours: 7.5 hours/day – 9am to 5pm

T4: $83 / IC: $95

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead the design, development, and maintenance of Java Spring Boot microservices deployed on Apache Tomcat.
• Write, optimize, and review complex Oracle SQL queries that drive core business logic.
• Own technical design discussions and drive architecture decisions across microservices.
• Enforce code quality standards through GitHub Pull Request reviews and development best practices.
• Break down business requirements into actionable technical tasks; manage delivery tracking in JIRA and document decisions in Confluence.
• Mentor and guide junior and intermediate developers on Java/Spring Boot standards and patterns.
• Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks in SQL queries and service layers.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including product, QA, and infrastructure across the full development lifecycle.
• Apply systems thinking to assess upstream and downstream impacts of changes across services.
• Oversee automated testing strategies and provide direction on test coverage and quality gates.
• Manage end-to-end software development lifecycle from design to deployment and post-release maintenance.
• Take measured risks while protecting the organization by adhering to risk management frameworks, policies, and applicable standards.
• Design and implement integrations with GenAI/LLM APIs (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Azure OpenAI Service).
• Architect scalable patterns for AI-augmented features including prompt management, context handling, token optimization, and response parsing.
• Evaluate and integrate AI SDKs, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines into existing service architectures.
• Establish guardrails, content filtering, and responsible AI practices for GenAI-powered features in production systems.
• Drive adoption of AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Claude Code) across the team to improve developer productivity and code quality.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 7+ years of hands-on Java development experience.
• Minimum 3+ years with Spring Boot microservices in a production environment.
• Demonstrated Oracle SQL expertise with a strong focus on query design and performance tuning.
• Prior experience in a Development Lead or Senior Developer capacity is required.
• Experience leading code reviews, technical discussions, and delivery planning.
• Deep knowledge and technical proficiency gained through extensive education and business experience.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Analytical and problem-solving skills with a data-driven mindset.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Java (8+, ideally 11/17).
• Spring Boot, Spring MVC, Spring Data JPA, Spring Security.
• Oracle DB - complex SQL, stored procedures, query optimization.
• Hibernate / JPA, JDBC.
• Apache Tomcat, WAR/JAR packaging.
• RESTful APIs, Microservices design patterns.
• Git, GitHub - branching strategies, PR reviews.
• Maven or Gradle.
• JIRA, Confluence.
• JUnit, Mockito, integration testing.
• Unix/Linux - basic command line navigation, file permissions, process management, log inspection.

PREFERRED

• Cloud platform knowledge (AWS, Azure) - familiarity with cloud-native deployments, managed services, or containerized environments is an asset.
• Experience with AI orchestration platforms, agent frameworks, or multi-model architectures.
• Banking/Financial Industry experience.

EDUCATION

• Post-secondary degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or other non-merit factor. We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment for all employees.