Java Backend Lead

We are looking for a Backend Lead at the Staff Engineer/Manager level to drive the technical direction of our backend systems, mentor engineers, and ensure our platform is scalable, reliable, and secure. This role combines hands-on engineering with technical leadership across one or more product areas.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and maintenance of scalable backend services and APIs
• Own the technical roadmap for a core backend domain, aligning it with business and product goals
• Set engineering standards for code quality, architecture, testing, and performance
• Drive system design decisions, including data modelling, service boundaries, and infrastructure choices
• Mentor and guide a team of backend engineers, conducting code reviews and providing technical coaching
• Partner with Product Managers, Frontend, DevOps, and QA teams to deliver end-to-end features
• Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks, scalability issues, and technical debt
• Champion best practices in security, observability, and system reliability
• Participate in on-call rotations and incident response for critical production issues
• Contribute to the hiring, interviewing, and onboarding of backend engineers

Required Qualifications

• 5-7 years of experience in backend software engineering, with at least 2+ years in a technical leadership or lead capacity
• Strong proficiency in one or more backend languages (Java is a must)
• Deep experience with distributed systems, microservices architecture, and API design (REST/GraphQL)
• Strong understanding of relational and NoSQL databases, caching strategies, and message queues
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Solid grasp of system design principles, scalability, and fault tolerance
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders
• Track record of mentoring engineers and driving technical excellence within a team

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading platform migrations or large-scale re-architecture projects
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure-as-code tools (Terraform, etc.)
• Exposure to event-driven architectures (Kafka, RabbitMQ, etc.)
• Prior experience in a high-growth product or SaaS company
• Aviation domain experience