Java Backend Lead

Job description

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