Full job description

Java Technical Lead - Modernisation & Cloud Engineering Wembley, London (5 days on-site)
Up to £85,000 per annum
The OpportunityWe’re partnering with a well-established, multinational organisation embarking on a major transformation-rebuilding its digital engine from the ground up.
They are looking for a Modernisation Engineering Lead who breathes engineering excellence.
If you’re a 10+ year Java/Spring Boot expert who is tired of bloated, unmaintainable systems and wants the authority to "fix it properly", this is your opportunity to make a lasting impact.
You will work directly with the Head of Architecture, turning high-level designs into verifiably stable, scalable, cloud-native solutions-with real ownership, influence, and autonomy.
What You’ll Own Engineering Sovereignty*Define and enforce Java and Node.js engineering standards across the platform
*Set the benchmark for:*Robust exception handling
*Binary stream processing
*Structured logging (Application Insights)
*Security-first development

*Drive a culture of clean, maintainable, production-grade code
Cloud-Native Excellence*Ensure all systems are built for Azure Container Apps from day one
*Own best practice implementation across:*Stateless architecture
*Health check endpoints
*Secure secret management (Azure Key Vault)
*Containerisation standards and deployment readiness

The Integration Engine*Lead API and integration strategy, including:*RESTful API design
*OAuth2 authentication flows (including FusionAuth)
*Event-driven systems via Azure Service Bus
*Transactional email logic via SendGrid (DMARC compliant)

Mentorship & Code Leadership*Act as a hands-on technical mentor, not just a lead
*Run structured code reviews to eliminate technical debt before production
*Elevate team capability and enforce engineering discipline at every level
Architecture to Reality*Work side-by-side with the Principal / Head of Architecture
*Translate high-level designs into deliverable implementation plans
*Ensure developers understand not just what to build-but why
Quality & DevOps Mindset*Embed a non-negotiable automated testing culture:*Unit
*Integration
*Contract testing

*Operate with a strong understanding of:*CI/CD pipelines
*Docker
*GitHub Actions (YAML workflows)

*Build software that is deployment-aware and production-ready from day one
What We’re Looking For Experience*10+ years Java development, with deep expertise in:*Spring Boot
*Microservices architecture

*Proven production ownership of scalable systems
Cloud & Integration*Hands-on experience with Azure-native services, including:*Azure Key Vault
*Azure Service Bus
*Azure Storage APIs

*Strong experience building event-driven, distributed systems
DevOps Mindset*Comfortable working with:*Docker
*CI/CD pipelines
*GitHub Actions

*Able to write code with full awareness of how it is built, tested, and deployed
Engineering Discipline*Strong advocate of automated testing and quality-first development
*Passion for eliminating technical debt and improving legacy systems
Why This Role?*Join a business where you will genuinely shape the engineering landscape
*Work directly with senior architecture on strategic modernisation
*Take ownership of how software is built, delivered, and maintained
*Be empowered to fix long-standing technical problems properly-not patch them