Lead Application Engineer (Java)

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Lead Application Engineer (Java) based in the United States. We are seeking an experienced Lead Application Engineer to drive application development, technical leadership, and large-scale cloud modernization initiatives. In this role, you will lead and mentor engineering teams while designing scalable, resilient, and production-ready applications using Java, Spring Boot, microservices, and cloud-native technologies. You will play a key role in modernizing legacy applications by migrating virtual machine-based workloads to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE). Working closely with platform engineering, DevOps, security, and architecture teams, you will establish engineering standards and improve deployment reliability across a portfolio of more than 500 applications. You will also leverage AI-powered engineering tools to accelerate development, testing, documentation, and automation. This remote opportunity is ideal for a hands-on technical leader who enjoys solving complex engineering challenges, empowering developers, and delivering high-impact modernization projects.

Lead, mentor, and support application engineering teams by providing technical guidance, architectural direction, code reviews, and solutions to complex engineering challenges. Design, develop, maintain, and optimize production-ready applications and microservices using Java, Spring Boot, Spring Data, and RESTful APIs. Apply expertise in microservices, event-driven architecture, distributed systems, and cloud-native engineering to deliver scalable, secure, and resilient applications. Lead application assessments, containerization, and migration initiatives, transitioning workloads from virtual machine-based environments to Google Cloud Platform and Google Kubernetes Engine. Oversee application migration readiness, including configuration management, secrets management, runtime compatibility, deployment preparation, and automated testing. Guide application deployments and troubleshoot issues in Kubernetes environments, including Docker containers, CI/CD pipelines, resource allocation, configuration, and runtime performance. Develop and implement comprehensive testing strategies covering unit, integration, and API testing to ensure application quality, reliability, and production readiness. Design and maintain efficient application data-access layers that integrate SQL and NoSQL databases. Establish application observability practices through centralized logging, monitoring, metrics, distributed tracing, and alerting to improve reliability and accelerate incident resolution. Collaborate with platform engineering, DevOps, security, and architecture teams to define engineering standards, reusable components, deployment practices, and operational best practices. Plan and coordinate engineering activities, manage technical dependencies, resolve delivery challenges, and support application modernization across a portfolio of more than 500 applications. Leverage AI-powered engineering tools, including Claude, GitHub Copilot, and Gemini, to accelerate code development, application modernization, testing, documentation, and engineering automation. Promote continuous improvement in software development practices, deployment processes, application performance, and engineering productivity. Support technical decision-making and ensure that application solutions align with architectural standards, cloud platform capabilities, security requirements, and business objectives. Requirements Bachelor's degree or equivalent qualification in Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, Information Technology and Management, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field. Strong professional experience in application engineering, with deep expertise in Java, Spring Boot, RESTful APIs, and microservices architecture. Solid understanding of cloud-native development principles, event-driven architectures, distributed systems, and scalable application design. Hands-on experience with Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, application deployment, automated testing, and production troubleshooting. Proven experience with application modernization, containerization, migration from virtual machine-based environments, and cloud deployment strategies. Practical experience with Google Cloud Platform and Google Kubernetes Engine, including application deployment, configuration, runtime management, and operational support. Strong knowledge of SQL and NoSQL databases, application data-access layers, and database integration patterns. Experience implementing application observability solutions, including centralized logging, monitoring, metrics, distributed tracing, and alerting. Demonstrated technical leadership skills, including mentoring engineers, conducting code reviews, guiding architectural decisions, and establishing engineering standards. Strong problem-solving and analytical abilities, with the capacity to diagnose complex application, infrastructure, integration, and performance issues. Experience coordinating engineering projects, managing technical dependencies, and delivering modernization initiatives across multiple applications or teams. Familiarity with AI-assisted development and agentic engineering tools, such as Claude, GitHub Copilot, and Gemini, to improve engineering efficiency and automate repetitive tasks. Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across engineering, DevOps, platform, security, and architecture teams. Ability to balance technical quality, delivery timelines, maintainability, scalability, and production reliability in a fast-paced environment. Preferred qualifications: Experience developing front-end applications using React, Angular, or Vue. Familiarity with integrating front-end applications with RESTful APIs. Experience with additional cloud platforms beyond GCP. Exposure to large-scale enterprise application portfolios and complex cloud transformation programs. Benefits Competitive annual salary: $140,000–$185,000, depending on experience, qualifications, and other applicable factors. Comprehensive health insurance: Medical coverage to support employee well-being. Paid time off: Vacation and paid leave to support work-life balance. Paid holidays: Company-provided paid holidays. Sick leave: Paid leave for illness and health-related needs. Parental leave: Support for employees welcoming a new child. Bereavement leave: Time off to manage personal and family loss. Retirement savings: A 401(k) plan with employer matching. Employee referral bonuses: Opportunities to receive bonuses for eligible employee referrals. Remote work: A remote position offering flexibility to work from the United States. Professional growth: Opportunities to strengthen technical leadership, cloud engineering, application modernization, and AI-assisted development expertise. Innovative technology environment: The chance to work with modern cloud platforms, Kubernetes, distributed systems, and emerging AI engineering tools. Meaningful technical impact: The opportunity to influence engineering standards and contribute to the modernization of a large-scale application portfolio.