Software Engineer - JAVA

Location: Wilmington, DE / Columbus, OH

Duration: Contract to Hire/W2

Role/Title: Software Engineer

The environment includes both:

·         Tech: React, Next.js, AWS; strong UI/frontend focus. Full stack preferred.

·         AI: Must have AI-assisted development experience — team uses Claude, GitHub Copilot, etc.

·         Additional: Experience with SEO/search optimization and optimizing experiences for AI agents is a plus.

·         80% hands-on development + 20% project execution, requiring strong executive communication/project management skills.

·         Strong React/Next.js developers with public-facing web experience, AWS exposure, and proven use of AI tools in development.

Job responsibilities
• Contribute to the design, development, testing, and delivery of secure, high-quality production code in an agile environment
• Implement well-scoped features and improvements, following established engineering standards and SDLC practices
• Participate in code reviews (both giving and receiving feedback), and help debug and resolve defects and production issues
• Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders (product, design, QA, operations) to clarify requirements and deliver solutions
• Support operational excellence by helping with observability, incident triage, and ongoing system stability improvements
• Learn and apply firmwide frameworks, tools, and best practices; contribute ideas to improve team processes and technical quality
• Take ownership of tasks end-to-end with guidance, escalating risks and dependencies appropriately

Required qualifications, capabilities, and skills
• Formal training or certification in software engineering concepts and 3+ years of applied experience
• Hands-on development experience with Java/J2EE, JavaScript, Node.js, REST services, Spring, and Spring Boot
• Experience building and integrating event-driven or streaming solutions using Apache Kafka (designing, building, or maintaining producers/consumers)
• Hands-on experience with AWS Cloud Services
• Working knowledge of SQL and NoSQL databases (e.g., Oracle, MySQL, Postgres, Cassandra, etc.)
• Familiarity with observability and production management tools (e.g., Splunk, Dynatrace, Grafana)
• Ability to collaborate effectively with stakeholders and solve design/implementation problems with regular guidance from senior engineers
• Practical experience contributing to system design discussions, application development, testing, and operational stability
Preferred qualifications, capabilities, and skills
• Experience contributing to project delivery from requirements scoping through launch (for components/features)
• AWS Certification (or progress toward certification)