Lead Developer

• Position available in the following states: NSW, VIC, QLD, ACT
• Australian Citizenship Required

DFP Recruitment are seeking a Lead Developer to lead the design, development and operation of secure, scalable and reliable backend services and APIs powering web, portal and mobile applications. In this hands-on technical leadership role, you'll connect digital channels with enterprise systems, including Salesforce and MuleSoft integrations, while guiding technical decisions, setting engineering standards and mentoring developers. Working closely with cross-functional teams, you'll champion AI-assisted development, automated testing, cloud-native architectures and continuous delivery to deliver high-quality digital solutions.

Key duties and responsibilities

• Lead the design, development and evolution of the NDIA's consumer API platform, supporting web applications, portals and mobile applications.
• Define and maintain technical architecture, API standards and engineering practices for backend services developed using modern frameworks such as Golang, GraphQL and cloud-native technologies.
• Provide technical leadership, mentoring and guidance to backend developers, supporting high-quality engineering outcomes and continuous capability uplift.
• Collaborate closely with Salesforce, MuleSoft, frontend and platform engineering teams to deliver integrated end-to-end digital solutions.
• Drive the adoption of modern software engineering practices, including AI-assisted development, automated testing, CI/CD pipelines, observability and platform automation.
• Contribute to platform reliability, security and operational excellence across AWS, Kubernetes and Cloudflare-based environments.
• Support technical governance activities, architecture reviews and technology decision-making to ensure solutions remain maintainable, secure and scalable over the long term.

Essential criteria

• Demonstrated experience leading the design, development and delivery of enterprise-scale backend services, API platforms and integration solutions.
• Strong technical expertise in Golang, GraphQL, API architecture, authentication and authorisation patterns, service-to-service communication and modern integration approaches.
• Demonstrated experience designing and operating cloud-native applications using Kubernetes, AWS services including Amazon EKS, and contemporary platform engineering practices.
• Experience establishing engineering standards, code review practices, automated testing approaches, CI/CD pipelines and software delivery governance.
• Demonstrated experience leveraging contemporary AI-assisted software engineering tools to accelerate delivery, improve quality and support modern development practices while maintaining strong engineering oversight and accountability.
• Proven ability to lead, mentor and uplift engineering teams while working effectively with architects, integration teams, Salesforce teams, delivery leads and business stakeholders.

Desirable criteria

• Experience designing and operating consumer-facing API platforms that support multiple digital channels, including web, portal and mobile applications.
• Experience implementing and supporting Cloudflare technologies, including Zero Trust, Access, Tunnels and edge security capabilities.
• Experience designing integration architectures involving Salesforce, MuleSoft or comparable enterprise platforms.
• Experience working within government, regulated or highly governed technology environments.

DFP welcomes applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and people with disability. In addition, DFP will provide reasonable adjustments for individuals with disability throughout the recruitment process. If you identify as a person with disability and require adjustments to the application, recruitment, selection and/or assessment process, please advise and indicate your preferred method of communication (email, phone, text) so we can keep in touch and meet your accessibility needs.