Associate Principal Software Engineer – Java

Location: Chicago, IL or Dallas, TX
Work Arrangement: hybrid 3 days on site

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Associate Principal Software Engineer to join an Automation Testing Framework engineering team. This is a senior individual contributor opportunity for a hands-on Java engineer who can lead the design, development, and enhancement of scalable, reliable automation testing frameworks supporting critical risk technology systems.

The ideal candidate will bring strong Java and Spring Boot development skills, experience with distributed systems and Kafka, and a solid background in test automation frameworks, REST APIs, AWS, and CI/CD pipelines. This individual will provide technical leadership, establish engineering best practices, mentor other developers, and drive continuous improvement across the engineering team.

Important – Work Authorization Requirement: This position does not offer visa sponsorship now or in the future. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without employer sponsorship now or at any time in the future.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain clean, scalable, maintainable, and well-tested Java code.
• Lead the design, development, and enhancement of automation testing frameworks and reusable testing solutions.
• Develop and support REST APIs, backend microservices, and distributed applications.
• Troubleshoot complex technical issues, perform root-cause analysis, and improve application and framework reliability.
• Apply object-oriented design principles, design patterns, concurrency, and multithreading best practices.
• Develop and support Kafka-based messaging and event-driven solutions focused on scalability, resilience, and fault tolerance.
• Build, maintain, and improve CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins and related DevOps technologies.
• Support containerized application delivery using Docker, Rancher, and Harness.
• Work with AWS services, particularly S3, and relational databases including PostgreSQL.
• Lead code reviews, design discussions, proof-of-concept initiatives, and technical decision-making.
• Apply secure software development practices and address findings from code quality and vulnerability scanning tools.
• Mentor junior engineers, promote coding standards, and collaborate with architects, testing teams, and business stakeholders.
• Contribute to Agile ceremonies, sprint planning, estimation, backlog refinement, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Leverage AI-assisted development tools, such as Claude Code, to improve code generation, refactoring, unit testing, and documentation.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related technical field.
• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience developing and supporting production systems.
• Advanced hands-on Java development experience, including Java 8 or later.
• Strong experience with Spring Boot, object-oriented programming, design patterns, and microservices architecture.
• Experience designing, developing, or enhancing automation testing frameworks.
• Strong understanding of multithreading, concurrency, debugging, and application performance tuning.
• Experience with Apache Kafka, including producers, consumers, topics, partitioning, and message delivery semantics.
• Experience developing and integrating REST APIs.
• Hands-on experience with AWS services, particularly S3.
• Strong SQL skills and experience with relational databases such as PostgreSQL.
• Experience with Git workflows, branching strategies, pull requests, and code reviews.
• Hands-on experience developing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins or similar tools.
• Experience with Agile software development and cross-functional collaboration.
• Strong communication, documentation, problem-solving, and technical leadership skills.
• Ability to work independently, lead complex technical deliverables, and mentor other engineers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Docker, Rancher, and Harness.
• Familiarity with message serialization formats such as Avro or Protobuf and schema governance.
• Experience with secure software development tools such as SonarQube, Snyk, Sysdig, Veracode, or Black Duck.
• Experience with AI-assisted software development tools, including Claude Code.
• Experience supporting mission-critical, high-availability, or financial services applications.
• Advanced degree in Computer Science or a related technical discipline.

Opportunity Highlights

• Lead the design and evolution of automation testing frameworks.
• Influence technical architecture, engineering standards, and development best practices.
• Work with Java, Spring Boot, Kafka, AWS, and modern DevOps technologies.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship without formal direct-report responsibilities.
• Collaborate with engineering, architecture, and testing teams to deliver scalable, reliable solutions.

Work Authorization Requirements

No visa sponsorship is available for this position. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without employer sponsorship now or at any time in the future. Sponsorship will not be provided for employment visas now or in the future.