Junior Java Software Engineer w/ Kafka

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Associate Principal, Software Engineering: Java - 3 years experience

Salary: $88k-$125k+ up to 10% bonus

Chicago, IL - hybrid 3 days onsite

Need a 3-year sharp backend java developer with springboot microservices. You will need multithreading and AWS to develop and design automated testing tools. Familiar with kafka. Sharp young go-getter. BS degree required.

Qualifications:

• 3+ years of professional Java software engineering experience with production systems, including distributed systems and backend microservice development.
• Experience with distributed computing frameworks such as Kafka Streaming and message queues, with an understanding of scale, resilience and fault tolerance.
• Solid experience in API development, SQL databases, and data storage such as S3.
• Working knowledge of CI/CD, DevOps tools, Git, and test automation frameworks, with experience contributing to pipelines and release processes.
• Solid understanding of OOP, microservices architecture, REST APIs, and Java 8+ features, with the ability to apply design patterns and make sound technical decisions.
• Experience working within Agile delivery models, including sprint planning, code reviews, backlog refinement, and cross-team communication.
• Demonstrate intellectual curiosity, a strong desire to learn fast, and the ability to support others and help the team adopt new technologies.

Technical Skills:

• Strong Java programming skills including object-oriented design, concurrency and multithreading, performance tuning, and hands-on experience with Spring Boot.
• Working knowledge of Kafka
• Hands-on experience with AWS services, especially S3, and an understanding of cloud-based design, security and cost considerations.
• Ability to write and optimize analytical SQL queries for relational database systems such as PostgreSQL.
• Proficient with Git workflows including branching strategies, pull requests, and code review; hands-on experience building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines with Jenkins or similar orchestration platforms.
• Practical experience with AI-assisted development tools such as Claude Code for code generation, refactoring, unit tests, and documentation, and the judgment to apply them in a disciplined engineering environment.
• BS Degree