Java Automation Engineer (Chicago)

Java Automation Engineer

Salary: $110k - $150k + bonus

Location: Chicago, IL or Dallas, TX (local candidates only)

Hybrid: 3 days onsite, 2 days remote

*We are unable to provide sponsorship for this role*

*This FTE permanent placement role is not open to C2C*

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience with production systems, including distributed systems and backend microservice development
• Advanced Java programming expertise including object-oriented design, concurrency and multithreading, performance tuning, and substantial experience with Spring Boot
• Experience with distributed computing frameworks such as Kafka Streaming
• Strong experience in API development, SQL databases, and data storage such as S3
• Strong working knowledge of CI/CD, DevOps tools, Git, and test automation frameworks
• Deep understanding of OOP, microservices architecture, REST APIs, and Java 8+ features
• Experience with message serialization formats such as Protobuf or Avro and schema governance patterns
• Hands-on experience with AWS services, including S3
• Experience building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines with Jenkins
• Practical experience with AI-assisted development tools such as Claude Code

Responsibilities

• Design and write clean, maintainable, well-tested Java code, and lead debugging and root-cause analysis of complex framework and integration issues.
• Lead the design, development and enhancement of automation testing framework features, and drive adoption by testing teams through guidance, documentation and enablement.
• Lead code reviews, uphold engineering standards and best practices, and drive continuous improvement of the codebase and delivery practices.
• Champion secure software delivery by integrating and acting on findings from SonarQube, Snyk, Sysdig, Veracode, and Black Duck, and partner with security teams to remediate vulnerabilities.
• Own and improve CI/CD automation using Jenkins and containerized deployment with Docker, Harness, and Rancher, focusing on reliability, speed and repeatability.
• Serve as an escalation point for testing teams, resolving complex automation framework issues and identifying recurring problems to eliminate at the source.
• Lead design discussions and proof of concept efforts, evaluate technical alternatives, and drive architectural decisions for the framework in collaboration with architects and engineering leadership.