Java Technical Lead

Greetings from Photon Who are we? Photon has emerged as one of the world's largest and fastest-growing Digital Agencies. We work with 40% of the Fortune 100 on their Digital initiatives and are known for our ability to integrate Strategy Consulting, Creative Design, and Technology at scale. For a brief 1 minute video about us, you can check Location : Dallas, TX (Onsite) Hiring Type : Full Time Job Summary We are looking for an accomplished Java Technical Lead with 10–12 years of experience in designing and delivering enterprise-grade applications. This role requires deep hands-on technical expertise , leadership in driving engineering best practices, and the ability to guide teams through complex architectural decisions . The ideal candidate will have full-stack proficiency in Java technologies, strong database skills (Oracle, RDS) , and cloud-native development experience in AWS . You will also serve as a technical mentor , ensuring your team grows in both technical capability and delivery maturity. Key Responsibilities Technical Leadership & Architecture Lead end-to-end solution design for new features and applications, ensuring scalability, performance, and security. Conduct architectural reviews in collaboration with domain experts and align with enterprise architecture standards. Maintain technology roadmaps for Java-based systems and propose modernization strategies (e.g., microservices, containerization). Evaluate and integrate emerging tools, frameworks, and patterns into the technology stack. Drive proof-of-concepts (POCs) for new initiatives and technologies. Hands-On Development Write high-quality, maintainable, and efficient code in Java (Java 8/11/17) using Spring Boot, REST APIs, and microservices patterns. Implement AWS Lambda functions , cron jobs , and other serverless components for event-driven architectures. Develop and optimize SQL queries and stored procedures for Oracle and Amazon RDS. Participate in debugging, performance tuning, and incident resolution for production systems. Cloud & DevOps Enablement Design and maintain AWS CI/CD pipelines using CodePipeline, CodeBuild, and CodeDeploy. Manage cloud infrastructure for high availability, security, and disaster recovery. Integrate automated testing into the pipeline (unit, integration, and performance tests). Monitor application health using AWS CloudWatch, setting up alerts and dashboards. Code Quality & Governance Conduct code reviews to ensure adherence to coding standards, security best practices, and performance optimization. Define and enforce coding guidelines , branching strategies, and release processes. Collaborate with QA to ensure test coverage and defect resolution before releases. Maintain project documentation and knowledge base in Confluence . Coach and mentor developers on design patterns, cloud best practices, and clean coding principles . Provide constructive feedback and career development support to team members. Stakeholder Management & Collaboration Work closely with Product Owners, Business Analysts, and Architects to translate business requirements into technical designs. Engage with DevOps, Security, and Infrastructure teams to ensure smooth releases. Act as a point of escalation for technical issues and blockers within the team. Communicate technical risks, dependencies, and timelines to senior management. Required Skills & Qualifications Bachelor's/master's degree in computer science , Information Technology, or related discipline. 10–12 years of progressive experience in software development, with 3+ years in a leadership role . Strong expertise in: Java (Java 8/11/17) , Spring Boot, REST API development, microservices architecture. AWS Cloud Services : Lambda, EC2, S3, RDS, CloudWatch, API Gateway, CodePipeline, CodeBuild, CodeDeploy. Databases : Oracle, Amazon RDS (design, performance tuning, query optimization). DevOps & CI/CD : Git, Jenkins, AWS pipelines, build automation, deployment pipelines. Scheduling : Cron jobs, event-driven tasks. Familiarity with containerization tools ( Docker, Kubernetes ) is a plus. Solid understanding of software architecture, design patterns, and clean code principles . Excellent communication, problem-solving, and analytical skills. Preferred Skills AWS Certification (Solutions Architect, Developer, or DevOps Engineer). Knowledge of performance monitoring, profiling tools , and cloud cost optimization . Experience in multi-region, high-availability application deployments . Exposure to front-end frameworks (React, Angular) for full-stack context. Soft Skills & Leadership Competencies Mentorship mindset – committed to developing the skills of team members. Decision-making ability under pressure with a balance of technical depth and business context. Strong collaboration skills across geographically distributed teams. Change champion – promoting adoption of modern tools, processes, and agile practices. Proactive problem solver with a bias towards action and delivery.