Backend Java Engineer

Backend Java Engineer – Kafka / Distributed Systems Location: Vancouver, BC - Hybrid (3 Days WFO) Key Responsibilities • Design, implement, and optimize backend services handling high-volume data flows with strict performance and reliability requirements. • Develop Java-based components using modern frameworks (Spring/Spring Boot or equivalent). • Build and maintain asynchronous and event-driven workflows using messaging systems such as MQ/Kafka/RabbitMQ. • Implement performance tuning, profiling, and observability to support sub-second latency and 99.99% availability goals. • Drive solutioning and system designs for new features, integrations, and platform enhancements across distributed systems. • Ensure service robustness through automated testing (unit, integration, load tests) and CI/CD workflows. • Apply secure-by-design principles, including threat modeling, safe data handling, API hardening, and least-privilege access. • Implement and support authentication and authorization patterns (e.g., OAuth2, mTLS, JWT, service-to-service auth). • Participate in architecture reviews, offering technical leadership and mentorship to junior engineers. • Diagnose and resolve complex production issues across infrastructure, code, and messaging layers. • Enhance platform reliability via improved logging, monitoring, alerting, and operational tooling. Required Qualifications • 5+ years of hands-on backend development experience in large-scale, high-throughput environments. • Strong proficiency in Java (Java 8+, multithreading, concurrency libraries, performance optimization). • Solid understanding of Linux fundamentals (filesystem, networking basics, shell operations, performance tools). • Extensive experience with Message Queue systems (IBM MQ, Kafka, RabbitMQ, ActiveMQ, etc.). • Deep knowledge of asynchronous programming, non-blocking IO patterns, and event-driven system design. • Good understanding of modern network protocols, including: • gRPC (service-to-service communication, protobuf, streaming patterns) • HTTP/2 (multiplexing, header compression, flow control, performance benefits) • Experience implementing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines and DevOps tooling, including: • Jenkins • Chef Infra / Chef Habitat • Terraform • PCF CLI • Demonstrated ability to design scalable system architectures and evaluate design trade-offs. • Basic understanding of Authentication/Authorization concepts and secure communication patterns. • Familiarity with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes) is an asset. • Excellent debugging, problem-solving, and performance-profiling skills. Preferred Qualifications • Experience in financial services, real-time scoring, risk systems, or other low-latency domains. • Exposure to observability stacks (Splunk, Prometheus, Grafana, ELK). • Knowledge of DevOps practices, automation, and additional IaC tools. • Hands-on understanding of reliability engineering (circuit breakers, retries, backpressure, failover strategies). • Ability to lead complex technical initiatives and drive cross-team alignment. What We Look For • A strong ownership mindset with a passion for delivering secure, high-quality, and resilient services. • Ability to influence architecture, mentor engineers, and uplift engineering standards. • Strong communication skills and the ability to work in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.