Graduate Java Developer

Graduate Java Developer Location: UK based, Hybrid Office: Warwickshire. Salary: Competitive salary and benefits Who Are ApariPro? A fast-growing UK SaaS company building software at the sharp end of regulated finance—where correctness, clarity and trust genuinely matter. Their product helps real businesses and advisers navigate complex, rules-heavy workflows with confidence. Done well, that means fewer errors, faster decisions, and far less frustration for users. This is a back-end-first role. The services and APIs you build will sit at the heart of the product, processing financial data and powering the experiences customers rely on. Why this role is worth your time Back end that actually matters You won’t be building toy applications or isolated services. You’ll work on production software dealing with real financial data, complex business rules and integrations with external services such as HMRC. Good engineering directly affects the correctness and reliability of the product. Real ownership from the start You’ll be given meaningful problems to solve rather than simply being handed tickets. You’ll have the opportunity to influence how services are designed, how data is modelled and how APIs work, while learning from experienced engineers around you. Small, product-led team They ship iteratively, keep feedback loops tight, and get changes into production quickly. You’ll see the impact of your work without layers of ceremony. Modern, pragmatic engineering culture They value simplicity, testing, maintainability and continuous delivery over buzzwords. Good decisions are documented, discussed and improved over time. What you’ll be doing day to day Build and maintain back-end services using Java and Spring Boot.Design and implement RESTful APIs consumed by our React front end and other services.Work with relational databases, writing SQL and designing efficient data models and queries.Translate complex business requirements into clear, maintainable application logic.Integrate with external APIs and services, including regulated government services such as HMRC.Write automated tests using tools such as JUnit and Mockito, with a focus on reliable, maintainable code.Investigate bugs and performance issues across the application stack and understand problems from first principles.Contribute to code reviews, technical discussions and improvements to our development practices.Work closely with front-end engineers to design clean API contracts and solve problems across the stack.Learn and contribute to our use of Docker, CI/CD, cloud infrastructure and microservices.Explore opportunities to use AI and automation to improve our products and internal processes. What we’re looking for Essential Degree in Computer Science (or closely related discipline), minimum 2:1, from a reputable university..Strong understanding of programming fundamentals, particularly object-oriented programming, data structures and software design.Good working knowledge of Java and exposure to Spring Boot, through university projects, personal projects, internships or placements.Evidence of building end-to-end applications, ideally involving a back-end service or REST API.Good understanding of RESTful APIs and HTTP fundamentals.Basic understanding of SQL and relational databases.Strong grounding in structured problem-solving and logical thinking.Willingness to learn, with a positive attitude and genuine enthusiasm for software development.A natural fit with APARI’s culture: collaborative, humble, dependable and professional.Hungry to succeed — driven, curious, and motivated to improve quickly. Technical Skills We’re looking for strong technical fundamentals and evidence that you can apply them in practice. You should have a good understanding of: Java and object-oriented programming.Spring Boot, including building or working with RESTful services.REST API design and HTTP fundamentals.SQL and relational database concepts.Writing code that is readable, testable and maintainable.Basic software engineering practices such as Git, debugging and automated testing.Logical problem-solving and the ability to break complex problems into smaller, manageable pieces. Nice to have (not required) Experience with Spring Data JPA / Hibernate.Experience writing unit and integration tests using JUnit.Familiarity with MySQL, PostgreSQL or another relational database.Experience integrating with third-party APIs.Exposure to Docker or cloud environments such as AWS.Understanding of microservices architecture.Familiarity with authentication and authorisation concepts such as OAuth2 or JWT.Experience with CI/CD pipelines.Any interest or experience in AI, automation or machine learning. How they work Hybrid and flexible: Mostly home-based, with 1 day per week in the office.Lightweight Agile: Practical processes that support delivery, not bureaucracy.Low ego, high trust, and real autonomy: You’ll own your work end to end, with support and mentoring when you need it.Learn by doing: You’ll work on real production problems while developing your technical skills alongside experienced engineers. What’s on offer Competitive salary and benefits package.Strong mentoring and development for early-career engineers.Exposure to Java, Spring Boot, microservices, databases, cloud infrastructure and AI-driven applications.Genuine opportunity to contribute to technical decisions and engineering standards.Meaningful ownership from an early stage in your career.Long-term progression as the product and engineering team scale. If you enjoy solving difficult problems, care about writing good software, and want to understand why things work rather than simply making them work, we’d love to hear from you.