Senior API Developer with the expectation of hands on as well as a leadership. 

Long term contract: 12-18 months

System Architecture & Technical Design

• Own and define the overall architecture of the application.
• Choose technology stack components: database, messaging, caching, API gateway, security framework, etc.
• Design APIs (RESTful, possibly GraphQL) with scalability, consistency, and security in mind.
• Create architectural decision records (ADRs) to document and justify key technical decisions.

2. Hands-on Development

• Write high-quality, production-grade code using Java + Spring Boot.
• Set up and structure the initial codebase using best practices (layered architecture, DTOs, config management).
• Build CI/CD-friendly microservices or modular monoliths depending on architecture choice.
• Lead the development of MVP components, defining reusable patterns and common services.

3. DevOps & Deployment Strategy

• Work closely with DevOps to define a deployment pipeline (Docker + Jenkins/GitHub Actions + Helm/Kubernetes preferred).
• Own environment configurations (dev, QA, staging, prod) and secrets management.
• Ensure proper logging, health checks, metrics, and monitoring are integrated from the start (e.g., Prometheus + Grafana, ELK stack).

4. Team Leadership & Collaboration

• Establish coding standards, code review practices, and version control strategies (e.g., GitFlow).
• Mentor junior engineers and support onboarding of future team members.
• Collaborate with Product Owners, UX, and QA to refine requirements and deliver high-quality features.
• Act as the technical face of the team in architecture discussions, demos, and stakeholder meetings.

5. Security & Compliance

• Define and implement authentication (OAuth2, JWT, or enterprise SSO).
• Ensure data security, secure endpoints, and follow secure coding practices.
• Be proactive in identifying security vulnerabilities and remediating them (OWASP awareness is expected).

6. Documentation & Knowledge Transfer

• Maintain living documentation including:
• API specifications (OpenAPI/Swagger)
• Architecture diagrams and integration maps
• Deployment and runbooks
• Facilitate knowledge transfer to new team members and support operational readiness.

TechStack: Java/SpringBoot, RestAPI, OpenShift, ELK, GitLab

Initial Deliverables (First 60–90 Days)

1. Technology stack recommendation finalized and documented.
2. Application architecture (incl. service boundaries, database models, integration points).
3. CI/CD pipeline defined and integrated for basic services.
4. MVP-level Spring Boot microservices scaffolding completed and deployed to dev/test.
5. Setup of unit tests, integration tests, and static code analysis tools.
6. Knowledge base started (Confluence, Git repo docs,)