IT Software Engineer 5 / Lead Java Backend Developer

IT Software Engineer 5 / Lead Java Backend DeveloperLocation: Chicago, IL preferred but the role can be 100% remote but there will be travel involved when needed. Duration: 12 months contract.Position's Contributions to Work Group:Provides technical leadership and delivery ownership for a team of software engineers building and operating scalable cloud-native applications on AWS.Drives architecture decisions, engineering best practices, and solution design across Spring Boot microservices, OpenSearch platforms, CI/CD, observability and AWS infrastructure.Collaborates with product, architecture, and platform teams to deliver secure, resilient, and high-performing solutions while mentoring engineers, improving development processes, and ensuring successful execution of business objectives.Typical task breakdown:Leads software engineers in delivering business-critical technical direction and architectural standards.Drives AWS cloud adoption and modernization solution scalability, performance, security, and reliability.Promotes DevOps, CI/CD, automation, and AI-assisted development practices.Supports incident resolution, operational excellence, and continuous improvement.Interaction with team:Mentors engineers and develop technical talent.Partners with Product Owners, Architects, and stakeholders to align technology investments with business goals.Education & Experience Required:Bachelor's degree is a must.10+ years' experience in this capacity with 5+ years in a lead role.Required Technical Skills:Java (latest would be ideal), Spring Boot, Microservices, REST APIs, AWS (ECS/Fargate, IAM, ALB, RDS, CloudWatch, Secrets Manager), OpenSearch/Elasticsearch, Docker, CI/CD, GitHub, Distributed Systems, Cloud Architecture, Observability, DevOps, Infrastructure as Code, SQL/NoSQL databases, Event-Driven Architecture, API Integration, Performance Optimization, and AI-assisted Development Tools.Soft Skills: Strong technical leadership, communication, stakeholder management, mentoring and coaching, collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking, decision making, ownership, conflict resolution, adaptability, and the ability to influence cross-functional teams while driving successful delivery of complex cloud-native solutions.