Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Full Stack Java Engineer

🎯 Role Definition

Are you a passionate Full Stack Java Engineer ready to make a significant impact? This role requires a highly skilled and motivated engineer to join our dynamic product development team. In this pivotal role, you will take ownership of the entire software development lifecycle, from conceptualization and design to deployment and scaling. You will be instrumental in building both robust, high-performance backend microservices using Java and Spring Boot, as well as creating intuitive and responsive frontend experiences with modern frameworks like React or Angular. If you thrive in a collaborative, fast-paced environment and are excited by the challenge of solving complex problems with elegant code, we want to hear from you. This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of our platform and work with a team dedicated to innovation and technical excellence.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Java Developer
Backend Engineer
Junior Full Stack Developer

Advancement To:

Senior Full Stack Engineer
Software Architect
Technical Lead

Lateral Moves:

DevOps Engineer
Solutions Architect
Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Design, develop, test, and deploy robust, scalable, and secure full-stack web applications using the Java ecosystem and modern frontend frameworks.
Architect and implement high-performance backend microservices and RESTful APIs using Java, Spring Boot, and Hibernate for optimal performance and reliability.
Develop dynamic, accessible, and responsive user interfaces with JavaScript frameworks such as React, Angular, or Vue.js, ensuring a seamless user experience across all devices.
Collaborate closely with product managers, UX/UI designers, and other engineers to translate complex business requirements into well-architected technical solutions.
Manage the full software development lifecycle, from initial concept and design through to deployment, monitoring, and ongoing maintenance in a cloud environment.
Integrate sophisticated front-end components with complex server-side logic, ensuring seamless data flow, state management, and application integrity.
Design, model, and maintain relational and NoSQL databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB), ensuring data consistency, security, and query performance.
Implement and maintain robust CI/CD pipelines using tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI, or Azure DevOps to automate build, testing, and deployment processes.
Utilize containerization and orchestration technologies, such as Docker and Kubernetes, to deploy and manage applications within a distributed microservices architecture.
Write clean, maintainable, and well-documented code that adheres to industry best practices, SOLID principles, and internal coding standards.
Actively participate in peer code reviews to provide and receive constructive feedback, upholding high standards of code quality, readability, and performance.
Develop and execute comprehensive unit, integration, and end-to-end tests using frameworks like JUnit, Mockito, and Cypress to ensure application reliability and prevent regressions.
Troubleshoot, debug, and resolve complex technical issues and production incidents in a timely and effective manner, performing root cause analysis to prevent future occurrences.
Leverage cloud platforms like AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure for building, deploying, and scaling applications, utilizing services such as EC2, S3, RDS, and Lambda functions.
Contribute to architectural discussions and decisions, helping to shape the future direction of our technology stack, platform design, and development patterns.
Proactively identify and address performance bottlenecks, memory leaks, and other optimization opportunities in both the frontend and backend code.
Implement security best practices throughout the development process (e.g., OWASP Top 10) to protect against common vulnerabilities and ensure data privacy and compliance.
Mentor junior developers, providing technical guidance, support, and knowledge sharing to foster a culture of continuous learning and professional growth within the team.
Stay current with emerging technologies, frameworks, and industry trends, and advocate for their adoption where they can provide significant business or technical value.
Work effectively within an Agile/Scrum development environment, participating in all ceremonies including sprint planning, daily stand-ups, backlog grooming, and retrospectives.
Create and maintain thorough technical documentation for system architecture, API specifications, and development processes to facilitate knowledge sharing and onboarding.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to inform business decisions.
Contribute to the organization's technical strategy, developer experience, and engineering roadmap.
Collaborate with business units and stakeholders to translate abstract data needs into concrete engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning, retrospectives, and other agile ceremonies within the cross-functional product team.
Assist in evaluating and selecting third-party tools and libraries to enhance development productivity and application functionality.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Java & Spring Framework: Deep proficiency in Java (8+) and extensive experience with the Spring ecosystem (Spring Boot, Spring MVC, Spring Data, Spring Security).
Frontend Frameworks: Strong hands-on experience with at least one modern JavaScript framework like React, Angular, or Vue.js, along with a firm grasp of state management libraries (e.g., Redux, NgRx).
Web Fundamentals: Solid understanding of HTML5, CSS3 (including pre-processors like SASS/LESS), JavaScript (ES6+), and TypeScript.
Database Technologies: Proven experience with both SQL databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL) and NoSQL databases (e.g., MongoDB, Redis, Cassandra).
Cloud Platforms: Practical experience deploying and managing applications on a major cloud provider (AWS, Azure, or GCP), including core services for compute, storage, and networking.
CI/CD & DevOps Tools: Hands-on experience with building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines using tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI, or CircleCI.
Containerization & Orchestration: Proficiency with Docker for containerizing applications and Kubernetes for orchestration in a production environment.
API Design & Development: Expertise in designing, building, and documenting RESTful APIs, with an understanding of authentication/authorization protocols like OAuth 2.0 and JWT.
Testing Frameworks: Experience with a variety of testing libraries such as JUnit, Mockito, AssertJ for the backend, and Jest, React Testing Library, or Cypress for the frontend.
Microservices Architecture: Solid understanding of microservices principles, design patterns (e.g., Saga, CQRS), and challenges, including service discovery, distributed tracing, and fault tolerance.
Messaging Systems: Familiarity with asynchronous communication and event-driven architecture using messaging queues like Apache Kafka, RabbitMQ, or AWS SQS.

Soft Skills

Problem-Solving & Critical Thinking: Ability to analyze complex technical challenges, break them down into manageable parts, and devise effective solutions.
Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Collaboration & Teamwork: A strong team player who thrives in a collaborative environment and is committed to collective success.
Ownership & Accountability: A proactive mindset with a strong sense of ownership for your work, from initial design to final delivery and support.
Adaptability & Learning Agility: Eagerness to learn new technologies and adapt quickly to changing priorities and a fast-paced environment.
Attention to Detail: Meticulous in writing code, performing reviews, and testing to ensure high-quality, bug-free deliverables.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's Degree in a relevant field or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred Education:

Master's Degree in Computer Science or a related engineering discipline.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Computer Science
Software Engineering
Information Technology

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3-7 years of professional experience in full-stack software development.

Preferred:

Demonstrable experience building and deploying cloud-native applications in a microservices architecture.
A portfolio of projects (e.g., via GitHub) that showcases your skills and passion for software engineering.
Prior experience working in an Agile/Scrum environment from inception to production.