Lead Java Developer

Job Role

Staff/ Principal Software Engineer

Location

Hybrid job at St Louis, MO(3 Days Onsite must)

Duration

6-12+ Months Contract

Role Summary

Position

Staff / Principal Software Engineer

We are looking for a highly experienced Staff/Principal Software Engineer who thrives in ambiguity, enjoys building systems from 0 to 1, and can move quickly from concept to production-ready solutions.

This is a hands-on Individual Contributor (IC) role with significant architectural ownership. You will design systems, write production code, and work at the intersection of edge computing, backend services, distributed systems, and AI/ML platforms. You will collaborate closely with Data Science, Product, and Partner teams to build scalable foundations for trust-signal processing and machine learning inference.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and build end-to-end signal-processing flows, including CDN/edge detection, API ingestion, processing, sandbox storage, and downstream routing.
• Architect and implement edge-layer solutions using edge-worker runtimes and CDN-layer compute for token detection, header manipulation, and signal capture with minimal latency impact.
• Design and develop scalable backend services using Java and Spring Boot, including APIs, signal validation and normalization pipelines, data persistence, and service foundations.
• Define integration patterns for third-party KYA and identity providers, including JWT validation, public-key caching, and deterministic signal ingestion.
• Build platform capabilities supporting ML inference, including structured data-access layers, feature pipelines, model-serving integrations, and model-registry connectivity.
• Partner closely with Data Science teams to move ML solutions from experimentation to production.
• Make architecture and technology decisions related to storage, transport reliability, observability, security, and governance within AWS environments.
• Design scalable microservices and event-driven architectures for reliable signal processing and downstream integrations.
• Take ownership of system design decisions and communicate architecture effectively across engineering and cross-functional teams.
• Work effectively in a fast-paced, startup-like environment with evolving requirements, rapid prototyping, and iterative architecture refinement.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience building and operating production-grade distributed systems.
• Strong expertise in Java and Spring Boot.
• Extensive experience designing REST APIs, microservices, and event-driven architectures.
• Strong hands-on experience with AWS, including cloud compute, storage, networking, and IAM.
• Hands-on experience with Edge/CDN technologies, such as:
• Edge Workers
• CDN Functions
• Lambda@Edge
• CloudFront or equivalent edge-compute platforms
• Experience building or supporting ML inference pipelines, including:
• Data normalization
• Feature pipelines / feature stores
• Model serving
• Model-registry integrations
• Demonstrated experience using AI-assisted development tools, such as:
• GitHub Copilot
• LLM-powered development workflows
• Agentic coding assistants
• Proven ability to build systems from 0 to 1 and work effectively with ambiguous or evolving requirements.
• Strong system-design and architecture skills, with the ability to translate ambiguous product requirements into technical solutions.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills with engineering, product, data science, and partner teams.

Preferred / Nice-to-Have Qualifications

• Experience in identity, trust, or security domains.
• Knowledge of:
• JWT / JWS
• PKI
• OAuth 2.0
• Token verification
• Bot detection
• Python experience for data engineering, automation, or scripting.
• Experience with Databricks or similar AI/data platforms.
• Experience implementing observability at scale, including:
• Distributed tracing
• Structured logging
• Monitoring dashboards
• Experience building multi-party integration layers, network services, or platform services.
• Contributions to open-source projects or active participation in technical communities.

Technical Stack

 Category

Technologies

Backend

Java, Spring Boot, REST APIs, Microservices

Architecture

Distributed Systems, Event-Driven Architecture

Cloud

AWS

Edge/CDN

Edge Workers, CDN Functions, Lambda@Edge

Languages

Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python

AI/ML

ML Inference, Feature Pipelines, Model Serving, Model Registry

AI/Data Platform

Databricks or equivalent

Security/Identity

JWT, JWS, PKI, OAuth 2.0, Token Verification

Dev Tools

GitHub Copilot, LLM-powered workflows, Agentic Coding Assistants

Observability

Distributed Tracing, Structured Logging, Dashboards

The source JD identifies Java Spring Boot, AWS, Edge/CDN, Python, Databricks/ML model registry, and GitHub Copilot/AI-assisted workflows as the core technology stack.

What Success Looks Like

We are looking for engineers who

• Build AI-enabled platforms, rather than simply consuming AI services.
• Have shipped systems that serve ML models or feed ML inference pipelines.
• Use AI tools and LLMs to significantly improve their engineering productivity.
• Are comfortable operating without perfect specifications and can prototype, ship, learn, and iterate quickly.
• Collaborate effectively with Data Science, Product, Engineering, and Partner teams.
• Influence technical direction through code, architecture, and system design, rather than relying solely on organizational title.