Job Summary

We’re seeking a highly skilled and experienced Java Backend Engineer Development Specialist to join our dynamic team. You’ll be responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining robust, secure and efficient financial systems. 

You’ll be part of our global Application Development, Support and Engineering Team, which is the technical backbone of our digital strategy, combining innovative software development with rigorous financial security protocols to deliver seamless experiences that empower our customers. You’ll be given the autonomy to impact real change, the flexibility to work in a way that suits you, and the tools you need to deliver with impact. App Development, Support and Engineering sits within our global Technology and Operations team. 

Key Responsibilities

Strategy
•    Foster an engineering culture that prioritizes excellence, feedback, and clean code, steering the chapter towards innovative and efficient practices.
•    Develop a strategic approach to enhance the efficiency of the SDLC process, delivering high-quality and scalable solutions.
•    Integrate thought leadership to upskill the team in areas such as quality assurance, user experience enhancement, and effective use of automation and APIs.
•    Improve developer efficiency by adopting the AI tools

Business
•    Act as an experienced practitioner and contribute hands-on to the squad’s delivery in your area of expertise (e.g., Engineering).
•    Balance skills and capabilities across teams (squads) and hives in partnership with the Chief Product Owner and Hive Leadership and Domain Leads, aligning with the fixed capacity model.
•    Evolve the craft towards improving automation, simplification, and innovative use of the latest market trends.
•    Provide leadership and technical expertise within the subdomain to achieve goals and outcomes.
•    Support respective businesses in commercializing capabilities, assisting bid teams, monitoring usage, improving client experience, and collecting defects for future improvements.
•    Manage business partner expectations, ensuring timely, cost-effective, and high-quality delivery. 
Processes
•    Implement and maintain clear job descriptions and performance metrics in line with the group's standards to ensure accountability and excellence.
•    Manage the lifecycle of products or services, ensuring governance is maintained and aligned with the group's framework.
•    Champion the adoption of Change Delivery Standards to refine project management and lifecycle processes.
•    Promote a feedback-rich environment, using internal and external insights to continuously improve chapter operations.

•    Design and maintain backend services using Java 17 or 21 and Spring Boot or Quarkus.
•    Implement scalable and maintainable microservices architecture.
•    Develop REST and SOAP APIs.
•    Ensure efficient database connectivity using ORM frameworks.
•    Develop and maintain messaging services with JMS, MQ, Kafka and Solace.
•    Experience with Java frameworks like Spring, Struts, and Enterprise JavaBeans is a plus.
•    Ensure seamless API connectivity using gateways like Kong or Axway.
•    Manage dependencies and build processes with Apache Maven.
•    Containerize applications with Docker for consistent deployment.
•    Adhere to coding standards, perform code reviews, and refactor code as needed.
•    Ensure code meets security standards with no high/critical vulnerabilities.
•    Optimize code to meet performance standards.
•    Use Azure DevOps for CI/CD pipelines and project management.
•    Deploy and manage applications on Red Hat OpenShift or AWS.
•    Implement service virtualization for testing and development.
•    Write and maintain unit tests with JUnit.
•    Conduct integration testing for seamless component interaction.
•    Document APIs using Swagger.
•    Collaborate with various technology teams and stakeholders.
•    Oversee functional standards and provide technical assistance to team members.

•    Act as a conduit for domain strategy and technical standards.
•    Prioritize and manage technical debt.
•    Allocate resources effectively between leadership and development tasks.
•    Collaborate with product managers and tech leads to meet requirements and objectives.
•    Select and implement resilient technology stacks and architectural patterns.
•    Lead and participate in system changes, ensuring efficient project delivery and quality.
•    Shape and drive the bank-wide engineering strategy.
•    Collaborate with UX/UI designers, front-end developers, and back-end engineers for integrated solutions.
•    Continuously improve Agile practices and coach the team.

Skills and Experience

•    Bachelor’s degree in software engineering or any IT related.
•    Minimum 10 years in IT industry, with at least 5 years in technical leadership or architecture roles.
•    Deep expertise in Java 17 or 21, Spring Boot, or Quarks frameworks.
•    Extensive experience in cloud-native microservices development and API-first design.
•    Demonstrated ability in building FaaS and Dev-in-a-box platforms.
•    Strong experience in API integrations across enterprise systems and external vendors.
•    Expertise with Docker, Kubernetes (K8s),SKE and OpenShift.
•    Strong hands-on with PostgreSQL, Oracle, or similar databases.
•    Knowledge of API and backend security mechanisms, including OAuth2, JWT, encryption, and secrets management.
•    Practical experience with Observability and Monitoring tools such as AppDynamics, ElasticAPM, Grafana, Prometheus, or the ELK stack.
•    Familiarity with GenAI or AgenticAI tools, including a grasp of key concepts like language models, embeddings, prompt chaining, and vector databases.
•    Deep understanding of Agile at scale, enterprise DevOps practices, and Atlassian tools.
•    Experience leading regulatory, risk, or compliance-driven deliveries in BFSI.
•    Exceptional leadership and team management skills.
•    Proven track record in vendor coordination, cross-functional collaboration, and delivery governance.
•    Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with ability to influence senior stakeholders. 

Other tools and tool kit options –
•    Proficiency in Java: Strong command over Java programming language & core Java Concepts such as object-oriented programming (OOP), data structures, and algorithms.
•    Expertise with Java Frameworks like Spring, Spring Boot, Hibernate, and Apache Struts.
•    Understanding of Web Technologies like HTTP, RESTful APIs, JSON, XML, and WebSocket for real-time web applications.
•    Experience with both Relational and NoSQL databases and the ability to integrate them effectively within full-stack solutions.

Role Specific Technical Competencies

•    Java Spring: Proficient in full-stack development using Java and Spring, with a focus on crafting high-quality, maintainable, and scalable software.
•    Technical Leadership: Demonstrated ability in leading full-stack projects, from conception to deployment, with an emphasis on modern JavaScript frameworks.
•    Database Management: Strong knowledge of database management and data integration techniques for developing complex full-stack applications.
•    Cloud based Environments: Experienced in deploying full-stack applications to cloud environments (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) with a solid grasp of containerization and orchestration tools. 

About Standard Chartered

We're an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 170 years, we've worked to make a positive difference for our clients, communities, and each other. We question the status quo, love a challenge and enjoy finding new opportunities to grow and do better than before. If you're looking for a career with purpose and you want to work for a bank making a difference, we want to hear from you. You can count on us to celebrate your unique talents and we can't wait to see the talents you can bring us.

Our purpose, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, together with our brand promise, to be here for good are achieved by how we each live our valued behaviours. When you work with us, you'll see how we value difference and advocate inclusion.

Together we:

• Do the right thing and are assertive, challenge one another, and live with integrity, while putting the client at the heart of what we do
• Never settle, continuously striving to improve and innovate, keeping things simple and learning from doing well, and not so well
• Are better together, we can be ourselves, be inclusive, see more good in others, and work collectively to build for the long term

What we offer

In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.

• Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations.
• Time-off including annual leave, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 months maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum.
• Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns.
• Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market-leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave, mental health first-aiders and all sorts of self-help toolkits
• A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual and digital learning.
• Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions and geographies - everyone feels respected and can realise their full potential.