Senior Java Engineer

We’re partnering with a large Australian enterprise on a major engineering transformation program focused on using AI to automate software maintenance, testing and dependency upgrades across a large Java/Spring Boot API estate.

This is a highly hands-on role for a Senior Engineer who enjoys solving complex backend engineering problems and wants to work at the intersection of Java, automated testing and AI-assisted software development.

You’ll join a small core build team responsible for piloting and scaling a new automated patching and testing capability across hundreds of APIs and microservices.

The Role You’ll work across:

• Java and Spring Boot microservices
• automated API testing
• AI-assisted test generation
• dependency upgrades and vulnerability remediation
• CI/CD and pull-request workflows
• reusable engineering patterns and automation

The team will initially pilot the approach on a small number of APIs, refine the tooling and test harnesses, then scale the capability across a much larger environment.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Build and maintain Java/Spring Boot services in a microservices environment
• Develop and improve automated unit, integration and contract testing
• Use AI coding agents such as Codex, Claude Code, Cursor or similar to help generate and maintain tests
• Review and validate AI-generated code and tests
• Support Spring Boot and Java dependency upgrades
• Troubleshoot dependency conflicts, build failures and regression issues
• Work with Maven or Gradle, Git, CI/CD pipelines and pull-request workflows
• Contribute to reusable test harnesses and engineering automation
• Work closely with senior engineers and technical leads to improve standards and delivery practices

What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years of hands-on Java and Spring Boot engineering experience
• Strong experience building APIs and microservices
• Automated testing experience across unit, integration and contract testing
• Experience using tools such as JUnit, Mockito, WireMock, Testcontainers, REST Assured or Pact
• Recent hands-on use of AI coding agents on a real codebase
• Experience with Java or Spring dependency upgrades and resolving resulting issues
• Strong Maven or Gradle experience
• Good CI/CD and Git-based development experience

Nice to Have

• Renovate, Dependabot or similar dependency automation
• Spring Boot major version migrations
• Kafka and event-driven systems
• OpenAPI / API management
• AWS or Kubernetes
• Experience creating reusable AI-assisted workflows or agent instructions
• Experience in large-scale, high-volume or regulated environments

We are looking for more than basic Copilot or autocomplete usage — you should have practical experience using AI coding agents as part of your software engineering workflow.

Location: Sydney or Brisbane
Engagement: Initial 6-month contract
Start: ASAP
Daily rate - $900 - $1000 p/d.