Senior Java Developer (15+ yrs)

Title: Senior Java Developer
Location: Chicago, IL (Local Only)
Client: Northern Trust
Must have Skills/Attributes: Agile, API, Azure, J2EE, Java, Kafka, Microservices, NodeJs, Python, Spring Boot

Experience: 15+ Years

Visa: USC/GC/EAD

Rate: $65/hr on C2C /1099

Position Description
Education Requirements:

High School diploma or equivalent
Preferred Education:
Bachelor’s degree
Required Skills for the Senior Java Developer:
Core Development:
8+ years of hands-on experience with Java (J2EE), Spring Boot, and Microservices
Proven experience developing and supporting cloud-native applications on Microsoft Azure
Strong expertise in distributed systems, event-driven architectures, and asynchronous processing
Experience working in Agile and onsite/offshore delivery models
Event Streaming & Messaging (Must Have):
Extensive hands-on experience with Apache Kafka, including:
Kafka Producers, Consumers, Topics, Partitions, and Consumer Groups
Kafka Streams and Event Processing
Message Ordering, Delivery Guarantees, and Scaling Strategies
Schema Registry and Event Versioning
Strong experience with enterprise messaging platforms such as:
Kafka
Solace PubSub+
IBM MQ
Azure Service Bus
Event Hubs
Deep understanding of:
Event-Driven Architecture (EDA)
Publish/Subscribe Patterns
Event Sourcing
CQRS
Saga Pattern
Message Reliability and Error Handling
Dead Letter Queues (DLQ)
Event Replay and Recovery Strategies
Experience designing and implementing high-throughput, low-latency messaging systems
API & Integration
Strong hands-on experience with REST APIs, SOAP Services, and Event-Based Integrations
Strong understanding of API lifecycle management and service integrations
Mandatory experience with API security, including:
OAuth 2.0
JWT Validation
Secure Service-to-Service Communication
Azure Cloud:
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Azure Container Apps
Azure Service Bus
Azure Event Hubs
Azure Functions
Azure Storage
Strong understanding of Azure networking and cloud-native architecture patterns
DevOps & Automation:
Experience with CI/CD pipelines using: GitHub Actions; Jenkins; Terraform
Strong experience integrating automated testing, security scanning, and deployment automation
Experience provisioning Azure infrastructure using Infrastructure as Code (Terraform)
Databases:
Experience with Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, PostgreSQL, or other Azure-hosted databases
Understanding of data consistency models and transactional patterns in distributed systems
Backend development experience with:
Python
Node.js
Preferred Skills:
Experience with Confluent Platform
Experience implementing Event Mesh architecture using Solace
Knowledge of Domain-Driven Design (DDD)
Experience with GraphQL
Experience with observability and monitoring tools (Dynatrace, Azure Monitor, Log Analytics)
Linux and Shell Scripting
Understanding of TDD and BDD practices
Experience with Control-M, SFTP, and Mainframe integration patterns
Senior Java Developer Overview:
We are seeking a Senior Java Developer specializing in Event-Driven Architecture and Enterprise Messaging to design, develop, test, and deploy scalable cloud-native applications on Azure. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in asynchronous processing, event streaming, distributed systems, and enterprise messaging platforms, enabling highly resilient and scalable solutions. You will be responsible for designing and implementing event-driven microservices, messaging solutions, and cloud-native applications using Java, Spring Boot, and Azure services. You will collaborate with cross-functional Agile teams to build highly scalable, secure, and resilient systems leveraging Kafka, Solace, IBM MQ, and Azure messaging technologies.
Responsibilities

Design and develop scalable event-driven microservices and messaging solutions
Build, enhance, and support enterprise-grade applications utilizing Kafka, Solace, IBM MQ, and Azure messaging services
Design event schemas, topics, queues, and integration patterns for highly distributed systems
Ensure reliability, scalability, observability, and security of messaging platforms and integrations
Develop and execute unit, integration, and performance testing for messaging-based solutions
Collaborate with architects and technical leads on event-driven solution design and implementation
Document architecture, event flows, message contracts, and operational procedures
Support production deployments and troubleshooting of messaging infrastructure and applications
Ensure non-functional requirements including security, performance, scalability, resiliency, and maintainability are incorporated into all solutions
Proactively identify risks, bottlenecks, and dependencies impacting project deliverables