Back End Java Developer

Location: Remote (UK), with occasional travel to Newcastle (travel expenses covered)

About Amber Labs

The digital transformation partner for highly regulated industries. Our teams deliver digital transformation for organisations operating in complex, highly regulated environments. From securing national borders to supporting critical defence operations, we deliver secure AI, data, cloud and software solutions across high-stakes programmes.

What You'll Be Doing

We're looking for Backend Java Developers to join us on a permanent basis, supporting a major UK government legacy remediation programme. The programme is moving critical systems, some of them mainframe applications up to 50 years old, onto modern technology platforms without disrupting the services that rely on them.

You'll play a key role in rebuilding these legacy applications as modern Java microservices that replicate existing business behaviour exactly. You'll work closely with client-side teams to unpick complex, often undocumented logic, and help migrate live cases and users so the old systems can be safely decommissioned.

We're looking for someone with strong, hands-on Java and Spring Boot experience who is comfortable working in microservice and event-driven environments, and who enjoys working as one team with colleagues from our delivery partner and the client.

You'll be responsible for:

• Refactoring legacy applications into modern Java 11 and Spring Boot microservices with full functional equivalence
• Building event-driven services using Apache Kafka and ActiveMQ / RabbitMQ
• Developing and maintaining APIs exposed through an API gateway (Kong)
• Working with client subject matter experts to understand and document legacy business logic
• Supporting the migration of live business cases and users, including parallel running and validation
• Contributing to CI/CD pipelines and code quality using Git, GitLab CI, Jenkins and SonarQube
• Deploying and supporting services on AWS
• Collaborating with engineers, architects and testers across design, build, migration and decommission phases

What We're Looking For

• Strong, hands-on commercial experience in backend Java development (Java 11)
• Strong experience with Spring Boot and Maven
• Experience designing and building microservices
• Experience with event-driven architecture, using Apache Kafka and ActiveMQ or RabbitMQ
• Experience with API gateways, ideally Kong
• Experience with CI tooling such as Git, GitLab CI, Jenkins and SonarQube
• Experience building or supporting services on AWS
• Strong communication skills and the confidence to work directly with client teams
• A team-first mindset, with awareness of the organisational landscape on large programmes
• Legacy modernisation, such as upgrading older Java versions or breaking monoliths into microservices
• Exposure to mainframe systems or migrating live data and users between platforms
• Experience working within UK government or other highly regulated environments

Please note: The client currently has a ban on the use of AI tools in day-to-day work on this programme, so you'll need to be comfortable working without them.

What's In It For You

We believe benefits should be practical: things that genuinely support your day-to-day, give you flexibility and help you keep developing.

Here are a few of our perks:

• 25 days' annual leave, plus bank holidays
• Private medical insurance with Bupa
• Remote working, with travel expenses covered for occasional trips to Newcastle
• Personal training budget to support your professional development
• Perkbox membership, with discounts across retail, travel, dining and wellness
• Electric Vehicle Scheme after one year of service
• Regular team socials
• Referral scheme offering up to £3,000 for successful hires
• Your choice of PC or Mac

How We Work

We've worked hard to build a team of people who are experts at what they do. Because of that, we'll trust you to get on with your job and give you the space to do it well. But you'll always have plenty of support around you whenever you need it, whether that's to sense-check an approach, tackle a tricky client challenge or simply bounce ideas around.

We keep our structure flat and our processes straightforward. If you have a good idea, you'll be encouraged to run with it, and if something could be done better, we'll encourage you to say so. Ultimately, we work with people who take pride in their work, support their team and want to leave things better than they found them.

What Happens Next?

For this role, the process is: an introductory call with one of our Talent team, followed by a 30 minute technical interview with one of our Amber Labs consultants, a 15 minute cultural fit interview with our Head of Talent and then a 45 minute final technical interview with our delivery partner.

A Human Approach to Hiring

We use AI responsibly, in our client projects and internally. When it comes to hiring, though, there are always real people behind the process. Decisions throughout the recruitment process, from CV review and progressing to interview through to making an offer, are made by our Talent team.

Diversity & Inclusion

Amber Labs is an equal opportunities employer, and we're committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone has the opportunity to do their best work, regardless of background, identity or experience.

If there's anything we can do to make the recruitment process more accessible or comfortable for you, just let our Talent team know and we'll be happy to help.