Backend Developer (Contract) Start Date: ASAP Contract Length: 12 months Rate: Up to £522 per day inside IR35. Location: Mostly remote, with occasional travel to Croydon Clearance: SC Clearance (existing clearance preferred but not essential) About the Role We're looking for an experienced Backend Developer to join a high-impact project delivering scalable, reliable backend services. You'll work with modern Java-based technologies in a collaborative, delivery-focused environment, contributing to systems that are critical, secure, and built to scale. This is a contract role offering long-term stability, flexibility through remote working, and the opportunity to work on meaningful, production-grade systems. Key Responsibilities Design, build, and maintain robust backend services using Java Develop and integrate event-driven systems using Kafka Build and consume REST APIs to support internal and external services Collaborate closely with product owners, architects, and other engineers Write clean, maintainable, and well-tested code Support system performance, scalability, and reliability Contribute to code reviews and best-practice engineering standards Must-Have Skills Strong commercial experience with Java Hands-on experience with Kafka in production environments Experience building and consuming RESTful APIs Solid understanding of backend engineering principles Nice-to-Have Sk...