Lead Java Developer
* Hybrid – Newcastle (2 days per week for first 3 months, with potential to reduce thereafter)
* Must Hold Active SC Clearance
* Experience Working in a Central Government Environment Required
About Us
Amber Labs is a cutting-edge digital consultancy specialising in data, cloud, and software engineering solutions for public sector and enterprise clients. We deliver high-impact transformation projects that shape the future of digital government services. Our teams are collaborative, diverse, and committed to technical excellence.
The Role
We are seeking an experienced Lead Java Developer to join our growing team. You will lead and mentor a team of engineers while driving the design, development and delivery of secure, scalable applications for central government clients. This role requires strong leadership capability, deep technical expertise, and the ability to guide teams in delivering high-quality software solutions.
Key Responsibilities
* Lead, mentor, and support a team of Java developers, ensuring strong performance and continuous improvement
* Oversee the end-to-end development of Java-based applications within secure government environments
* Drive technical decision-making, architectural planning and engineering best practices
* Collaborate closely with DevOps, Cloud, and Data specialists to deliver fully integrated solutions
* Ensure applications meet high standards of security, scalability, and maintainability
* Work directly with central government stakeholders, shaping technical solutions and clarifying requirements
Key Behaviours
* Collaborates effectively with others to review specifications and uses agreed standards and tools to design, code, test, correct and document programmes of medium to high complexity
* Can prioritise and define approaches to understanding user stories, guiding others in doing so
* Applies a modern standards-based approach competently and guides team members in adopting best practices
* Provides technical leadership, coaching and mentoring to support the team’s professional development
* Sees the bigger architectural picture, understanding how services fit together and making recommendations to get the best from underlying platforms and systems
Essential Skills
* Expert in Software Engineering best practices
* Full understanding of the software development lifecycle (SDLC)
* Ability to define comprehensive test plans and strategies
* Experience in both functional and non-functional testing
* Development and maintenance of automated test suites
* Experience with Docker and containerisation
* Expert in TDD and BDD
* Strong understanding of microservice architecture and API principles
* Experience with AWS and Infrastructure-as-Code (desirable: Terraform)
* Experience building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines (desirable: GitLab CI)
* Strong experience with Java 11/17/21 and the Spring Boot framework
* Active SC Security Clearance, required for accessing production logs
Hybrid Working
* Based in Newcastle 2 days per week for the first 3 months
* Potential to reduce office presence thereafter depending on project requirements
Why Amber Labs?
* Join highly skilled teams delivering meaningful public sector digital projects
* Strong commitment to continuous learning and technical development
* Inclusive culture that values collaboration, innovation and diversity
* Competitive salary and benefits package