API Lead

Dice is the leading career destination for tech experts at every stage of their careers. Our client, Photon, is seeking the following. Apply via Dice today! Position: API Lead Location: Plano, TX - Onsite Type: Contract / Full time Description: We are seeking an experienced Senior Java Spring Boot Developer to join our team in designing and building next-generation, microservices-based solutions. You will play a critical role in the entire software development lifecycle, from domain modeling and architecture to coding, testing, and deployment. If you excel at tackling complex technical challenges, value high-quality code, and thrive in a fast-paced, agile environment, we d love to have you on board. Key Responsibilities Architecture & Design Lead the design and implementation of microservices using Spring Boot and other Spring technologies (Spring Data, Spring Cloud, Spring Security, etc.). Apply Domain-Driven Design (DDD) principles to define bounded contexts, ubiquitous language, and domain models that align with business capabilities. Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Architects, DevOps, QA, Product Owners) to ensure scalable, resilient, and maintainable solutions. Hands-On Development Write clean, efficient, and testable Java code following best practices and coding standards. Implement RESTful APIs (Level 2 or Level 3) with robust data contracts, versioning strategies, and error-handling conventions. Build and maintain unit, integration, and end-to-end test suites, ensuring high code coverage and reliability. Performance & Reliability Analyze system performance and optimize application code, database queries, and resource utilization to meet SLAs. Utilize caching, messaging, and other architectural patterns (e.g., Circuit Breaker, Retry) for fault tolerance and high availability. Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) Integrate code into CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI, or Azure DevOps) for automated builds, tests, and deployments. Collaborate with DevOps engineers to containerize services using Docker and manage deployments with Kubernetes or similar orchestration tools. Collaboration & Leadership Participate in agile ceremonies (daily stand-ups, sprint planning, retrospectives), providing technical leadership and insights to the team. Proactively identify risks, bottlenecks, and technical debt, proposing innovative solutions to maintain project momentum. Documentation & Knowledge Sharing Maintain clear and comprehensive documentation of code, architecture, design decisions, and domain models. Share knowledge and promote a culture of continuous learning and improvement within the engineering team. Qualifications Education & Experience Bachelor s or Master s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience). 12 15+ years of professional software development experience, with a strong focus on Java (Java 8+). 7+ years working with Spring Boot in microservices architectures. Technical Expertise Proven experience in Domain-Driven Design (DDD), including the ability to define bounded contexts and domain models effectively. Strong knowledge of RESTful API development, JSON/XML payloads, and API versioning best practices. Experience with Spring Data JPA, SQL/NoSQL databases, and best practices for data persistence and caching. Familiarity with cloud services (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform) and container technologies (Docker, Kubernetes) is a plus. Hands-on experience with CI/CD tools and processes, as well as test-driven development (TDD) and behavior-driven development (BDD) methods. Soft Skills Excellent communication and collaboration skills, able to articulate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Strong problem-solving and analytical skills, with the ability to handle complex tasks and troubleshoot effectively. A leadership mindset capable of mentoring team members, driving best practices, and influencing architectural decisions. Bonus Skills Experience with event-driven architectures (RabbitMQ, Kafka). Advanced knowledge of observability (monitoring, logging, tracing) and performance tuning at scale. Familiarity with security best practices (OAuth2, JWT, encryption, etc.).