Backend Engineer

Back End Engineer (Java) 6m contract Manchester, UK (1 days onsite, 4 days WFH) Responsibilities Design, implement, and maintain backend services. Develop scalable REST and/or GraphQL APIs. Build reliable, observable, and resilient distributed systems. Write clean, maintainable, and well-tested Java code. Troubleshoot production issues and perform root cause analysis. Improve system reliability, performance, and scalability. Participate in technical design discussions and code reviews. Contribute to CI/CD and engineering best practices. Must Have 3+ years of professional Java development. Strong knowledge of Java and Spring Boot. Experience building REST APIs. Experience with distributed systems and microservices. Experience with Kubernetes. Experience with Kafka or similar messaging systems. Experience with relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc.). Experience writing unit and integration tests. Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills. Experience with observability and monitoring tools. Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines. Understanding of scalability, reliability, and fault tolerance. Ability to quickly learn an existing architecture and deliver independently.