Java Engineer at Mindera, London Paddington/Remote, 3 Months, £Contract Rate (Outside IR35)

We are looking for a Staff Engineer with deep experience in Java and payment processing to join us on a three month rolling contract that sits outside IR35. You must be able to work onsite at the client office two days a week. The client office is located in Paddington, London.

What does the role involve?

Technical Leadership & System Architecture:

• Lead the design and delivery of scalable, resilient systems that integrate with Payment Service Providers (PSPs).
• Own and drive architectural decisions and influence engineering best practices across teams on multiple projects.
• Guide and work across teams on system design patterns, event-driven architecture, and secure development practices.
• Lead technical deep dives and knowledge sharing in the teams, anticipating challenges and proposing solutions
• Start influencing product and business decisions

Hands-on Software Development:

• Write high-quality Java code using frameworks such as Spring Boot or Micronaut.
• Build robust services that support secure, high-volume payment transactions.
• Develop integrations with acquiring banks, payment gateways, and fraud detection tools.

Cloud & DevOps Practices:

• Build and support cloud-native systems on the cloud (preferably Azure) using Terraform and Kubernetes.
• Manage CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions and ensure smooth delivery to production.
• Own monitoring, alerting, and observability, using tools like OpenTelemetry and Dynatrace.

Security & Compliance:

• Ensure systems are compliant with PCI DSS, PSD2, and SCA.
• Champion secure coding practices and data protection across services.

Collaboration & Mentoring:

• Work closely with product owners, engineering leads, and other stakeholders to shape technical solutions.
• Mentor and support more junior/mid/senior engineers, driving technical excellence across the board.
• Help establish and promote best practices around code review, testing, delivery, and operational support.

Continuous Improvement:

• Continuously improve platform reliability, performance, and cost-efficiency.
• Stay up-to-date with technology trends and proactively identify innovation opportunities.

Requirements

• Proven experience as a Staff or Lead Engineer in backend-heavy environments in teams having multiple levels of engineering.
• Strong experience in Java 17+, ideally with experience in using Spring Boot or Micronaut.
• Hands-on knowledge of Kafka, event-driven architecture, enterprise integration patterns and microservices.
• Solid understanding of payment systems and PSP integrations, including fraud, tokenisation, and settlement flows.
• Experience with cloud infrastructure (Azure preferred), CI/CD, and Kubernetes.
• Working knowledge of regulatory and compliance standards (PCI DSS, SCA, PSD2).
• Strong communication skills and the ability to explain complex technical concepts to a range of audiences.
• Experience working in Agile/Scrum teams with a DevOps culture and test-driven mindset.