Technical Lead (Java, Banking)

We are looking for a seasoned engineering leader to support the modernization of a large-scale enterprise platform within a regulated financial services environment. The role will initially focus on engineering hygiene improvements, helping reduce technical complexity, improve maintainability, and establish stronger engineering practices. Beyond the initial stabilization and clean-up phase, the individual will play a key role in shaping the target architecture and guiding a phased modernization journey. This position requires a strong combination of technical leadership, architectural thinking, stakeholder management, and hands-on engineering experience 

Key Responsibilities 

Engineering Excellence & Platform Improvement 

• Lead engineering hygiene and code quality improvement initiatives 

• Assess and reduce technical debt across the application landscape 

• Define and implement improvements to:  

• Engineering standards and practices 

• Branching and version control strategy 

• Release management processes 

• Development lifecycle governance 

• Quality assurance and testing practices 

• Identify and prioritize quick wins that deliver immediate business and engineering value 

Modernization Strategy & Architecture 

• Contribute to the definition of target architecture and modernization roadmap 

• Assess application landscape, dependencies, integrations, and business-critical workflows 

• Recommend modernization approaches and implementation sequencing 

• Balance technical improvements with business priorities and operational constraints 

• Support phased transformation planning and execution 

Stakeholder Engagement & Advisory 

• Act as a trusted advisor to both technology and business stakeholders 

• Facilitate architecture reviews and decision-making sessions 

• Communicate technical findings in clear business language 

• Challenge assumptions and provide pragmatic recommendations 

• Build alignment across engineering, architecture, product, and business teams 

Technical Leadership 

• Provide technical direction and governance to delivery teams 

• Mentor engineers and promote engineering best practices 

• Drive consistency, maintainability, and long-term sustainability 

• Ensure recommendations are actionable and aligned with strategic objectives 

Required Experience 

• 10+ years of software engineering experience 

• Proven track record leading modernization or transformation initiatives for large enterprise applications 

• Strong software architecture and solution design expertise 

• Experience improving engineering practices within complex environments 

• Demonstrated success reducing technical debt and improving platform maintainability 

• Experience working within banking, financial services, fintech, insurance, or other regulated industries 

Technical Expertise 

The ideal candidate should have strong experience across multiple areas of the modern enterprise application landscape: 

• Deep expertise in Java-based enterprise applications and distributed systems 

• Strong understanding of modern application architectures and integration patterns 

• Experience modernizing legacy platforms and reducing technical debt 

• Strong database and data modelling knowledge, ideally within Oracle environments 

• Experience with messaging and event-driven architectures 

• Familiarity with modern frontend frameworks and API-driven architectures 

• Good understanding of application security, authentication and identity management 

• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, containerized platforms and cloud-native practices 

• Experience defining engineering standards, release strategies and development governance 

• Familiarity with AI-assisted software engineering tools and modern developer productivity practices is a strong advantage 

Stakeholder & Leadership Skills 

The successful candidate must be comfortable operating at both strategic and delivery levels. Key capabilities include: 

• Strong executive and stakeholder communication skills 

• Ability to influence technical and business decisions 

• Ability to translate technical complexity into business impact 

• Strong consulting mindset and problem-solving skills 

• Ability to drive consensus across multiple stakeholder groups