Java/ Spring Boot Developer- Upgrade & Modernization

Job Title: Java Architect / Principal Software Engineer

Location: Downtown Toronto, ON

Hire Type: Contract

Role Summary

We are looking for a Staff/Principal Software Engineer who thrives in ambiguity, builds systems from the ground up, and ships quickly. This is a highly hands-on Individual Contributor (IC) role with significant architectural influence.

The ideal candidate will be responsible for both system architecture and hands‑on implementation , working at the intersection of edge computing, backend services, AI/ML platforms, and data science .

Key Responsibilities

• Design and build end‑to‑end signal flows, including edge detection, ingestion APIs, processing, storage, and downstream routing.
• Architect edge‑layer solutions across edge‑worker runtimes and CDN‑layer compute for token detection, header manipulation, and signal capture with minimal latency impact.
• Build backend services using Java Spring Boot , including APIs, validation/normalization pipelines, data persistence, and platform foundations.
• Define integration patterns for third‑party vendors, including identity and trust providers.
• Implement JWT validation, public‑key caching, and deterministic signal ingestion.
• Build platform capabilities supporting ML inference , including structured data access layers, feature pipelines, and model‑registry integration.
• Make technology decisions around storage, transport reliability, observability, security, and governance on AWS.
• Drive rapid prototyping, demos, iterative architecture refinement, and production implementation.
• Work closely with Data Science, Product, Engineering, and partner teams.

Must-Have Skills & Experience

• 10+ years of experience building production‑grade distributed systems.
• Strong Java and Spring Boot expertise.
• Strong system design and architecture experience.
• Proven experience taking greenfield projects from 0 to 1 .
• Experience selecting technologies/frameworks and building the initial architecture from scratch.
• Hands‑on implementation experience - must be a strong coder, not an architecture‑only candidate .
• Experience building features supporting ML inference pipelines , data normalization, feature pipelines, model serving, or similar AI/data platforms.
• Strong experience with AI‑assisted development tools , such as GitHub Copilot, LLM‑powered workflows, or agentic coding assistants.
• Strong AWS experience across compute, storage, networking, and IAM.
• Experience with edge computing/CDN execution environments such as Edge Workers, CDN Functions, , or equivalent.
• Experience with microservices and event‑driven architectures.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to independently drive technical decisions in an ambiguous environment.

Critical Client Expectations

The client is specifically looking for candidates who:

• Have greenfield/0‑to‑1 project experience and have personally selected and established the technology framework.
• Are highly experienced with AI‑assisted development while remaining strong hands‑on engineers .
• Demonstrate exceptional system design and architecture capabilities.
• Have strong implementation and coding experience .
• Communicate clearly and confidently with technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Are naturally curious and probing - candidates should ask why, what, when, where, and how rather than simply agreeing with requirements.
• Can challenge assumptions, identify gaps, and propose thoughtful technical solutions.
• Thrive in a fast‑paced, startup‑like environment with evolving requirements.

Nice‑to‑Have

• Identity, trust, or security domain experience.
• Python experience for data engineering or scripting.
• Databricks or similar AI/data platform experience.
• Observability at scale, including distributed tracing, structured logging, and dashboards.
• Experience with multi‑party integration platforms or network services.
• Open‑source contributions or community involvement.