Java Tech Lead

Location: Geneva · Contract: Permanent · Assignment: long term · Rate: 80 to 100% · Start: February 2027

For one of our clients based in Geneva, we are looking for an experienced Java Tech Lead.

Context

Within the Custom Development team, you will strengthen the technical expertise among the product teams that develop and maintain Java applications used by numerous business units. You will support several teams: technical expertise, ensuring technical choices, spreading best practices in software quality and application security, contributing to communities of practice and the Java development stream.

In this context, you also play a key role in managing the obsolescence of very diverse applications with complex technical issues, handled transversally: diagnosis, migration plan, execution or management of migrations with the teams in place.

You uphold a strong requirement for data confidentiality, contribute to the team’s open source and inner source strategy, and make controlled use of AI tools assisting development.

Your missions

• Provide technical expertise to product teams: complex problems, critical components, design choices

• Ensure the technical choices of solutions and relay architects’ decisions, ensuring teams understand and apply architectural principles

• Promote software quality within teams: code reviews, testing and automation strategy, documentation compliant with the software quality plan, monitoring SonarQube indicators, managing technical debt

• Integrate application security into the development cycle: security-focused reviews, vulnerability remediation, protection of personal and sensitive data

• Manage obsolescence transversally: diagnosis (obsolete components, dependencies, vulnerabilities), prioritised migration plan, execution or management of migrations ensuring no regression

• Develop team skills: coaching, workshops, knowledge sharing; lead or contribute to communities of practice and the Java stream

• Contribute to the open source and inner source strategy: preparing code for publication, reusing existing components before rebuilding

• Promote responsible use of AI development assistance tools and share feedback

• Ensure technological watch, contribute to obsolescence monitoring and report technical risks

Education

• HES degree, computer science degree, EPF engineering diploma or federal diploma

Essential skills

• 6 years or more experience in a similar role

• Mastery of Java, JEE / Jakarta EE and the Spring ecosystem (Boot, MVC, Security, REST), including older versions still in production

• Mastery of software craftsmanship and quality: Clean Code, hexagonal architecture, DDD, TDD / BDD, integration and design patterns, testing strategy, technical debt

• Proven experience in managing obsolescence: major version upgrades (Java, JEE, Spring, Hibernate), replacement of deprecated components, handling poorly documented or tested legacy

• Demonstrated application security and data confidentiality: OWASP Top 10, vulnerability remediation (SAST / DAST / SCA), API security (OAuth2 / OIDC, SAML), personal data protection (LPD)

• Mastery of the DevOps chain and quality tools: Maven, NPM, GitLab CI, SonarQube

• Experience as a tech lead in several teams or contexts; analytical mindset and ability to identify root causes of complex problems

Appreciated skills

• 3 years or more experience in the following skills

• Mastery of SQL (Oracle 19), Hibernate / JPA and asynchronous messaging (JMS)

• Confirmed experience as a technical referent in an Agile environment, in a team of at least 5 developers

• Ability to integrate quickly into different teams, in a matrix environment, with multiple simultaneous interventions; assess the criticality of a situation and decide or escalate

A plus

• Experience publishing code as open source: licensing, repository hygiene, documentation, cleaning secrets and data before publication

• Practice of AI in software development (code and test generation, review, migration) with discernment: validating results, data protection, respecting usage rules

• Knowledge of AppSec approaches and a software quality plan; quality and flow indicators (DORA)

• Experience migrating to containerised environments (Docker, Kubernetes / OpenShift)

• Knowledge of Dynatrace, Splunk and RabbitMQ

Personal qualities

• Communication: adapt to interlocutors, simplify, be concise

• Leadership and technical coaching: lead the team towards excellence, influence and convince without hierarchical ties

• Curiosity and sharing: technological watch, rapid learning, knowledge dissemination

• Team spirit, transparency about risks and problems, openness to change

• Autonomy and sense of responsibility: take initiatives, prioritise without constant supervision

• Rigor and discretion in handling confidential information

• Pragmatism: work on code you did not author and choose the safest solution rather than the most elegant