Mid-Level Java Full-Stack / API Developer, Federal Civilian Programs, Remote (East Coast)

Mid-Level Java Full-Stack / API Developer, Federal Civilian Programs, Remote (East Coast)

Summary:

• Job Title: Mid-Level Java Full-Stack / API Developer
  
• Level: Mid-level (approximately 3–6 years of professional software development experience)
  
• Security Clearance: U.S. citizenship required. Requirement depends on program. CBP: must be able to obtain and maintain a CBP Public Trust; an existing DHS Public Trust is preferred. Department of State: active Secret clearance required.
  
• Work Type: Remote: East Coast working hours, with travel approximately once per quarter; candidates in the Washington, DC area preferred
  
• Job Type: Full-time
  
• Agency name: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security, or U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, depending on program
  
• Start Date: Immediate. Start follows a favorable suitability determination (CBP) or clearance verification (State) and completion of customer onboarding.
  

BizFirst is assisting our client with recruiting a skilled and experienced Mid-Level Java Full-Stack / API Developer. Our client is the prime contractor and incumbent on federal civilian programs at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Department of State. The developer builds modern, secure, cloud-native enterprise applications for these programs using Java, Spring Boot, REST APIs, relational databases, enterprise messaging, and modern front-end technologies. The work covers the full application lifecycle, from database development and API-first design with OpenAPI to event-driven integration with JMS and Apache Kafka, automated testing, Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD, and API/developer portals built with React and/or Angular. Experience with AI-assisted development and automated test-case generation is highly desirable. The role is fully remote on East Coast hours and requires U.S. citizenship.

Our client is an IT solutions and services company based in Alpharetta, Georgia, founded in 2000 to build mission-critical systems that run around the clock. Its cloud experts design and build cloud infrastructure on AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, with work spanning cloud strategy and architecture, cloud modernization and engineering, security and compliance, cloud DevOps, and data and analytics. Federal civilian agencies are a core part of that work, supported through a GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract, and the company is an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner.

What will you do

Build enterprise applications from the database to the browser. You will design schemas and write SQL, build Java and Spring Boot services, define REST APIs in OpenAPI first, connect systems through JMS and Kafka messaging, automate testing, package services in Docker, and deploy them to Kubernetes through CI/CD pipelines. You will also build the API/developer portals and React or Angular front ends that help developers find and use those APIs. You will work across synchronous REST integration and asynchronous, event-driven architectures, troubleshoot issues across applications, databases, messaging platforms, and cloud-native infrastructure, and collaborate with DevOps, platform engineering, UX, API, and backend teams.

Responsibilities:

• Design, develop, test, and maintain enterprise applications, microservices, and backend services using Java and Spring Boot, applying established design patterns, secure coding practices, and development standards.
  
• Build data-access components with Spring Data, JPA/Hibernate, and JDBC, and develop synchronous and asynchronous integrations between enterprise applications.
  
• Design and implement secure, production-grade RESTful APIs using an API-first approach: create and maintain OpenAPI definitions, and generate or integrate API clients, server interfaces, documentation, validation, and test artifacts from them.
  
• Apply consistent API standards for versioning, error handling, authentication, authorization, pagination, and observability, and take part in API design and governance reviews.
  
• Develop event-driven and message-based integrations with JMS and Apache Kafka using Spring JMS and Spring Kafka, including producers, consumers, listeners, topics, queues, and event-processing components across publish/subscribe and point-to-point patterns.
  
• Build resilient messaging with sound acknowledgment, retry, timeout, error-handling, and dead-letter queue/topic (DLQ/DLT) strategies, accounting for message ordering, delivery semantics, idempotency, duplicate messages, and consumer concurrency.
  
• Work with Kafka topics, partitions, consumer groups, offsets, serialization, and schema management; monitor messaging flows, consumer lag, and failed messages; and apply security controls to messaging and event-streaming solutions.
  
• Design and optimize relational database components in PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL, or similar platforms, including logical and physical data models, normalization, schemas, views, indexes, constraints, stored procedures, and SQL queries; manage transactions, locking, isolation levels, connection pooling, and concurrency; and version schema changes with Flyway or Liquibase.
  
• Develop unit, integration, API, database, messaging, and regression tests, including tests for Kafka/JMS producers, consumers, and event-driven workflows, and run them automatically in CI/CD pipelines.
  
• Use automated and AI-assisted approaches to generate test cases, test data, and test scenarios, working with API testing and automation technologies such as Arazzo or similar tools.
  
• Package applications with Docker, build optimized container images, and deploy, operate, and troubleshoot them on Kubernetes using Deployments, Services, ConfigMaps, Secrets, Ingress, and health probes.
  
• Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, Azure DevOps, Harness, or similar) that integrate builds, automated tests, database migrations, security scanning, container builds, and Kubernetes deployments, and promote releases from development through production.
  
• Build and maintain API/developer portals with Scalar, Redocly, Swagger UI, Backstage, or similar platforms, including interactive OpenAPI documentation, API catalogs, getting-started guides, examples, and developer onboarding workflows.
  
• Develop responsive, accessible web applications and portal interfaces in React and/or Angular using JavaScript/TypeScript, HTML, and CSS, with reusable UI components integrated with REST APIs.
  
• Troubleshoot complex application, integration, database, messaging, and performance issues, and take part in peer code reviews and continuous improvement.
  

Requirements:

• U.S. citizenship.
  
• CBP positions: able to obtain and maintain a CBP Public Trust background investigation. Department of State positions: active Secret clearance.
  
• Approximately three to six (3–6) years of professional software development experience.
  
• Strong Java programming experience and hands-on experience with Spring Boot and the Spring ecosystem.
  
• Experience designing and developing REST APIs and microservices, with working knowledge of OpenAPI/Swagger and API-first development.
  
• Experience with enterprise messaging technologies such as JMS and Apache Kafka, and an understanding of asynchronous processing and event-driven architectures.
  
• Strong SQL and relational database development experience with PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL, or comparable databases, including schema design, data modeling, SQL optimization, indexing, and transactions.
  
• Experience using JPA/Hibernate, Spring Data, and/or JDBC.
  
• Experience writing automated unit, integration, API, database, and messaging tests with tools such as JUnit, Mockito, and REST Assured.
  
• Experience with Docker and containerized application development, and working knowledge of Kubernetes.
  
• Experience with automated CI/CD pipelines, Git, and modern source-control workflows.
  
• Experience developing web applications with React and/or Angular, and working knowledge of JavaScript and/or TypeScript.
  
• Understanding of application, API, messaging, and database security principles.
  
• Strong debugging, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills.
  
• Able to work remotely on East Coast hours and travel approximately once per quarter.
  

Desired Skills

• Experience with Spring Kafka and Spring JMS.
  
• Experience with Kafka consumer groups, partitioning, schema management, retries, and dead-letter topics.
  
• Experience with JMS-compatible messaging platforms such as IBM MQ, ActiveMQ, or Artemis.
  
• Experience with automated or AI-assisted test-case generation, and knowledge of Arazzo or comparable API testing and automation solutions.
  
• Experience with Flyway or Liquibase.
  
• Experience developing or maintaining API/developer portals with Scalar, Redocly, Swagger UI, Backstage, or similar technologies.
  
• Experience with AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.
  
• Experience deploying Spring Boot applications to Kubernetes, and familiarity with Helm and Kubernetes deployment automation.
  
• Understanding of OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, JWT, and API authentication and authorization.
  
• Familiarity with API gateways and API management platforms.
  
• Experience with application, database, API, and messaging observability.
  
• Familiarity with DevSecOps practices and automated security scanning.