Java Team Lead will be responsible for overseeing the development of complex IT platform using Java Enterprise Edition, specifically the IDIT platform.
This role includes leading a development team, driving end-to-end project delivery, ensuring technical excellence, and fostering collaboration across business and IT stakeholders.
The successful candidate will provide both hands-on coding expertise and leadership in architecture, design, and implementation.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead a team of Java developers, providing technical guidance, mentorship, and performance management.
Self-starter who takes accountability for the team's delivery - Oversee the design and delivery of end-to-end customer projects, including UI, SQL data models, and business logic implementation.
- Architect and develop integrations with external systems (web services, APIs, and other technologies).
- Collaborate with business analysts, architects, and project managers to translate requirements into robust technical solutions.
- Review and approve technical designs, code quality, and adherence to best practices.
- Drive process improvements and adoption of modern development methodologies.
- Ensure project timelines, quality standards, and budgetary requirements are met.
Application Development
- Develop and maintain Java-based modules for policy, claims, billing, and customer management.
- Customise IDIT metadata, workflows, and UI components to meet business requirements.
- Ensure scalability, performance, and maintainability of all developed components.
- Integration & Interoperability
- Architect and implement integrations with third-party systems (e.g., payment gateways, CRM, regulatory platforms).
- Design and manage APIs (REST/SOAP) for seamless data exchange across platforms.
Requirement Analysis & Solution Design
- Collaborate with business analysts, product owners, and stakeholders to gather and refine requirements.
- Translate business needs into technical specifications and actionable development plans.
- Provide strategic input into product roadmap and platform enhancements.
Testing & Quality Assurance
- Oversee unit, integration, and regression testing strategies.
- Ensure automated testing coverage and CI/CD pipeline integration.
- Conduct code reviews and mentor developers on best practices.
Platform Configuration & Customisation
- Deeply understand and leverage IDIT's metadata-driven architecture.
- Optimise system performance, troubleshoot complex issues, and implement enhancements.
- Stay current with IDIT platform updates and industry trends.
Documentation & Governance
- Maintain comprehensive technical documentation and design artefacts.
- Ensure compliance with regulatory standards (e.g., POPIA, FSCA).
- Support audit and governance processes through traceable development practices
Performance Tuning & Optimisation
- Monitor application performance and identify bottlenecks.
- Optimise database queries, caching strategies, and service calls.
- Implement logging and monitoring tools to ensure system reliability.
Security & Compliance
- Ensure applications adhere to data protection regulations (e.g., POPIA in South Africa).
- Implement authentication, authorisation, and encryption mechanisms.
- Support audit and compliance reporting features within the platform.
Team Collaboration & Mentorship
- Lead and mentor a team of developers, fostering growth and knowledge sharing.
- Facilitate Agile ceremonies (stand-ups, sprint planning, retrospectives).
- Promote a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field
Required Experience
(relevant or in a similar role)
- Minimum 10 years in Java Enterprise Edition programming, with at least 3 years in a leadership or team lead capacity.
- Unit testing and mocking frameworks
- Proven experience in translating complex business requirements into detailed technical designs.
- Strong Object-Oriented design principles
- Strong hands-on experience with Spring Boot, Java 11+
- Solid understanding of Microservices architecture
- Proficiency with application servers (WebLogic / WebSphere / JBoss –Advantage).
- Experience with MSSQL.
- Strong understanding of software architecture, system integration, and performance optimisation.
- End to end implementation of customer projects, including UI, SQL data model and business logic implementation
- Development of interfaces with external systems (web services, other technologies)
Required Knowledge and Skills
- Strong understanding of short-term insurance products and lifecycle
- Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and leadership skills.
- EJB, SQL, Hibernate –Must; strong understanding of complex data and domain models with large-scale DB tables.
- Agile/Scrum, SDLC, CI/CD pipelines
- Ability to translate functional requirements into technical design and development tasks – Must
- Analytical thinking, communication, problem-solving, stakeholder engagement
- Experience with application server: WebLogic / WebSphere / JBoss – Advantage
- Experience working with Oracle, DB2, MSSQL (all or one of them) – Advantage
- Team player with excellent communication skills
- Spring Framework
- HTML5, JavaScript, jQuery, Spring MVC
On the job training/familiarisation time
3 months