• Remote with ad hoc travel
• 12 month Fixed Term Contract - Salaried, not day rate
• SC Clearance required - we are unable to accept applications from candidates without active SC
At Amber Labs, we are a cutting-edge UK and European technology consultancy that empowers autonomy, promotes experimentation, and enables rapid learning to deliver exceptional value to our clients. Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do, with our cross-functional consultants, engineers, and analysts working together to shorten delivery times, minimise risk, and drive impactful results for high-profile government and commercial programmes.
About the RoleWe are seeking an experienced Lead Java Developer to join a major government programme, driving the development of scalable, cloud-native solutions using AWS and Java.
You will lead a talented engineering team, providing technical direction, mentoring, and hands-on development expertise across complex microservice architectures.
Key ResponsibilitiesProvide technical leadership and guidance to developers, ensuring best practice in coding, testing, and design.
Collaborate across teams to review specifications, design, code, test, and document programmes of medium to high complexity.
Drive adoption of modern standards and tools, mentoring others to follow suit.
Define and deliver test plans, strategies, and automated test suites.
Work with AWS and Infrastructure-as-Code principles (Terraform desirable).
Shape and optimise CI/CD pipelines (GitLab CI desirable).
See the bigger picture, identifying opportunities to improve service integration and system performance.
Proven experience leading development teams within agile environments.
Expert knowledge of Java (11/17/21) and the Spring Boot framework.
Strong understanding of microservice architecture and API principles.
Skilled in TDD/BDD, Docker, and containerisation.
Deep understanding of the software development lifecycle.
Experience with AWS cloud services.
Exposure to Infrastructure-as-Code and CI/CD pipelines.
Knowledge of functional and non-functional testing.
Eligible for or holding active SC Security Clearance (essential for production access).
Collaborates effectively, supporting peers and promoting technical excellence.
Guides others to understand user stories and define optimal solutions.
Champions modern standards and continuous improvement.
Mentors junior engineers, fostering professional growth and best practices.
Balances technical depth with strategic vision, ensuring scalable and maintainable outcomes.
At Amber Labs, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We celebrate individuality and believe that different perspectives drive innovation. Every colleague is valued, respected, and supported to thrive.
Top Skills
What We Do
Amber Labs is a partnership of highly-skilled consultants and technologists.
We specialise in the evolution of Data Engineering, Cloud and Analytics.
We focus on delivering value from our client’s data using innovative approaches that reduce risk and delivery time, and that we are constantly improving through R&D.
Amber Labs was founded on three key principles:
An employee first internal culture, through diverse investment and exciting opportunities for our team, and a partnership structure ensuring everyone has an opportunity to share in the success of Amber Labs.
Persistent analysis to identify opportunities to develop artefacts, accelerators and automation that allow rapid deployment of highly-technical solutions to the cloud or on-premise for our clients.
Consistent investment into our ADM (Amber Labs Delivery Methodology -underpinned by Agile Methodology) to ensure we maximise velocity, quality and value
