Senior Software Engineer (Java / Spring)
Ocho People | Technology Recruitment
• Senior Software Engineer role at a next generation payments platform company with a merchant first philosophy
• Java and Spring focused across back end, service and portal systems on a large scale payments codebase
• AI assisted engineering is a genuine expectation here, not an afterthought
• Small teams, big ownership — no bureaucracy, no needless process
• Salary up to £60,000
About the Company
Our client is a next generation payments technology company building the infrastructure that powers a merchant first ecosystem. They are a curious, driven and pragmatic team who believe in outcomes over outputs — focused, empowered engineers working on real problems for real merchants. Their platform is built on Java and the Spring framework, with Hibernate and Oracle for persistence, JAX-RS for REST APIs and JMS for asynchronous processing. It is a large, long-lived and actively modernised codebase, and the environment is deliberately designed to let engineers focus on technical challenges rather than process or bureaucracy. This is a business that genuinely invests in the growth and development of its people.
The Role
This is a Senior Software Engineer position responsible for the design and development of back end, service and portal systems that reside on the payments processing platform. You will work across a variety of projects and team configurations — from solo ownership through to collaborative delivery within a larger group — and will engage with a range of languages, frameworks, libraries and services. You will be expected to build quality into every stage of the software lifecycle, contribute to planning and estimation, assist with deployment activities and actively improve development processes and tooling through automation and simplification. AI assisted development is a core expectation of this role, not optional — strong judgement in how and when to apply these tools is treated as a fundamental engineering skill.
Key Responsibilities
• Design and develop back end, service and portal systems across the payments processing platform
• Understand merchant and partner needs and deliver high quality, innovative solutions that address them
• Build quality into all stages of the software lifecycle with a focus on end user observable and testable system behaviours
• Collaborate with team members to ensure deliverables are technically accurate and delivered on time
• Identify critical activities and tasks, assist with estimation and planning, and communicate status accurately
• Assist with software deployment to internal test environments and production data centre
• Improve software development processes, methodologies and tooling through applied experience and automation
• Use AI assisted coding tools such as Claude Code with strong judgement — applying them to work faster and raise quality
• Contribute beyond assigned tasks and adjust priorities when appropriate
What You'll Need
Essential:
• 5 to 7 years of experience in a software engineering position
• Professional experience building server side systems in Java using the Spring framework, REST APIs and asynchronous messaging
• Understanding of Linux or Windows development including relational database design, ideally with Oracle and Hibernate
• Experience with design patterns, refactoring, OO design and related areas
• Comfortable working in large, multi-module codebases and balancing new feature delivery with ongoing modernisation
• Proficiency with AI assisted coding tools and a genuine interest in using agentic AI to work faster and raise quality
• Strong analytical, problem solving and organisational skills
• Self starter who can operate independently or as part of a team depending on the project
• Strong communication skills and a collaborative, professional approach
• Degree in Computer Science or a related field
Why Apply?
• Salary up to £60,000
• Small teams with big ownership — empowered to solve problems your way without needless process
• Active investment in your development and growth as an engineer
• Genuine AI first engineering culture where tooling is embraced as a core skill
• A large, well established and actively modernised codebase — technically interesting at scale
• Outcomes over outputs — a business that measures what matters and trusts its engineers to deliver
• Collaborative, curious team culture where ideas and insights are shared and valued
How to Apply
For a confidential conversation about this opportunity, please reach out to Nick Napier directly on LinkedIn or submit your CV via the link below.
