Job ID: JOB_ID_2257
Role Overview
We are seeking a highly experienced and visionary Java Solution Architect for a critical, long-term transformation project based in Chicago, IL. This role is designed for a technical leader with over 15 years of professional experience who can navigate complex legacy environments and lead them into a modern, cloud-native future. As a Java Solution Architect, you will not only design systems but also act as a mentor and change agent, influencing the technical direction of the entire organization. This position requires a deep understanding of the Java ecosystem, Azure cloud services, and the emerging field of AI-assisted development. You will be at the forefront of integrating tools like GitHub Copilot into the daily workflow of engineering teams, ensuring that the organization remains competitive in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.
Key Responsibilities and Transformation Leadership
- Assessment & Roadmap Creation: You will be responsible for conducting deep-dive evaluations of the current technology stack. This involves identifying technical debt, security vulnerabilities, and architectural bottlenecks. Based on these findings, you will create and execute a comprehensive transformation roadmap that aligns with business goals and modern engineering standards.
- Culture Change Agent: One of the primary challenges of this role is breaking entrenched patterns within teams that have worked on legacy systems for over a decade. You will introduce modern engineering practices such as Test-Driven Development (TDD), Pair Programming, and Agile methodologies to foster a culture of innovation and agility.
- Mentorship and Coaching: You will serve as a primary mentor for senior engineers and interns alike. By providing hands-on coaching, you will help team members transition from legacy mindsets to automation-first thinking and cloud-native principles.
AI Adoption and Engineering Innovation
- GitHub Copilot Operationalization: You will lead the charge in promoting and operationalizing AI-assisted development tools. This includes setting up the necessary infrastructure and guidelines for using GitHub Copilot across the development lifecycle.
- AI-Driven Optimization: Leverage AI tools to automate unit test generation, perform sophisticated code reviews, and optimize existing codebases for better performance and readability.
- Impact Diagnosis: Use AI-assisted tools to diagnose the impact of code changes and identify potential issues before they reach production, thereby increasing the overall quality of the software.
Technical Leadership & Hands-on Execution
- Self-Sufficient System Design: We are looking for an architect who can build systems from the ground up without needing granular instructions. You should have a natural mastery of engineering essentials, including implementing robust timeouts, retries, dead letter queues, and sophisticated error handling patterns to ensure system resiliency.
- Hands-on Development: While this is an architectural role, you will remain hands-on, writing high-quality Java code and leading by example. You will actively work on enhancing CI/CD pipelines, improving automated testing frameworks, and significantly increasing code coverage across all modules.
- Cloud & Infrastructure Ownership: You will take full ownership of Azure-related engineering tasks. This includes managing Identity and Access Management (IAM), designing horizontal and vertical scaling strategies, and implementing Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) using Terraform. You will champion the philosophy that application teams should own and manage their own infrastructure.
Operational Excellence and Resiliency Engineering
- Documentation & Knowledge Management: A key part of your role will be transitioning tribal knowledge from individuals into scalable, documented processes. You will establish engineering playbooks and best practices that serve as a foundation for all future development work.
- Resiliency & Scalability: You will architect systems that are inherently stable and capable of handling high traffic loads. Your designs will focus on minimizing production issues and increasing the overall reliability of the platform through proactive monitoring and automated recovery mechanisms.
- Stakeholder Collaboration: Work closely with product owners, security teams, and business stakeholders to ensure that technical solutions meet functional requirements while adhering to strict security and compliance standards.
Required Skills and Qualifications
- Minimum of 15 years of experience in software engineering with a focus on Java and enterprise architecture.
- Expert-level proficiency in Core Java and the Azure Public Cloud ecosystem.
- Proven experience in leading large-scale digital transformations and legacy modernization projects.
- Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot.
- Strong expertise in DevOps, CI/CD, and Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform).
- Exceptional leadership skills with the ability to mentor teams and drive cultural change.
- Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
Special Requirements
Visa: No H1B. Location: Locals Only.
Compensation & Location
Salary: $185,000 – $245,000 per year (Estimated)
Location: Chicago, IL
Recruiter / Company – Contact Information
Recruiter / Employer: Intellyk
Email: sasi.kumar@intellyk.com
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