Software Architect (Java) (JHB)
IT – Software Development
Johannesburg – Gauteng – South Africa
ENVIRONMENT:
A leading global digital solutions technology company based in Johannesburg is seeking a highly experienced and proactive Software Architect to spearhead the design and development of scalable, robust, and cloud-native systems. The ideal candidate will bring approximately 15 years of industry experience, including a minimum of 5 years in a software architecture role. This role requires deep expertise in Java, particularly with recent versions (Java 17/21+), along with strong hands-on coding skills. Proven proficiency in modern architectural patterns and extensive experience with AWS cloud services are essential for success in this position.
DUTIES:
- Lead the architecture, design, and development of large-scale, distributed systems.
- Work closely with product and engineering teams to define architecture blueprints and technology roadmaps.
- Develop high-level and low-level design documents.
- Be hands-on with coding in Java (latest versions) and guide teams on best practices.
- Drive adoption of modern architecture principles like Microservices, Event-Driven Architecture, CQRS, and SAGA patterns.
- Define and enforce coding standards, performance tuning, and best practices.
- Select appropriate AWS services and design cloud-native architectures with cost, scalability, and security in mind.
- Conduct design and code reviews to ensure quality and performance.
- Mentor and guide engineering teams on architectural decisions and technical challenges.
- Stay updated with new Java features, AWS services, and emerging architectural trends.
REQUIREMENTS:
Required Skills & Qualifications:
- ~15 years of software development experience with at least 5 years in a software architect role.
- Strong expertise in Java, including recent versions (Java 17/21+), with hands-on coding ability.
- In-depth experience in designing and implementing microservices-based systems.
- Strong understanding of architectural patterns like CQRS, Event Sourcing, SAGA, and Domain-Driven Design (DDD).
- Extensive experience with AWS cloud ecosystem – services like EC2, S3, Lambda, SNS/SQS, API Gateway, RDS/DynamoDB, CloudFormation, etc.
- Familiarity with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes, ECS/EKS).
- Strong system design and problem-solving skills.
- Proficiency in CI/CD tools and DevOps practices.
- Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Experience in leading technical teams and mentoring developers.
Preferred Qualifications:
- AWS Certification (Solutions Architect – Associate/Professional) is a plus.
- Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform or AWS CDK.
- Exposure to data streaming platforms like Kafka is a bonus.
- Background in performance optimization, scalability, and security best practices.
Desired Skills:
Knowledge of AI and Emerging Technologies (Good to have)
- Understanding of how AI capabilities can be integrated into enterprise applications to enhance user experience, decision-making, and automation.
- Exposure to modern AI application patterns such as:
- Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) for augmenting LLMs with domain-specific knowledge.
- Prompt engineering and fine-tuning for tailoring model behavior to business-specific contexts.
- Use of embedding stores and vector databases (e.g., Pinecone, Redis, Azure AI Search) to support semantic search and recommendation systems.
- Building intelligent features like AI-powered chatbots, assistants, and question-answering systems using LLMs and conversational agents.
- Awareness of agentic AI concepts — orchestrating multiple agents with specific tasks/goals in a collaborative, dynamic environment.
- Familiarity with tools and frameworks that enable LLM-based integrations such as LangChain, Semantic Kernel, or Azure OpenAI.
- Appreciation for ethical AI considerations including data privacy, security, and bias mitigation.
- Eagerness to explore emerging technologies and collaborate with AI/ML teams to bring intelligence into real-world business workflows