Senior Java Developer - High Load Platform

About the role

Aquila Software Solutions Ltd is a Malta-based software engineering firm specialising in scalable backend platforms for iGaming and payments. We work with international operators and service providers, delivering high-availability services that handle millions of transactions per day. Our engineering teams are small, cross-functional and focused on quality, observability and continuous delivery.

The Senior Java Developer will take ownership of core services: designing resilient microservices, improving performance under load, and guiding best practices across the stack. You'll collaborate closely with product managers, QA and DevOps to define roadmaps and deliver measurable improvements in latency, throughput and fault tolerance. The role offers real impact, technical autonomy and exposure to international customers.

This position suits an engineer who enjoys system design, mentoring other developers and working in a fast-paced but structured environment. We offer hybrid working from our Sliema/Gżira office, continuous training, and opportunities to progress into technical lead or architect roles within the company.

About Aquila Software Solutions Ltd

Aquila Software Solutions Ltd is a mid-sized Maltese technology provider focused on backend engineering for iGaming, fintech and enterprise clients. Founded by engineers, the company emphasises robust architecture, observability and sustainable engineering practices.

What you can expect

• Hybrid work model with central Sliema/Gżira office
• Competitive salary and performance bonus
• Training budget and conference allowances
• Private health insurance contribution
• Clear technical progression to Lead/Architect roles

Key responsibilities

• Design, implement and maintain high-throughput Java microservices using modern frameworks (Spring Boot preferred).
• Lead performance tuning and capacity planning: profiling, load testing and optimising JVM settings.
• Architect for resilience and scalability: fault tolerance patterns, circuit breakers, retries and backpressure strategies.
• Collaborate with product, QA and DevOps to define SLAs, SLOs and implement observability (metrics, tracing, logging).
• Drive code quality through design reviews, automated tests, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Mentor mid and junior engineers; conduct technical onboarding and pair programming sessions.
• Integrate and operate messaging systems and event streaming platforms (e.g. Kafka) in production workflows.
• Participate in on-call rotations to support production incidents and post-incident reviews.

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional Java development experience, with recent work on backend services.
• Strong experience with Java 11+ and Spring Boot or similar frameworks.
• Proven background building and operating distributed systems under high load.
• Experience with message brokers / stream processing (Kafka, RabbitMQ or equivalent).
• Solid knowledge of relational and NoSQL databases, schema design and query optimisation.
• Familiarity with containerisation and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Experience with CI/CD tools and pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, etc.).
• Fluent English (written and spoken); Maltese is a plus but not required.
• Right to work in Malta or ability to obtain local work authorization.

How to apply

Send your CV, a short cover note describing relevant high-load systems experience, and links to GitHub or technical work. Include your current notice period and salary expectations.