Full Stack Tech Lead

Full Stack Tech Lead for a contract role with a client located in Burbank, CA (Hybrid) .
Location: Burbank, CA (3X onsite - Monday, Tuesday & Thursday)

Job Details
We are seeking a Technical Project Lead with 8+ years of experience in Java EE, Spring Framework, and related technologies. The ideal candidate will have balanced experience (50% front-end and 50% back-end) and preferably exposure to healthcare, pension, or related domains. This role is responsible for designing and developing technical solutions for IT projects, mentoring developers, overseeing technical teams, and ensuring all deliverables meet or exceed customer expectations.

Required Skills

• Provide technical direction and hands-on leadership throughout all phases of the development lifecycle
• Mentor team members and resolve technical challenges while ensuring alignment with business and project goals
• Ensure adherence to coding standards, architectural principles, and best practices
• Support and advocate for Agile, DevOps, and CI/CD methodologies
• Design and architect complex, secure, scalable, and high-performance software systems
• Develop and document system architectures to ensure consistency and maintainability
• Evaluate and recommend appropriate technologies, frameworks, and tools

Technical Experience

• 8+ years designing and developing multi-tier enterprise applications using Java EE and Spring
• 5+ years developing web and enterprise applications across the full Java technology stack
• 5+ years building SOA-based and RESTful services using Java, Spring, Hibernate
• 5+ years developing front-end applications using React, Angular, or Vue.js
• Strong expertise in Spring Boot and Spring Cloud
• Experience with MariaDB/MySQL, Kafka, ESB/API Gateways, and event-streaming platforms
• Experience performing technical assessments of existing systems
• Experience with testing frameworks: JUnit, Mockito, Cucumber, Jasmine, Karma
• Strong knowledge of object-oriented and functional programming paradigms

Soft Skills

• Ability to translate complex business requirements into effective technical solutions
• Capable of completing projects with minimal supervision
• Strong collaboration skills with a positive, empathetic, and solution-oriented mindset
• Proven experience working in fast-paced Agile/Scrum environments
• Experience managing and collaborating with onshore and offshore teams
• Excellent analytical, critical-thinking, and interpersonal skills

Preferred Skills

• Database programming using SQL with MySQL and Oracle
• Ability to convert user stories into technical tasks
• Experience with deployment strategies for distributed and multi-tier applications
• Ability to create UML diagrams and flowcharts using Visio or similar tools
• Pension domain experience is a strong plus
• Experience with BPM and ECM

Role Overview
We are seeking a Lead Solution / Technical Design Lead to support a large-scale modernization initiative for a core pension application within a healthcare/pension organization.
This role is not a hands-on coding position. It is a design, solutioning, and technical leadership role responsible for bridging business requirements and offshore execution teams. The ideal candidate is a strong problem-solver with a learning mindset, ownership mentality, and the ability to lead through ambiguity.
Business Context
" Core pension platform is 20+ years old
" Organization is modernizing 5 6 core applications

• The role may require them to code at times. Attitude is very important in this role a willingness to learn and grow w the organization

" Modernization includes:
" Technical transformation (SOA, microservices, modern stack)
" Functional transformation (process redesign, streamlining workflows)
" This role supports one of the largest and most complex modernization efforts
Team & Delivery Model
" Hybrid onsite offshore model
Shift-left approach: Requirements, design, and solutioning occur onsite; execution is offshore.
Key Responsibilities
" Partner with BSAs and business stakeholders to understand functional requirements
" Translate requirements into:
" Functional designs
" Technical solution designs
" Own and document solution architecture and design artifacts
" Guide offshore development and QA teams during execution
" Serve as the primary escalation point for technical and functional roadblocks
" Mentor developers and QA leads
" Support proofs of concept (POCs) when needed
" Drive teams toward successful execution and delivery
" Demonstrate ownership, curiosity, and proactive problem-solving

Required Experience & Skills
Experience
" 8+ years of overall software development experience (guideline)
" 5+ years in a technical lead or solution lead role
" Experience designing enterprise applications in complex environments
" Comfortable leading teams without direct authority
Frontend
" Strong experience with Angular (preferred)
" React or Vue acceptable
Backend
" Java
" Spring ecosystem:
" Spring Boot
" Spring Batch
" Spring Security
" SOA and microservices architecture
Database
" MySQL Enterprise
Additional Technologies (Nice to Have)
" Kafka / event streaming
" Rules engines (Kotlin-based preferred)
" Workflow systems (Camunda)
" ETL and data migration concepts
" CI/CD tools (Bitbucket, Jenkins)
" Monitoring tools (Grafana, Prometheus)
Testing & Quality
" Familiarity with:
" JUnit
" Mockito (preferred)
" Cucumber (nice to have)
" Deep expertise in all testing tools is not required
Cloud & Infrastructure
" Core pension application remains on-prem
" Select components moving to cloud (e.g., workflow, MDM, content management)
" Cloud provider (AWS vs Azure) not finalized