Role Title: Backend & Event Streaming Engineer
Location: Northampton, UK
Days on site: 2-3 days per week
Role Description:
We are seeking an experienced Backend & Event Streaming Engineer to design, develop, and support highly scalable Java-based microservices and event-driven platforms. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in Java, Spring Boot, Apache Kafka, and modern DevOps practices, with a strong focus on building resilient, observable, and high-performance backend systems. This role involves ownership of the full software lifecycle, from development and testing through deployment and production support.
**Key Responsibilities**
- Design, develop, and maintain production-grade Spring Boot microservices, APIs, and event-driven applications.
- Build and optimize Kafka producers and consumers, including partitioning strategies, offset management, retries, compaction, dead-letter queues, and exactly-once processing.
- Implement advanced event-driven patterns including idempotent processing, event replay, state reconstruction, snapshot management, and multi-topic state aggregation.
- Develop secure and scalable RESTful and event-driven integrations using industry best practices.
- Create comprehensive unit, integration, and component tests following a strict Test-Driven Development (TDD) approach.
- Ensure application observability through structured logging, metrics, distributed tracing, and proactive monitoring.
- Support production environments by troubleshooting and resolving issues in distributed systems.
- Develop and maintain Docker containers, CI/CD pipelines, and automated deployment processes using GitLab.
- Collaborate closely with engineering, product, security, and platform teams to deliver reliable and scalable solutions.
- Leverage AI-assisted engineering tools responsibly to improve development efficiency while maintaining code quality and governance.
**Required Skills & Experience**
- Strong hands-on experience with Java and Spring Boot for enterprise-scale backend and microservices development.
- Deep knowledge of Apache Kafka, including consumer groups, rebalancing, offset management, partitioning, compaction, lag monitoring, and exactly-once semantics.
- Experience in event sourcing and event-driven architectures, including replay-safe processing and state management.
- Strong understanding of REST APIs, JSON Schema, and secure service-to-service communication.
- Expertise in JUnit, Maven/Gradle, mocking frameworks, and disciplined TDD practices.
- Experience with Docker, Docker Compose, and GitLab CI/CD pipelines.
- Proven ability to troubleshoot and support distributed systems in production environments.
- Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tools such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or equivalent platforms.
**Preferred Skills**
- Knowledge of CloudEvents standards and event correlation patterns.
- Experience with gRPC and high-throughput service design.
- Familiarity with observability platforms such as OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Grafana, CloudWatch, or Observe.
- Experience working within Identity & Access Management (IAM), Authorization, or Security-focused domains.
- Exposure to regulated industries such as Banking, Financial Services
Backend & Event Streaming Engineer in Northampton employer: Capgemini Europe
As a Microsoft Viva Architect in London, you will join a forward-thinking company that prioritises employee experience and innovation. With a strong commitment to professional development, our collaborative work culture fosters continuous learning and growth, while our focus on data-driven solutions ensures that your contributions have a meaningful impact. Enjoy the unique advantage of working in a vibrant city that is at the forefront of technology and business transformation.
