FX Risk Lead Java Developer + AI (VP) in Kennington

Job ID: Posted: Location: London, England, United KingdomCategory: TechnologyCompany: CitiFX Risk Lead Java Developer + AI (VP)Engineer the future of global finance. At Citi, our Tech team doesn’t just support finance – we are helping to redefine it. Every day, $5 trillion crosses through our network. We do business in 180+ countries operating at a scale few can match. From deploying advanced AI to helping shape global markets, we build systems that matter. Look to join a team where your work helps influence economies, your ideas can drive innovation and outcomes, and your growth is backed by mentorship, continuous learning and flexibility with potential hybrid work opportunities. Help solve real-world challenges that touch millions and get the opportunity to build the future of finance with Citi Tech.What We do / The TeamThis isn't just another Java developer role. As a Lead Java Developer – Vice President within Citi's FX Risk technology team, you'll be at the intersection of high-stakes financial engineering and the next generation of AI-powered software development.At Citi, we are actively redefining how technology drives global finance — every day, $5 trillion crosses our network. You'll architect and deliver the systems that power real-time FX risk management for one of the world's largest financial institutions, working in an environment where AI is not a future ambition — it's how we work today.You'll have hands-on access to Citi's internal GenAI ecosystem: from GitHub Copilot and Devin.AI for agentic code generation, to Citi Squad for automated code reviews, to Stylus Workspaces — Citi's in-house GenAI platform powered by top-tier LLMs including Gemini, OpenAI, Claude, Llama, and local models. You'll use Prompt Engineering, Workflow Design, and GenAI Optimisation techniques as part of your everyday engineering practice.This is the next generation of Lead Java Development — where your engineering instincts are amplified by AI, your decisions shape a strategically critical platform, and your impact is felt across global markets.Role Overview/What will you do:Lead end-to-end delivery of complex, high-performance Java applications supporting FX risk management across global marketsArchitect scalable, low-latency solutions that process real-time risk data at scale — designing for resilience, performance, and security from day oneDrive technical direction and key decisions — from system design and architectural choices to setting engineering standards across the teamTranslate complex business requirements into robust, high-quality code — working closely with quantitative analysts, traders, and business stakeholdersCraft high-quality, scalable software in an agile environment, leveraging AI-powered coding tools to accelerate delivery without compromising standardsShare expertise and raise the bar — act as a technical reference point for the team, influencing engineering quality through example, guidance, and knowledge sharing (this is an individual contributor role with no direct reports)Champion innovation — actively evaluate, propose, and adopt new technologies and frameworks; this team has the mandate and appetite to bring in better toolsOwn quality — participate in mandatory cross-team code reviews, supported by Citi Squad AI reviewers and peer engineers, ensuring adherence to security, quality, and compliance standardsOperate in production — take ownership of L3 production support issues, provide timely resolutions, and deliver long-term remediation fixes that address root causes — not just symptomsSupport testing cycles and post-production deployment — from writing TDD-first code to validating releases in a weekly cadenceContribute to Citi's technology strategy, influencing how the firm approaches risk technology at a global scaleYour AI-Powered ToolkitAt Citi, almost all of our 240,000 staff have access to AI tools — and our engineering teams are at the forefront of that adoption. Our FX Risk team has been actively using Citi's internal AI ecosystem for over a year. These are live, battle-tested tools embedded into our daily engineering workflow — not pilots, not promises:Coding & Code GenerationGitHub Copilot — multi-model AI coding assistant (GPT, Claude, Gemini) integrated directly into your IDE for code completion, generation, and explanationDevin.AI — agentic code generation for complex, multi-step development tasksPrompt Engineering & GenAI Optimisation — techniques actively used to get the best out of every model in the stackCode Review & QualityCiti Squad — Citi's internal automated code review platform, catching issues before they reach productionAI-assisted cross-team peer reviews — mandatory, structured, and supported by tooling that flags security risks, missing tests, and policy violationsLLMs & Stylus WorkspacesLarge Language Models: Gemini, OpenAI, Claude, Llama, and Local ModelsStylus Workspaces — Citi's in-house GenAI platform (powered by Gemini), connected to internal systems including Jira, GitHub, Slack, and Teams — enabling agentic AI workflows across the SDLCDeployment & DevOpsEnterprise DevOps Pipeline — CI/CD with JIRA, Zephyr, GitHub, Harness, ArtifactoryContainer orchestration: Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShiftMonitoring Tooling — production observability built in from day oneThis is what it means to be a next-generation Lead Java Developer at Citi.The Platform You'll Be Building OnThis role is centred around a greenfield application — built from scratch, now 3 years in production, and with a 10+ year strategic commitment from the business. You won't be wrestling with decades of legacy code. Instead, you'll be:Working on a modern, purposefully designed codebase that the team is proud of — with wide exposure to technologies across all aspects of the SDLCContributing to a platform with long-term investment and roadmap certainty — this is not a project, it's a strategic productEmpowered to introduce and champion new technologies — the team has a genuine mandate to evolve the stack, not just maintain itDelivering weekly releases in a structured Scrum environment with daily stand-ups, keeping the team aligned and shipping consistentlyBenefiting from structured learning paths, mentorship, and continuous development — your growth is backed by the team and the wider Citi engineering communityGaining exposure to cloud strategy — contributing to cloud adoption initiatives, deploying Citi APIs on AWS and AzureWorking with event streaming and messaging systems including Kafka, Flink, and Solace at enterprise scaleThis is a rare opportunity in financial services — a stable, well-funded platform with the freedom to keep building it better, backed by one of the world's most ambitious technology organisations.Key Skills and Experience requiredProven hands-on Java development experience with strong focus on Core Java and multithreading in high-load, high-throughput systemsDeep understanding of JVM performance optimisation — memory profiling, GC tuning, and squeezing performance where it countsSolid grasp of distributed systems architecture and in-memory computing conceptsProven production experience with Apache Ignite — you've used it at scale, not just evaluated itStrong MongoDB skills — CRUD operations, indexing strategies, and performance tuning in production environmentsDeep SQL knowledge and query optimisation in Oracle — you know how to make queries fast and keep them that waySolid experience with messaging technologies — Apache Kafka and/or SolaceProficiency in Linux environments and scripting — comfortable on the command line and automating where it mattersExperience deploying and maintaining applications on cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or similar)A genuine passion for Test-Driven Development (TDD) — you write tests first and mean itReadiness to engage in L3 production support and own release activities end-to-endAny Beneficial / Nice to have skills and experience:Experience in financial services technology, particularly in risk, trading, or capital marketsFamiliarity with FX products — spot, forwards, options, or derivativesUnderstanding of real-time risk calculation systems or market data platformsExposure to low-latency, high-throughput distributed systemsThis job description provides a high-level review of the types of work performed. Other job-related duties may be assigned as required.What we’ll provide youBy joining Citi, you will not only be part of a business casual workplace with a hybrid working model (up to 2 days working at home per week), but also receive a competitive base salary (which is annually reviewed), and enjoy a whole host of additional benefits such as:27 days annual leave (plus