At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and develop resilient Java backend services for our innovative workplace platform.
- Company: Join Spica, a fast-growing tech company revolutionising workplace experiences.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive salary, flexible working, and 25 days annual leave plus your birthday off.
- Other info: Collaborative culture with opportunities for growth and learning in a dynamic environment.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on cutting-edge technology that shapes the future of work.
- Qualifications: 4+ years in backend engineering with strong Java and API development skills.
The predicted salary is between 65000 - 90000 £ per year.
As a Senior Java Backend Engineer at Spica, you will help shape the services, integrations, and platform foundations behind GemEx, our workplace experience platform used to connect people, buildings, data, and workplace technology. This is a senior engineering role with real influence: you will design resilient backend services, contribute to architectural decisions, support production reliability, and help raise engineering standards across the team.
About Spica: Spica is a fast-growing specialist digital solution provider, combining web, desktop and mobile user experiences, systems integration, and IoT technology to help organisations make better use of emerging workplace technologies. As a PropTech business, we create digital products that improve workplace experience, building performance, and operational insight. Our GemEx platform combines Digital Twin capabilities, workplace analytics, IoT sensing technologies, and integrations with key business systems.
Our Values:
- Relentless Innovation – Everyone is encouraged to think in new ways so we are always moving forward.
- In It Together – Our job descriptions are not boundaries of limitation but a springboard for opportunities.
- People Not Numbers – We pride ourselves on nurturing long‑term partnerships, and our team is at the heart of everything we do.
- High Performing Culture – Everyone is a leader, striving for self‑actualisation at work.
- Work Balance – Working hard is only sustainable when balanced with family, friends, and relaxation.
The Role:
You will join a multidisciplinary product engineering team responsible for developing advanced workplace experience solutions across Digital Twin capabilities, IoT integrations, workplace analytics, mobile applications, and customer‑facing web experiences. Working closely with frontend engineers, mobile developers, product managers, and solution architects, you will design, build, and maintain the core backend services that power our platform. You will also play a senior role in evolving the platform architecture, improving performance and reliability, mentoring others, and supporting the adoption of modern engineering practices.
What You’ll Do:
- Backend engineering: Design, develop, test, and maintain Java backend services, RESTful APIs, integrations, relational data models, and event‑driven distributed applications.
- Architecture and reliability: Contribute to architectural decisions, platform scalability, performance, resilience, observability, deployment automation, and production readiness.
- Collaboration and delivery: Work closely with frontend, mobile, product, support, and operations teams to deliver high‑quality features and minimise customer impact during incidents.
- Engineering leadership: Lead by example through code reviews, technical design sessions, mentoring, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement of engineering practices.
Operational Support & Release Responsibilities:
Our platforms support enterprise customers across multiple regions and time zones, so reliability and operational ownership are important parts of the role. You will help maintain availability, improve observability, and support continuous improvement of production environments. This role includes participation in a shared out‑of‑hours support and release rota, including scheduled releases and occasional incident support outside normal business hours.
Experience & Qualifications:
- Strong commercial experience developing applications with Java (Java 17+ preferred).
- Experience designing and developing RESTful APIs.
- Strong understanding of microservices and event‑driven architectures.
- Strong experience with messaging platforms such as Kafka.
- Strong SQL skills and experience with JDBC.
- Experience with relational databases such as MySQL or PostgreSQL.
- Experience writing automated tests, including unit, integration, and contract tests.
- Experience with Git and modern CI/CD pipelines.
- Understanding of containerisation technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes.
- Experience working within Agile delivery teams.
- Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
- Ability to learn quickly, take initiative, and work independently.
- Exposure to Angular and TypeScript.
- Experience with Apache Ignite or distributed caching technologies.
- Experience with Apache Cassandra.
- Experience with AWS cloud services.
- Experience with infrastructure as code tools such as Terraform.
- Experience with observability tooling such as CloudWatch, Prometheus, Grafana, or OpenTelemetry.
- Experience with OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, and modern identity platforms.
- Experience working on SaaS or cloud‑native products.
How We Build Software:
- Agile product squads with two‑week sprint cycles.
- Peer‑reviewed pull requests.
- Automated testing and CI/CD pipelines.
- Infrastructure as code.
- Cloud‑native architecture on AWS.
- Observability‑first mindset.
- Continuous learning and knowledge sharing.
What Success Looks Like in Your First 12 Months:
- Develop a strong understanding of the GemEx platform and workplace technology domain.
- Deliver production‑ready features within sprint cycles.
- Contribute to improving engineering standards, automation, and platform performance.
- Build trusted relationships across product, engineering, and customer teams.
- Identify opportunities to improve quality, scalability, reliability, and user experience.
Why You’ll Enjoy Working Here:
- A meaningful opportunity to help scale a thriving SaaS product business with a platform used in modern workplace environments.
- Autonomy and influence in a senior engineering role, with opportunities to shape architecture, engineering standards, and delivery practices.
- A friendly, encouraging, and motivating environment with a team that works hard, supports one another, and values balance.
- Access to Birmingham’s innovation ecosystem at Innovation Birmingham Science Park.
Reward & Recognition:
- Salary band: £65,000 to £90,000 dependent on experience.
- Pension in line with auto‑enrolment requirements.
- Flexible working arrangements.
- Hybrid office working.
- 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, with an additional day off for your birthday.
- Regular reviews and progression planning.
- Training opportunities in new and emerging technologies.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion:
We wholeheartedly support the principles of equality, diversity, and inclusion in employment and oppose all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, and marriage or civil partnership. If you are a backend engineer who enjoys solving complex platform challenges, building reliable services, and contributing to products that shape the future of workplace experience we would welcome your application.
Senior Java Backend Engineer in Birmingham employer: Spica Technologies
At Spica, we pride ourselves on being a forward-thinking employer that fosters a culture of relentless innovation and collaboration. As a Senior Java Backend Engineer, you will enjoy a supportive work environment that values work-life balance, offers flexible working arrangements, and provides ample opportunities for professional growth within the thriving PropTech sector in Birmingham. Join us to make a meaningful impact on workplace technology while being part of a high-performing team that prioritises both personal and collective success.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Java Backend Engineer in Birmingham
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Spica Technologies or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to Spica Technologies.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like Spica Technologies.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like Spica Technologies that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Java Backend Engineer in Birmingham
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Spica Technologies.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Spica Technologies and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at Spica Technologies
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Spica Technologies uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
