Senior Java Backend Engineer Utrecht

Bring a new platform to serious scale that millions of people across the Netherlands rely on every day | Java 21/25, Spring Boot, Docker, AWS (native services), AI | €90.000

Utrecht
€ 90.000

Java

Spring Boot

Docker

AWS

AI-tooling

Vacancy: Senior Java Backend Engineer Utrecht

Do you get energy from distributed systems where scalability, reliability and data consistency are the real challenge?
Do you want your work to matter to society, on software that flawlessly runs essential processes for millions of people across the Netherlands?
Are you looking for a place with a very high engineering level, where cloud-native, AI, clean code and DevOps are the standard?
And do you say yes to a salary up to €90.000, a non-contributory pension, an annual workation abroad and 3 days working from home?

Then read on.

Your employer: a medium-sized Utrecht tech company with a freshly launched, cloud-native platform

You join a medium-sized tech company in the Utrecht region that builds a cloud-native, multi-tenant platform that acts as the backbone for essential processes that touch millions of people across the Netherlands. Think huge data flows, strict reliability requirements and 24/7 availability. Your work is tangible and socially relevant: the software you write touches the lives of a great many people every day.

The timing is exactly the interesting moment. The platform is built from scratch, modern and without legacy, and recently went live with its first customer. Now the real work begins: scaling, professionalising, onboarding more customers and adopting AI broadly. So you are not stepping into a finished system, but in at the moment the fundamental choices around scale and architecture are being made, with direct influence over them. Here you build a foundation that will last for years to come.

The culture is technically mature and high-level. The technical leadership comes from the top of Dutch engineering, so you work with people for whom best practices, DevOps thinking and clean code are second nature. You learn every day from strong colleagues, knowledge sharing is woven into the work, and the modern, cloud-native stack lets you be incredibly productive and keep sharpening your added value.

Your role: Senior Java Backend Engineer Utrecht

You join one of the agile teams with a DevOps mindset. With Java 21/25, Spring Boot, RabbitMQ, Docker and AWS you build scalable microservices and event-driven systems that process huge volumes of events. You actively contribute to domain modelling, API design and data consistency within distributed systems.

The coming years are about scaling, improving performance and onboarding new customers flawlessly. AI plays a major role in that, on two fronts. You use AI tools to make your work smarter: generating tests, spotting edge cases, speeding up code reviews and prototyping fast. And you help integrate AI into the platform itself, for example for anomaly detection, optimising data flows or smart automation for customers. That way you make an impact with AI on both your own productivity and the future of the platform.

You also grow your circle of influence here. You help define standards, make sure clean code and test automation are the norm, and raise colleagues to a higher level with your experience. So you make an impact not only on the codebase, but also on the team and the direction of the platform.

Growth opportunities

Because the organisation is very much in motion and investment is continuous, there are good opportunities to grow, for example towards tech lead or staff engineer.

What are we looking for?

At least 6 years of experience in Java backend development
Strong in Java 17+ (preferably 21/25) and Spring Boot
Knowledge of cloud(-native) working (AWS a plus) and containers (Docker)
A feel for architecture: microservices, event-driven and data consistency
CI/CD and test automation are second nature to you
Experience with or interest in AI-assisted development and AI integration
Experience mentoring or coaching colleagues is a plus
A technical BSc or MSc such as Computer Science is preferred