# Staff Software Engineer (API Integrations/AI Integration)

**Company:** [Aravo Solutions](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/aravo-solutions)
**Location:** Austin, TX
**Role:** Backend Engineering
**Experience:** 8+ years
**Skills:** Java, Spring Boot, Spring Cloud, Kubernetes, Terraform, AWS, Kafka, REST APIs, OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Mcp, LLMs, Istio, GraphQL, CI/CD
**Posted:** 2026-04-17

> Leads architecture and development of distributed backend services, APIs, and AI integrations using Java/Spring Boot in cloud-native environments. Requires 8+ years Java experience, expertise in Kubernetes, event-driven systems, and technical leadership.

## Job Description

## Key Responsibilities

### Platform Architecture & Engineering Leadership
- Own, design, and evolve distributed backend services using Java and Spring Boot
- Architect systems for scalability, reliability, performance, and observability
- Drive and document architectural decisions through ADRs, RFCs, and other technical artifacts
- Establish and enforce engineering standards, design patterns, and best practices

### Cloud & Infrastructure Leadership
- Define and implement cloud-native architecture patterns across environments
- Lead adoption and optimization of:
  - Infrastructure as Code (**Terraform**, **CDK**)
  - Containerization and orchestration (**Kubernetes**)
  - Service mesh technologies (**Istio**, **Linkerd**)
- Optimize systems for resilience, cost efficiency, and operational excellence

### Integration & API Platform Development
- Design, build, and scale multi-tenant **RESTful APIs** and integration services
- Lead modernization initiatives, including legacy **SOAP** to **REST** migrations
- Define, standardize, and enforce **API** governance and best practices
- Architect and implement integration patterns including:
  - **Webhooks**
  - Event-driven systems (**Kafka**, **Kinesis**)
  - External system connectivity frameworks

### MCP & AI Integration (Emerging Capabilities)
- Design and implement **Model Context Protocol (MCP)** server/client patterns
- Enable secure interactions between **LLM** agents and internal systems, databases, and tools
- Ensure **AI** integrations are safe, observable, governed, and scalable
- Contribute to evolving **AI**-driven platform capabilities

### Engineering Excellence & Quality
- Elevate standards for code quality, peer reviews, and maintainability
- Define and promote robust testing strategies (unit, integration, performance)
- Improve observability, monitoring, and on-call practices
- Mentor senior engineers and provide technical leadership across teams

### Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner closely with Product, Infrastructure, and Integration teams
- Translate ambiguous business requirements into clear technical solutions and roadmaps
- Communicate technical trade-offs effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Actively participate in **Agile**/**Scrum** ceremonies and planning processes

## Requirements

### Core Java & Spring Expertise
- 8+ years of hands-on **Java** development in production environments
- Deep expertise with **Spring Boot** and **Spring Cloud** ecosystems
- Strong understanding of **JVM** internals, performance tuning, concurrency, and multithreading

### Cloud Platform & DevOps
- Hands-on experience with **AWS**, **GCP**, or **Azure**
- Strong experience with **Kubernetes** and containerized deployments
- Proficiency in **Infrastructure as Code** (**Terraform** or **CDK**)
- Experience building and maintaining **CI/CD** pipelines at scale
- Familiarity with service mesh architectures

### Architecture & Distributed Systems
- Proven experience designing and scaling distributed systems
- Strong understanding of event-driven architectures (**Kafka**, **Kinesis**)
- Expertise in **API** design (**REST**, **GraphQL**, and legacy **SOAP** systems)
- Solid data modeling experience (**SQL** and **NoSQL** databases)
- Strong foundation in security principles (authentication, authorization, secrets management)

### Observability & Reliability
- Experience with distributed tracing (**OpenTelemetry**)
- Familiarity with logging and monitoring tools (**Prometheus**, **Grafana**)
- Experience defining and managing **SLOs**/**SLAs**
- Participation in incident response and postmortem processes

### MCP & AI Tooling Exposure
- Experience or exposure to **Model Context Protocol (MCP)**
- Familiarity with **LLM** integrations, agent workflows, and **AI**-enabled systems
- Understanding of secure design principles for **AI** interactions

### Leadership
- Demonstrated ability to influence technical direction without direct authority
- Strong mentorship, coaching, and team development skills
- Ability to operate effectively in ambiguous and fast-paced environments

## Preferred Qualifications/Skills
- Experience leading large-scale platform modernization initiatives
- Strong documentation practices and technical writing skills
- Passion for emerging technologies, particularly **AI**-driven development patterns
- Excellent collaboration and stakeholder management abilities
- Continuous learner with a growth mindset and a bias toward innovation

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