Staff Software Engineer, Backend (Java)

CLEAR (Headquarters: NYC / Austin)

Backend Staff Java Spring Spring Boot API Microservices Distributed Systems Architecture Cloud AWS Kubernetes Scalability Security NYC Onsite Back End Engineer Staff Engineer

Company: CLEAR
CLEAR's mission is to strengthen security and create frictionless experiences. We're transforming the way people live, work, and travel using our secure identity platform. Join our growing team in NYC!

Role: Staff Software Engineer, Backend (Java) (NYC)
We are seeking a highly skilled Staff Software Engineer specializing in Backend Java development in New York City. As a technical leader, you will tackle complex architectural challenges, influence technical direction across teams, and mentor other engineers in building highly scalable and resilient backend systems. This role requires working onsite 5 days a week in our NYC office.

Responsibilities:
- Architect and implement critical backend systems and infrastructure components using Java.
- Lead technical design discussions and drive adoption of best practices across multiple teams.
- Mentor senior engineers and contribute significantly to the team's technical capabilities.
- Solve complex scaling, performance, and reliability challenges.
- Collaborate with architects and leadership on long-term technical strategy.
- Evaluate and introduce new technologies to improve backend systems.

Technical Skills:
- Expert-level proficiency in Java, Spring/Spring Boot, and related ecosystem.
- Extensive experience designing, building, and operating large-scale distributed systems and microservices.
- Deep expertise in database technologies (SQL/NoSQL), caching, and message queues.
- Mastery of cloud-native architectures and technologies (AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes).
- Strong understanding of system performance tuning, observability, and security.

Ideal Candidate:
- Significant experience as a technical leader on complex backend projects.
- Ability to influence technical direction and drive consensus.
- Deep passion for backend architecture, scalability, reliability, and security.
- Excellent problem-solving, communication, and mentoring skills.
- Must be able to work onsite in NYC.