Backend Java Engineer

Senior Backend Java Engineer

Client: American Airlines

Location: Phoenix, AZ (Locals Preferred)

Work Model: Hybrid – Onsite Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday

Contract Duration: 2 Years

Rate: $50/hr C2C

Interview: 1 Round – Onsite, 60–90 minutes

Interview Format: Technical whiteboarding + Technical Q&A

Position Overview

American Airlines is seeking a Senior Backend Java Engineer to support its Customer Notifications platform. This is a backend-focused role. Despite any "Full Stack" terminology in the broader job description, there is no meaningful front-end requirement, and Angular is not important for this position.

The ideal candidate will have strong hands-on experience with Java, Spring Boot, Azure, Kafka, microservices, and production support, along with experience developing and maintaining large-scale, business-critical applications.

Required Skills

• 6–7+ years of enterprise software development experience
• Strong hands-on experience with Java
• Strong hands-on experience with Spring Boot
• Experience with Azure Cloud
• Strong experience with Kafka
• Experience developing and supporting microservices
• Strong production support and troubleshooting experience
• Experience working with large-scale, business-critical applications
• Strong problem-solving and communication skills

Preferred / Strong Plus

• Airline industry experience — strongly preferred and will distinguish candidates
• Experience with notification or messaging platforms
• Experience with:
  • SMS notifications
  • Email notifications
  • Push notifications
  • Mobile-wallet updates
  • Real-time communications
  • Event-driven systems
• Experience integrating backend services with mobile applications
• Experience troubleshooting mobile endpoints
• Experience with Apple Wallet
• Experience with Google Wallet
• Experience with iOS Live Activities
• Experience with Databricks
• Experience with Data Lakes
• Experience with Power BI
• Experience with GitHub Actions

Note: Native iOS or Android development is NOT required.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, troubleshoot, and enhance large-scale business-critical applications in hosted production environments.
• Build and maintain backend services using Java and Spring Boot.
• Develop and support microservices-based applications.
• Work with Kafka in an integration-heavy, event-driven environment.
• Support and troubleshoot applications running in Azure Cloud.
• Participate in production support and resolve complex application and integration issues.
• Maintain existing applications while delivering platform enhancements and new functionality.
• Partner with experienced team members on platform-specific development and technical solutions.
• Participate in troubleshooting and resolving issues across a complex ecosystem of applications and integrations.
• Participate in the team's periodic on-call rotation.
• Clearly communicate technical decisions, troubleshooting approaches, and solutions to technical and cross-functional teams.

Customer Notifications Platform The engineer will support a highly complex Customer Notifications platform responsible for customer communications throughout the complete travel journey, including:

• Boarding passes
• Flight cancellations
• Gate changes
• Check-in notifications
• Reaccommodation information
• Hotel information
• Meal information
• Receipts
• Baggage updates
• SMS
• Email
• Apple Wallet
• Google Wallet
• iOS Live Activities

The platform consists of approximately 100 applications and integrates with approximately 44 internal American Airlines client systems.

Production & Compliance Environment

This is a business-critical and highly regulated environment. Candidates should understand the importance of:

• Application reliability
• Accuracy
• Security
• Production stability
• Troubleshooting
• Regulatory compliance

The platform operates under requirements involving DOT, Canadian, GDPR, and other applicable compliance standards.

Work Location Requirements

• Candidates must be based in Phoenix, AZ or provide a credible commitment to relocate to Phoenix.
• The team works onsite at the Rio A building every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
• This onsite requirement is firm.
• Remote-only candidates should not be submitted.
• Candidates unwilling to participate in the required onsite schedule should not be submitted.

Interview Process

• One-and-done interview
• Onsite in Phoenix
• Approximately 60–90 minutes
• Includes a progressive technical problem-solving exercise on a whiteboard
• Followed by technical Q&A

Candidates should be comfortable explaining their thought process and problem-solving approach during the technical exercise.

Ideal Candidate The ideal candidate is a senior backend-focused Java engineer who:

• Has strong hands-on Java/Spring Boot experience.
• Has solid Kafka and microservices experience.
• Has worked extensively with Azure.
• Has strong production troubleshooting and support experience.
• Has experience with large-scale, business-critical applications.
• Has notification, messaging, or event-driven platform experience.
• Has airline industry experience, which is a major differentiator.
• Can work effectively in a complex enterprise environment.
• Has strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Is comfortable with periodic on-call support.
• Is willing and able to work onsite in Phoenix Tuesday–Thursday.

Thankyou!