Backend Engineer

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop and maintain secure, high-performance backend services and APIs for the Portal using Java and related frameworks (e.g. Spring Boot).
• Build and optimise data access layers, ensuring the accuracy and integrity of tax submission data across relational databases.
• Integrate the portal with internal systems and whole-of-government services through well-defined, secure interfaces.
• Implement validation, audit and reconciliation logic to support compliance and regulatory requirements.
• Write clean, well-tested and maintainable code, with appropriate unit, integration and automated tests.
• Participate in code reviews, technical design discussions and architecture decisions.
• Troubleshoot, debug and resolve production issues, supporting the platform through its full operational lifecycle.
• Collaborate with product owners, business analysts, security teams and operations to deliver features that meet user and policy needs.

Requirements

• Solid hands-on experience building backend services in Java or Typescript. Strong experience in another modern object-oriented or JVM language will also be considered, with a clear willingness to work primarily in Java.
• Good understanding of object-oriented design, data structures and software engineering fundamentals.
• Experience designing and consuming RESTful APIs.
• Working knowledge of relational databases (e.g. PostgreSQL, Oracle or MySQL) and SQL.
• Familiarity with version control (Git) and collaborative development workflows.
• Sound appreciation of application security, data protection and secure coding practices, as the role involves handling sensitive tax and personal data.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Good to Have

• Experience with the Spring / Spring Boot ecosystem.
• Experience with microservices, message queues or event-driven architectures.
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, containerisation (Docker), and cloud or on-premise government platforms.
• Exposure to automated testing frameworks (e.g. JUnit, Mockito).
• Prior experience delivering systems in the public sector, financial services or another regulated environment.