Explore the dynamic and challenging world of Core Java Developer / Engineering Manager (Hands-on) jobs, a unique hybrid role designed for seasoned professionals who excel in both technical execution and team leadership. This position is at the heart of software engineering, blending deep technical expertise with people management to drive project success. Individuals in these jobs are expected to be master craftspeople in code as well as inspirational leaders, making them pivotal to their organizations. Professionals in this role typically have a dual-focus set of responsibilities. On the technical side, they are hands-on contributors, spending a significant portion of their time designing, developing, and testing high-quality software. This involves writing clean, efficient, and robust code in Core Java, architecting scalable system designs, and ensuring the implementation of best practices in software engineering. They are deeply involved in the entire development lifecycle, from concept to deployment, utilizing a modern toolchain that includes dependency management with Gradle or Maven, continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, and containerization technologies like Docker and Kubernetes. On the management side, their responsibilities shift to leading and mentoring engineering teams. This includes personnel duties such as hiring, performance reviews, and career development for their team members. They are accountable for project deliverables, coordinating with other departments, and presenting project status and technical reviews to stakeholders. A key part of their managerial function is to foster a culture of technical excellence, ensuring their team adheres to coding standards, comprehensive testing strategies, and agile methodologies. The typical skill set for these jobs is extensive and demanding. A profound mastery of Core Java is non-negotiable, including deep knowledge of object-oriented design, modern language features like lambdas and streams, and the Spring ecosystem (Spring Boot, Spring JDBC). Expertise in relational databases, version control with Git, and unit testing frameworks like JUnit and Mockito is standard. Furthermore, familiarity with cloud-native development, microservices architecture, messaging systems like Kafka, and an understanding of security principles (TLS, secrets management) are increasingly common requirements. Beyond technical prowess, exceptional soft skills are crucial. Success in these jobs hinges on strong leadership, effective communication, strategic thinking, and the ability to mentor and grow a high-performing engineering team. If you are a leader who never wants to stop coding, these jobs offer a perfect career path to leverage your comprehensive skill set.
