BE Java Developer

3rd Line Back End Developer
Methods Business and Digital Technology Limited

Methods is a £100M+ IT Services Consultancy that has partnered with a range of central government departments and agencies to transform the way the public sector operates in the UK. Established over 30 years ago and UK-based, we apply our skills in transformation, delivery, and collaboration from across the Methods Group, to create end‑to‑end business and technical solutions that are people‑centred, safe, and designed for the future.

We support our clients in the success of their projects while working collaboratively to share skill sets and solve problems. Methods is now building a significant private sector client portfolio.

• Investigate, diagnose, and resolve live system defects and production incidents in line with SLAs.
• Analyse logs, metrics, and traces to identify root causes of complex technical issues.
• Design, develop, and deploy stable, well‑tested fixes using Java and related frameworks.
• Collaborate with 2nd Line (AMS) Operations, QA, and Feature Teams as appropriate to triage and prioritise defects.
• Implement hotfixes and patches to production environments safely, following change management protocols.
• Support post‑incident reviews, contributing to preventative actions and service improvement.
• Maintain clear documentation of incident investigations, defect resolutions, and code changes.
• Monitor system health and performance using existing observability and alerting tools.
• Contribute to improving the reliability and maintainability of backend systems and services.
• Provide technical expertise and mentoring in diagnosing and resolving backend issues.

• Proven experience as a Back‑End Developer with a strong focus on Java.
• Experience supporting live production environments and resolving incidents or defects.
• Strong debugging, problem‑solving, and root cause analysis skills.
• Solid understanding of RESTful APIs, microservices, and event‑driven systems.
• Hands‑on experience with Postgres/SQL, Active MQ, and Liquibase.
• Experience using JUnit, Mockito, and Wiremock for testing code fixes and regression testing.
• Proficiency in version control systems such as Git and working knowledge of CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience with containerization (Docker) and orchestration (Kubernetes, ideally AKS).
• Knowledge of Azure services such as Function Apps, Azure Dev Ops, and monitoring tools.
• Ability to work collaboratively in fast‑paced agile or Dev Ops environments.
• Strong communication and documentation skills, especially for incident reporting and defect logs.

• Experience with Microsoft Azure cloud services (e.g., Azure Functions, Azure Storage, Azure App Service).
• Knowledge of ITIL incident and problem management processes.
• Knowledge of Kubernetes for container orchestration and management.
• Familiarity with containerization technologies such as Docker or Kubernetes.
• Knowledge of CI/CD tools and practices.
• Understanding of microservices architecture and development.
• Familiarity with CQRS, Event Sourcing, and Pub/Sub architectures.
• Experience working with cloud‑native and microservice‑based architectures.

Security Clearance may be required. As part of the onboarding process, candidates will be asked to complete a Baseline Personnel Security Standard.

• Autonomy to develop and grow your skills and experience.
• Be part of exciting project work that is making a difference in society.
• Strong, inspiring and thought‑provoking leadership.
• A supportive and collaborative environment.

• Development access to Linked In Learning, a management development programme and training.
• Wellness 24/7 Confidential employee assistance programme.
• Social – Breakfast Tuesdays, Thirsty Thursdays and Pizza on the last Thursday of each month, and commitment to charitable causes.
• Time off 25 days a year.
• Pension Salary Exchange Scheme with 4% employer contribution and 5% employee contribution.
• Discretionary Company Bonus based on company and individual performance.
• Life Assurance of 4 times base salary.
• Private Medical Insurance which is non‑contributory (spouse and dependants included).
• Worldwide Travel Insurance which is non‑contributory (spouse and dependants included).

This job description is not to be regarded as exclusive or exhaustive. It is intended as an outline indicating the areas of activity and may be amended from time to time in the light of the changing needs of the organisation.