Lead Java Engineer AI tools Job South Fulton area,Georgia USA,Software Development

Position: Lead Java Engineer with AI tools (Relocation to Qatar)

We are looking for a Lead Java Engineer with AI tools to join our team, with eventual relocation to Qatar. EPAM is renowned for delivering cutting-edge technological solutions to transform businesses worldwide.

Responsibilities

Contribute to pragmatic AI architectures (RAG/agents/copilots/automation) integrated into cloud-native microservices (including Kafka) and enterprise data platforms (e.g., Oracle), supporting decisions on when to use RAG vs agents vs conventional approaches
Implement and apply SDD specs/templates, support governance/quality gates, and help embed SDD into delivery workflows
Build and maintain agentic use cases, including hands-on ability to run/write agents and implement guardrails defined by the program
Deliver production solutions (LLM integrations, retrieval, embeddings/vector stores where relevant) embedded into Java/Spring Boot services
Implement observability, rollout/versioning, and CI/CD for prompts/specs/models, deploying and operating on AKS and Azure hosting with guidance from platform/SRE teams
Contribute to tracking adoption, productivity, quality, and risk KPIs for AI-enabled delivery
Participate in playbooks, training, documentation, and team mentoring, sharing patterns and examples across squads
Ensure responsible AI controls, data handling constraints, and agent guardrails are implemented in line with company policies and engineering standards

Requirements

5+ years of hands-on development experience with Core Java, Spring/Spring Boot, and web services/microservices
At least 1 year of relevant leadership experience
Hands-on delivery exposure to LLMs, RAG, and agentic systems (production or strong pilot/enterprise PoC experience)
Understanding of cloud-native architecture, database concepts (preferably Oracle/PL/SQL), and Kafka/Git Lab
Knowledge of AI concepts, especially Spec Driven Development (SDD), with working experience in running and writing agents and implementing guardrails
Experience with LLM providers and/or self-hosted models, prompt engineering, and an evaluation/testing mindset
Practical experience applying SDD (spec-driven ways of working) in a team setting
Hands-on capability to build and integrate agentic and/or RAG capabilities into real engineering workflows
Ability to balance cost, productivity, quality, and risk when implementing LLM/agentic solutions (with guidance where needed)
Production mindset covering testing, observability, safe rollout, and secure-by-design implementation
Strong communication skills and ability to work in a global team
Proficiency in English at an Upper-Intermediate level (B2) or higher

Nice to have

Familiarity with Azure (AKS and/or Azure Web Apps) and CI/CD with Git Lab (Azure Dev Ops is a plus)
Knowledge of React
Familiarity with Ansible
Knowledge of Kubernetes
Experience with Lang Chain