Java Tech Lead (Xico)

Overview

At Cognizant we have an ideal opportunity for you to be part of one of the largest companies in the digital sector worldwide. A Great Place To Work where we look for people who contribute new ideas, experiencing a dynamic and growing environment. At Cognizant we promote an inclusive culture, where we value different perspectives providing career growth and development opportunities. We are looking for a seasoned Technical Lead with deep Java expertise to join Cognizant's delivery team in Guadalajara. In this role you will serve as the technical anchor of a high-performing POD, owning end-to-end solution design, driving engineering excellence, and acting as the primary technical interface with client stakeholders. You will lead a team of senior and mid-level engineers, set the technical direction, and ensure the POD delivers consistently high-quality outcomes at velocity. Strong communication skills — both written and verbal, in English — are essential: you will be expected to translate complex technical realities into clear, confident narratives for engineering, product, and executive audiences.

Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership & Architecture: Define and own the technical architecture for microservices-based systems using Java and Spring Boot, ensuring scalability, resilience, and security.
• Lead end-to-end design sessions — from system decomposition and API contracts to data models and deployment topology.
• Set and enforce coding standards, design patterns, and non-functional requirements across the POD.
• Drive technical debt identification and remediation plans, balancing short-term delivery with long-term platform health.
• Evaluate and introduce new technologies, frameworks, and AI-assisted development tools to continuously raise the engineering bar.
• Delivery Execution & POD Management: Own the technical delivery of features end-to-end: requirements clarification, estimation, design, implementation, testing, and production readiness.
• Build, manage, and continuously improve CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins) to support rapid, reliable release cycles.
• Oversee containerized application deployments on Kubernetes — configuration, scaling, health monitoring, and incident response.
• Partner with QA engineers to define test strategies, review regression suites, and ensure golden-file and integration test coverage are current and meaningful.
• Identify risks early, elevate them proactively, and own resolution plans through to closure.
• Client Communication & Stakeholder Management: Serve as the primary technical point of contact for the client: attend client calls, own technical updates, and present solution approaches with clarity and confidence.
• Translate complex engineering challenges into concise, actionable narratives for non-technical stakeholders.
• Proactively communicate status, blockers, and risks, always bringing a recommendation with the problem.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with client engineers and delivery leads, earning their trust through reliability, transparency, and technical depth.
• Prepare and deliver technical presentations, architecture reviews, and sprint demos that reinforce the POD's value and credibility.
• Team Development & Mentorship: Coach senior and mid-level developers through code reviews, pair programming, and direct technical feedback.
• Foster a culture of ownership, continuous improvement, and knowledge sharing within the POD.
• Onboard new team members effectively, ensuring rapid ramp-up on system knowledge and delivery standards.
• Contribute to competency development across the practice through documentation, tech talks, and internal enablement.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional Java development experience in enterprise-scale environments.
• Expert-level proficiency in Spring Boot and microservices architecture — design, development, and production operations.
• Demonstrated experience leading technical teams (2–8 engineers) end-to-end through delivery cycles.
• Deep, hands-on expertise with Jenkins CI/CD — pipeline design, optimization, and troubleshooting.
• Proven experience with Kubernetes — cluster management, deployment strategies, auto-scaling, and incident response.
• Strong command of REST API design, web service integration, and event-driven architecture patterns.
• Solid working knowledge of relational databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL) including schema design and query optimization.
• Fluent written and spoken English — must be able to lead client meetings, own written communications, and produce clear technical documentation without supervision.
• Advanced English required.
• Hybrid role in Guadalajara.
• Strong analytical and structured problem-solving skills; comfortable with ambiguity and fast-moving delivery environments.

EEO & Diversity

We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, sex, age, disability, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or for any other reason covered.

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