Java Team Lead Backend Services

We are looking for a Java Team Lead in Cracow to manage a team of Java Engineers who build the core PAM services — player wallet, ledger, payments orchestration, bonusing and account lifecycle — from the first commit, with no legacy code

What You will do:

• Lead, mentor and grow a team of Java Engineers: set priorities, own delivery for the domain, stay hands-on in the code
• Design and implement backend services in modern Java for the PAM core: wallet transactions, ledger entries, payment flows, bonus mechanics, account state management
• Build REST APIs and event-driven integrations (Kafka or similar) consumed by player-facing products, operations tooling and third-party providers
• Write code where correctness is provable: strong test coverage, idempotent operations, careful transaction boundaries, clear failure handling
• Implement regulatory requirements as first-class product behavior: KYC/AML workflows, responsible gaming controls, audit trails
• Instrument services for production (metrics, structured logging, tracing, alerting) and take part in the on-call rotation
• Contribute to design discussions and RFCs; review teammates' code with care
• Use AI-assisted development tooling as a first-class part of the workflow, following platform standards
• Support migration off the current third-party platform: parity testing, data migration checks, cutover support

• 5+ years of professional backend engineering with deep hands-on Java 17+ and Spring Boot
• 2+ years managing or leading a team of software engineers — priorities, delivery ownership, mentoring — while staying hands-on
• Solid experience building and operating transactional systems (payments, wallets, billing, banking, e-commerce checkout or gaming) where data integrity matters
• Strong PostgreSQL (or similar): schema design, transactions, locking behavior, query performance
• Event-driven patterns and messaging (Kafka, RabbitMQ or similar), including idempotency and retry semantics
• A real testing habit: unit, integration and contract testing as part of how you work
• Operating what you build: containers, CI/CD pipelines, reading production telemetry to debug real incidents
• Good written and spoken English; effective in a distributed, multi-time-zone team

Nice to have:

• iGaming, sports betting, fintech or another regulated, high-transaction-volume domain
• Kubernetes and AWS
• Compliance-driven development (KYC/AML, responsible gaming, audit requirements)
• AI coding assistants and agentic development workflows
• Polish and/or Spanish