Mid Java Developer

Global Kinetic is a fun, vibrant and fast-moving place to work.  We're looking for someone who'll thrive in this environment.  We operate a dynamic and unique office culture, intended to reflect and empower our values and our "informal but serious" work ethic. 

We have a strong focus on hiring people who fit the GK culture and are passionate about what they do - both at work and outside it.  Our headquarters are based in Century City, Cape Town and Silicon Valley, USA. 

GK provides consulting services on all aspects of the software development life cycle, including Analysis, Design, Architecture, Programming, Testing and Project Management. 

We are looking for experienced individuals looking to join a solid Agile Squad in Century City. 

• Strong understanding of core Java (Java 17+), object-oriented design, data structures, and common design patterns.


• Solid experience building RESTful APIs and web services using modern frameworks.


• Good understanding of web technologies, HTTP, networking fundamentals, and common internet protocols.


• Practical experience with Spring Boot, dependency injection, and persistence frameworks (JPA/Hibernate).


• Working knowledge of multi-threading and concurrent programming concepts.


• Ability to write clean, maintainable, and testable code following agreed coding standards.


• Hands-on experience with automated testing practices (unit, integration, and API testing).


• Exposure to CI/CD pipelines and build tooling to support automated delivery.


• Awareness of application performance considerations, observability (logging/metrics), and common security risks.


• Ability to identify technical risks, code smells, and suboptimal solutions, and raise them early with the team.


• Contribute to the continuous improvement of development practices, tooling, and standards.


• Provide guidance and informal mentoring to junior developers.


• Participate in peer code reviews as both reviewer and reviewee.

Qualifications and Experience

• BSc in Computer Science / Information Systems or equivalent practical experience.


• At least 3 years of professional experience in Java-based backend or API development.

Proven experience with:

• Java and Spring Boot


• REST API design and implementation


• JPA/Hibernate and relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server)

Practical experience with:

• Version control (Git)


• Build tools (Maven/Gradle)


• Automated testing frameworks (JUnit, Mockito, Testcontainers or similar)


• CI/CD tools (e.g., Azure DevOps)

Familiarity with containerization and cloud-native concepts:

• Docker


• Kubernetes or managed container platforms (advantageous)


• Exposure to infrastructure components such as web servers, application servers, and reverse proxies (e.g., Nginx, Apache).


• Experience participating in full software development lifecycle within Agile teams.

Advantageous / Nice-to-Have

• Cloud platform experience (AWS, Azure).


• Message brokers (Kafka, RabbitMQ, ActiveMQ).


• Observability tooling (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, OpenTelemetry).


• Infrastructure-as-Code exposure (Terraform, Helm).

Personality Attributes

• Results-oriented with strong problem-solving and analytical skills.


• Takes ownership and manages own workload effectively.


• High attention to detail and commitment to quality.


• Able to communicate technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.


• Curious mindset with the ability to learn new technologies quickly.


• Comfortable working in Agile and DevOps-oriented teams.


• Collaborative team player who values knowledge sharing and constructive feedback.

WHAT WE HAVE TO OFFER:

• A collaborative, supportive work environment where you truly are encouraged to make things better. 


• Free breakfast and Lunch, and as much good coffee as you can stomach in a workday. 


• Super fancy offices with an amazing culture that few would have ever experienced. 


• The opportunity to work alongside some of the greatest minds in the development field. 


• Flexi hours and work from home policy. 


• Regular team building activities, promoting a fun and casual working environment