Senior Backend Developer (Java/Spring Boot, Agentic LLMs)

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, which manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Senior Backend Developer (Java/Spring Boot, Agentic LLMs) based in Netherlands. As a Senior Backend Developer, you will contribute to building and enhancing a high-performance technology platform serving the global business aviation industry. You will develop robust backend services and scalable applications using Java and Spring Boot, working across distributed systems, APIs, and event-driven architectures. This hands-on engineering role combines established software development practices with practical applications of large language models (LLMs) and agentic AI workflows. You will help integrate intelligent capabilities into existing services, exploring opportunities in retrieval-augmented generation, automation, and tool orchestration. Collaborating closely with product and engineering teams, you will take ownership of features from implementation through testing and delivery. In a remote-first, international environment, you will have the opportunity to influence technical quality, improve system reliability, and apply emerging AI technologies to real-world engineering challenges. Accountabilities: - Backend development: Design, develop, maintain, and optimize backend services using Java and Spring Boot, delivering reliable, scalable, and maintainable software. - End-to-end feature delivery: Take ownership of software features throughout their lifecycle, from understanding requirements and implementation to testing, debugging, deployment, and ongoing improvement. - API development and integration: Build and maintain REST APIs that support web applications, mobile experiences, and integrations with external systems. - Distributed systems engineering: Develop and improve distributed services, ensuring reliability, scalability, and effective communication between system components. - Event-driven architecture: Implement asynchronous processing and event-driven workflows using Apache Kafka or comparable messaging and streaming technologies. - Database management: Design and maintain relational data models using PostgreSQL and Hibernate, with a focus on data integrity, query efficiency, and application performance.

- Agentic AI and LLM integration: Apply practical knowledge of large language models, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), agent-tool interactions, and LLM orchestration to develop intelligent backend capabilities and automation workflows. - AI-assisted development: Use tools such as Cursor, Claude Code, and GitHub Copilot to accelerate development while maintaining high standards for code quality, testing, security, and maintainability. - Engineering quality: Write clean, well-tested code, apply sound functional programming principles, and contribute to debugging, code reviews, and continuous improvement. - Cross-functional collaboration: Work closely with product managers and fellow engineers to translate requirements into effective technical solutions and deliver meaningful business outcomes. - Technical optimization: Identify opportunities to improve system performance, reliability, maintainability, and development efficiency through modern engineering practices. Requirements: - Professional experience: At least six years of hands-on Java backend development experience, ideally using Java 17 or a comparable modern version. - Backend frameworks: Strong experience with Spring Boot 2. x or 3. x and Hibernate 5. x or 6. x, including the development and maintenance of production-grade applications. - Distributed systems and APIs: Proven experience building scalable distributed systems, developing REST APIs, and integrating services across complex application environments. - Database expertise: Solid knowledge of PostgreSQL, relational database modeling, and data persistence using Hibernate or related technologies.