WHAT DOES A SENIOR JAVA DEVELOPER DO?

Published: Nov 19, 2025 - The Senior Java Developer contributes to the growth and enhancement of core applications by designing features and writing clean, efficient code. This role involves developing complex web applications, collaborating with cross-functional teams, analyzing system performance, and ensuring high-quality, responsive software solutions. The developer also identifies and resolves technical issues, maintains code quality and automation, participates in Agile workflows, and keeps software aligned with modern technologies and best practices.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Senior Java Developer

1. Senior Java Developer Job Summary

  • Agile Coding: Test-drives awesome code, working closely with other Agile team members.
  • Task Execution: Responsible for getting things done.
  • Ownership Mindset: Take ownership of tasks when others do not.
  • Task Delivery: Help drive the completion of all kinds of work tasks.
  • Work Breakdown: Help break down, estimate, and provide just-in-time design for small increments of work.
  • Team Collaboration: Build a strong team using their collaboration skills.
  • Process Improvement: Promote improvements in version control, continuous integration, project build, and project automation.
  • Pair Programming: Pair programs with different people in many situations.
  • Root Analysis: Perform root cause analysis, technology evaluation, and design spikes.
  • Continuous Learning: Continuously learns and is unafraid to learn new practices, processes, technologies, and languages.

2. Senior Java Developer Responsibilities

  • Continuous Learning: Model courageous, continuous learning to the team.
  • Team Development: Actively helps team members continuously learn.
  • Industry Awareness: Stay abreast of industry trends, technology trends, language trends, and process trends.
  • Idea Contribution: Bring new ideas to the team.
  • Tech Engagement: Participate in open source projects and/or blogs about technology concerns.
  • Team Leadership: Provide leadership and assistance among and across teams.
  • Work Commitment: Commit to completing well-defined work and delivering on those commitments.
  • Work Demonstration: Participate in and may lead weekly demonstrations of recently-completed work.
  • Task Reporting: Report the status of assigned software development and/or maintenance tasks.
  • Methodology Adherence: Consistently follows software development methodology.

3. Senior Java Developer Duties and Roles

  • Java Development: Responsible for Java development, including database, messaging, Spring, configuration management, and light UI work.
  • System Testing: Conduct unit testing and integration testing within the system.
  • Broad Testing: Responsible for broad testing system-wide without all components in place.
  • Automated Testing: Implement automated tests using the Cucumber framework.
  • Code Optimization: Optimize code for key performance metrics.
  • Code Review Insight: Offer complex insights during code reviews and help with environmental build deployments.
  • Issue Prevention: Review code to proactively identify and mitigate potential issues and defects.
  • Bug Troubleshooting: Troubleshoot own code and help others find bugs.
  • Design Patterns: Use design or analysis patterns periodically, following the SDLC process independently.
  • Design Communication: Use design/CASE tools to occasionally share and communicate design ideas.

4. Senior Java Developer Responsibilities and Key Tasks

  • Software Development: Design, develop, and debug Java, JavaScript, and C++ code on Windows-based systems supporting bespoke robotics.
  • System Integration: Responsible for integrating systems, internal and external.
  • Web Tools Development: Develop web-based tools/reports supporting onsite and remote management of systems.
  • Feature Ownership: Take ownership of features and manage them across the product lifecycle.
  • Technical Leadership: Participate in (and often lead) technical discussions.
  • Unit Testing: Apply effective unit tests to ensure high-quality software.
  • CI/CD Pipeline: Continuous integration and continuous deployment pipeline.
  • Agile Process: Follow an Agile development process with user stories.
  • Clean Architecture: Utilise solid software and Clean architecture principles.

5. Senior Java Developer Roles and Responsibilities

  • Technical Leadership: Provide technical leadership to a team of engineers.
  • Partner Collaboration: Work directly with the partners on technology platform-related issues and suggest improvements.
  • Solution Design: Design comprehensive solutions, solve complex business problems, and then direct the implementation of these solutions through a team of developers.
  • Methodology Analysis: Work with the various teams to analyze and assess implementation methodology.
  • Infrastructure Planning: Identify and communicate the technical infrastructure requirements.
  • Process Support: Support existing business process automations and implement change requirements as part of a structured change control process.
  • Client Interaction: Interact with the Client and Onsite team members to understand the standards, architecture, and security.
  • Requirements Translation: Understand and translate business requirements to design and code.
  • Stakeholder Review: Review the system with stakeholders and respond to technical queries.

6. Senior Java Developer Functions

  • Application Development: Design, develop, build, and deploy application/interface solutions and deliver the company’s core technologies.
  • Middleware Support: Support middleware components and applications.
  • Performance Analysis: Analyze performance trends across all systems for new applications and platform upgrades.
  • Product Deployment: Deploy product updates while implementing integrations when they arise.
  • Scalable Systems: Solve software engineering problems while delivering reliable, highly scalable, highly performing systems that Serco’s customers use on a daily basis.
  • Java Module Development: Develop and maintain Java modules of larger integrated solutions for Serco’s application platform and tools.
  • Agile Participation: Participate in daily standups, code reviews, task estimation, unit testing, continuous integration, and short bursts of delivery.
  • Requirements Capture: Work with the software development team and other stakeholders to understand and capture project requirements.
  • Code Refinement: Improve, refine, and refactor the code base using object-oriented design/development, debugging, unit testing, and continuous integration.

7. Senior Java Developer Job Description

  • Solution Development: Research, design, and implement solutions for challenging problems.
  • Product Planning: Participate in product design and planning.
  • Technical Expertise: Maintain high levels of knowledge, skill, and competencies in software development for an extensive range of project types.
  • Requirement Translation: Translate design requirements and specifications into successful implementations.
  • Team Collaboration: Work in a team environment and share knowledge.
  • Application Development: Design and develop applications using the latest tools and technologies, including Java and ASP.NET.
  • Business Support: Support critical business functions through the development, implementation, and maintenance of applications and systems.
  • Production Support: Coordinate end-to-end runs, provide production support, and suggest enhancements to existing business applications.

8. Senior Java Developer Roles

  • Application Enhancement: Play a role in the continued development of the core application by adding new features and growing the customer base.
  • Code Design: Make design decisions and produce simple and elegant working code.
  • Team Collaboration: Work collaboratively with developers, business analysts, designers, and other team members.
  • Web Development: Develop and implement moderate to complex web applications on one or more platforms.
  • Storyboard Translation: Translate application storyboards and use cases into functional web application tools.
  • Performance Optimization: Ensure the best possible performance, quality, and responsiveness of the applications.
  • Issue Resolution: Identify bottlenecks and bugs and devise solutions to these problems.
  • Code Quality: Help maintain code quality, organization, and automation.
  • Systems Analysis: Improve operations by conducting systems analysis and recommending changes in procedures.
  • Agile Participation: Participate actively in the Agile process as an engaged team member.
  • Tech Currency: Ensure software is up to date with the latest technologies.

9. Senior Java Developer Key Accountabilities

  • Product Collaboration: Work with Product Management, Technology and Operations as well as external clients.
  • Specification Writing: Create and maintain detailed functional and technical specifications.
  • Feature Development: Develop new functionality and perform defect fixes.
  • Task Completion: Complete tasks and projects in a timely manner.
  • Support Documentation: Assist in defining and documenting support procedures.
  • Staff Training: Assist in training QA and Operations staff in the functionality and operation of the system.
  • Integration Testing: Drive integration testing of the technology solution with other dependent systems.
  • UAT Support: Support UAT Testing and plan software releases.
  • Platform Improvement: Responsible for proactive and continuous improvements of the overall trading platform.

10. Senior Java Developer General Responsibilities

  • Ad-Tech Development: Responsible for hands-on design, development, and maintenance of ad-tech related systems and system components using Java and other software technologies.
  • Project Leadership: Lead the design and technical implementation of different projects.
  • Engineer Mentoring: Mentor junior engineers by providing directions, instructions, and guidance related to implementation details and seamless project execution.
  • Cross-Team Integration: Work closely with QA, DevOps, and other engineering teams to integrate, test, and release different system components (all stages of SDLC).
  • Distributed Systems: Solve complex technical challenges related to low-latency, large-scale distributed systems.
  • Requirements Translation: Work closely with business stakeholders and other engineers on understanding and translating business requirements into technical solutions.
  • Tech Design Collaboration: Collaborate with Quants and Business Analysts to understand business requirements to create forward-looking technical design.
  • Module Ownership: Develop and test technology solutions using Java, taking end-to-end ownership of one or more modules of the overall solution.
  • Code Review: Responsible for conducting peer code reviews.

11. Senior Java Developer Roles

  • Code Development: Write and configure code for new and upgraded solutions in accordance with technical specifications.
  • Work Review: Responsible for reviewing development work.
  • Unit Testing: Develop and unit test the code changes.
  • Effort Estimation: Estimate the tickets/work packets and work with the client manager to plan the delivery schedule.
  • Issue Resolution: Work on high-priority issues and user queries.
  • Production Support: Responsible for technical support for the application in production.
  • Defect Analysis: Coordinate with the team to analyze defects and achieve quick resolution.
  • Feature Design: Design and implement new features for the compute platform, principally enhancing stream-based microservices or building new ones.
  • Client Liaison: Liaise with clients to gather new requirements and prioritise them.
  • Client Support: Provide support and assistance to clients across dev, UAT and production environments.
  • Automation Opportunities: Identify and implement automation opportunities around testing, monitoring, deployment, and any other manual operations.
  • Vendor Coordination: Interact with key vendors both during issue resolution and vendor-system enhancements.
  • Team Mentorship: Lead and mentor junior developers.

12. Senior Java Developer Roles and Details

  • Microservice Development: Design and develop microservices/APIs using either Java/Spring Boot or Node.js.
  • Client Collaboration: Collaborate with clients, architects, and application architects.
  • Operational Understanding: Understand the operational objectives and purpose of the future system integration.
  • Risk Identification: Understand the points of integration between the different systems and highlight the potential risks associated with the delivery of solutions.
  • Solution Collaboration: Collaborate with Functional Designers and Developers in order to find the best solutions.
  • Specification Creation: Produce detailed functional and technical specifications.
  • Security Assessment: Assist in producing solutions with threat assessments and associated security awareness.
  • Project Engagement: Engage on projects for GFT clients as a member of the GFT team.
  • Modern Development: Deliver working software using modern approaches to software development.
  • Solution Architecture: Design solution architectures to support project requirements.
  • Team Management: Manage junior team members.
  • Practice Development: Contribute to the development of the Modern Applications Practice within GFT UK.
  • Sales Support: Support GFT sales opportunities, both for current and prospective clients.
Relevant Information
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