This is the next generation of Lead Java Development — where your engineering instincts are amplified by AI, your decisions shape a strategically critical platform, and your impact is felt across global markets.
Role Overview/What will you do
Lead end-to-end delivery of complex, high-performance Java applications supporting FX risk management across global markets
Architect scalable, low-latency solutions that process real-time risk data at scale — designing for resilience, performance, and security from day one
Drive technical direction and key decisions — from system design and architectural choices to setting engineering standards across the team
Translate complex business requirements into robust, high-quality code — working closely with quantitative analysts, traders, and business stakeholders
Craft high-quality, scalable software in an agile environment, leveraging AI-powered coding tools to accelerate delivery without compromising standards
Share expertise and raise the bar — act as a technical reference point for the team, influencing engineering quality through example, guidance, and knowledge sharing (this is an individual contributor role with no direct reports)
Champion innovation — actively evaluate, propose, and adopt new technologies and frameworks; this team has the mandate and appetite to bring in better tools
Own quality — participate in mandatory cross-team code reviews, supported by Citi Squad AI reviewers and peer engineers, ensuring adherence to security, quality, and compliance standards
Operate in production — take ownership of L3 production support issues, provide timely resolutions, and deliver long-term remediation fixes that address root causes — not just symptoms
Support testing cycles and post-production deployment — from writing TDD-first code to validating releases in a weekly cadence
Contribute to Citi's technology strategy, influencing how the firm approaches risk technology at a global scale
Your AI-Powered Toolkit
At Citi, almost all of our 240,000 staff have access to AI tools — and our engineering teams are at the forefront of that adoption. Our FX Risk team has been actively using Citi's internal AI ecosystem for over a year. These are live, battle-tested tools embedded into our daily engineering workflow — not pilots, not promises:
Coding & Code Generation
GitHub Copilot — multi-model AI coding assistant (GPT, Claude, Gemini) integrated directly into your IDE for code completion, generation, and explanation
Devin.AI — agentic code generation for complex, multi-step development tasks
Prompt Engineering & GenAI Optimisation — techniques actively used to get the best out of every model in the stack
Code Review & Quality
Citi Squad — Citi's internal automated code review platform, catching issues before they reach production
AI-assisted cross-team peer reviews — mandatory, structured, and supported by tooling that flags security risks, missing tests, and policy violations
LLMs & Stylus Workspaces
Large Language Models: Gemini, OpenAI, Claude, Llama, and Local Models
Stylus Workspaces — Citi's in-house GenAI platform (powered by Gemini), connected to internal systems including Jira, GitHub, Slack, and Teams — enabling agentic AI workflows across the SDLC
Deployment & DevOps
Enterprise DevOps Pipeline — CI/CD with JIRA, Zephyr, GitHub, Harness, Artifactory
Container orchestration: Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift
Monitoring Tooling — production observability built in from day one
This is what it means to be a next-generation Lead Java Developer at Citi.
The Platform You'll Be Building On
This role is centred around a greenfield application — built from scratch, now 3 years in production, and with a 10+ year strategic commitment from the business. You won't be wrestling with decades of legacy code. Instead, you'll be:
Working on a modern, purposefully designed codebase that the team is proud of — with wide exposure to technologies across all aspects of the SDLC
Contributing to a platform with long-term investment and roadmap certainty — this is not a project, it's a strategic product
Empowered to introduce and champion new technologies — the team has a genuine mandate to evolve the stack, not just maintain it
Delivering weekly releases in a structured Scrum environment with daily stand-ups, keeping the team aligned and shipping consistently
Benefiting from structured learning paths, mentorship, and continuous development — your growth is backed by the team and the wider Citi engineering community
Gaining exposure to cloud strategy — contributing to cloud adoption initiatives, deploying Citi APIs on AWS and Azure
Working with event streaming and messaging systems including Kafka, Flink, and Solace at enterprise scale
This is a rare opportunity in financial services — a stable, well-funded platform with the freedom to keep building it better, backed by one of the world's most ambitious technology organisations.
Key Skills and Experience required
Proven hands-on Java development experience with strong focus on Core Java and multithreading in high-load, high-throughput systems
Deep understanding of JVM performance optimisation — memory profiling, GC tuning, and squeezing performance where it counts
Solid grasp of distributed systems architecture and in-memory computing concepts
Proven production experience with Apache Ignite — you've used it at scale, not just evaluated it
Strong MongoDB skills — CRUD operations, indexing strategies, and performance tuning in production environments
Deep SQL knowledge and query optimisation in Oracle — you know how to make queries fast and keep them that way
Solid experience with messaging technologies — Apache Kafka and/or Solace
Proficiency in Linux environments and scripting — comfortable on the command line and automating where it matters
Experience deploying and maintaining applications on cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or similar)
A genuine passion for Test-Driven Development (TDD) — you write tests first and mean it
Readiness to engage in L3 production support and own release activities end-to-end
Any Beneficial / Nice to have skills and experience
Experience in financial services technology, particularly in risk, trading, or capital markets
Familiarity with FX products — spot, forwards, options, or derivatives
Understanding of real-time risk calculation systems or market data platforms
Exposure to low-latency, high-throughput distributed systems
This job description provides a high-level review of the types of work performed. Other job-related duties may be assigned as required.
What we’ll provide you
By joining Citi, you will not only be part of a business casual workplace with a hybrid working model (up to 2 days working at home per week), but also receive a competitive base salary (which is annually reviewed), and enjoy a whole host of additional benefits such as:
27 days annual leave (plus bank holidays)
A discretional annual performance related bonus
Private Medical Care & Life Insurance
Employee Assistance Program
Pension Plan
Paid Parental Leave
Special discounts for employees, family, and friends
Access to an array of learning and development resources
Visit our About Us | Culture, Values & Benefits page to learn more.
Alongside these benefits Citi is committed to ensuring our workplace is where everyone feels comfortable coming to work as their whole self, every day. We want the best talent around the world to be energized to join us, motivated to stay and empowered to thrive.
#LI-AP2
Job Family Group
Technology
Job Family
Applications Development
Time Type
Full time
- Most Relevant Skills
- Please see the requirements listed above.
- Other Relevant Skills
- For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter.
Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.
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