Staff Software Engineer-JAVA

About the role

UKG is seeking a passionate Staff Software Engineer with web application and platform services experience to join our engineering team. The ideal candidate will have strong Java expertise, experience with cloud-native architectures, and the ability to build and integrate AI-powered capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, and maintain scalable Java-based web applications and platform services.
• Build high-quality, secure, scalable, and maintainable software following modern software engineering principles and best practices.
• Demonstrate an excellent understanding of object-oriented programming, design patterns, algorithms, distributed systems, and software architecture.
• Develop both front-end and server-side components using Java, Spring Boot, React, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3, SQL, Hibernate/JPA, and related technologies.
• Design and implement RESTful APIs and microservices supporting enterprise SaaS applications.
• Build, integrate, and maintain AI-powered features, including Large Language Model (LLM) integrations, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), semantic search, prompt orchestration, and intelligent workflow automation where appropriate.
• Design, develop, and optimize AI Agents to automate engineering and business workflows using modern agent frameworks, tool integrations, and enterprise security best practices.
• Leverage AI-assisted software development tools (such as GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude, or equivalent) to improve engineering productivity while maintaining high standards for code quality, security, testing, and maintainability.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and recommend practical adoption opportunities that improve developer productivity, platform capabilities, and customer experience.
• Work autonomously on complex technical issues requiring analysis across the application stack, including browser, APIs, application services, databases, cloud infrastructure, and third-party libraries.
• Contribute to the design, implementation, and maintenance of core platform infrastructure services supporting highly available SaaS applications.
• Apply software design patterns and common algorithms to build robust, scalable, and efficient solutions.
• Perform insightful and constructive code reviews to maintain engineering excellence, mentor team members, and minimize regression defects and technical debt.
• Write comprehensive Unit Tests, Integration Tests, and API Automation Tests for new features following Test-Driven Development (TDD) and Continuous Integration (CI) best practices.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex production issues through root cause analysis across applications, infrastructure, cloud services, and third-party integrations.
• Collaborate effectively with Product Management, UX, QA, DevOps, Security, and cross-functional engineering teams.
• Continuously improve application architecture, performance, scalability, observability, security, and development processes.
• Champion engineering excellence through clean code, secure coding standards, automation, performance optimization, AI-assisted development, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• BS/MS degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• 7+ years of hands-on experience developing enterprise Java-based web applications.
• Strong experience with Java, J2EE, Spring Boot, Spring Framework, Hibernate/JPA, React, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3, REST APIs, Microservices, SQL, and MVC architecture.
• Strong SQL experience, including Stored Procedures, Functions, Triggers, Views, and query optimization.
• Experience working in Agile software development environments.
• Strong understanding of Test-Driven Development (TDD), automated testing, CI/CD pipelines, and software quality best practices.
• Excellent analytical, debugging, troubleshooting, and communication skills.
• Proven track record of delivering high-quality, scalable software solutions on time.
• Experience building and deploying AI Agents using modern frameworks such as LangGraph, OpenAI Agents SDK, CrewAI, AutoGen, or equivalent.
• Experience integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) into enterprise applications using OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, or similar platforms.
• Experience implementing Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), vector databases, embeddings, prompt engineering, Model Context Protocol (MCP), tool calling, and AI orchestration frameworks.
• Demonstrated ability to leverage AI-assisted development tools to improve software quality, engineering productivity, testing, documentation, and code optimization while adhering to engineering best practices.
• Understanding of responsible AI practices, prompt security, data privacy, AI governance, and AI evaluation methodologies.

Benefits

At UKG, you'll get flexibility that's real, benefits you can count on, and a team that succeeds together. Our pay range for this position is $129,500 to $186,100. The actual base pay offered may vary depending on skills, experience, job-related knowledge and work location. In addition to base pay, employees may be eligible to participate in a performance-based bonus plan and to receive restricted stock unit awards as part of total compensation. Learn more about UKG’s benefits and rewards at https://www.ukg.com/about-us/careers/benefits.