Mid-Senior Java Engineer

Job Advert Summary

About Yoyo

Yoyo helps South Africa's most loved brands turn everyday transactions into moments their customers remember. We're the partner behind delightful loyalty and rewards experiences - effortless to run, delightful to receive. For nearly 20 years we've been the infrastructure behind digital vouchers, gift cards and loyalty programmes, and today we reward millions of people across 27,000+stores nationwide, issuing 160 million+ rewards and over R7 billion+ in value every year.

About the Role

We're looking for a Mid-Senior Java Engineer to design, build and own backend services using Java and AWS, with an AI-adoptive mindset. You’ll be expected to actively identify where AI, automation, reuse or process simplification can improve time-to-value, while applying sound engineering judgement around security, reliability, maintainability and risk.

This means thinking in time-to-value, not simply time-to-code, and taking accountability for solutions from design through to production. You'll work closely with Java Engineers, Product Owners, Architects, Systems Analysts, and Mobile and Web Developers to evolve the Yoyo platform and deliver solutions that are robust, maintainable and provide measurable value to our clients and customers.

Minimum Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• 4–6 years' professional Java experience, at a mid-to-senior level
• Strong experience with Java, Spring Framework and Spring Boot
• Strong understanding of RESTful API and service design
• Experience with relational databases, particularly MySQL and/or PostgreSQL
• Practical experience building and operating solutions on AWS
• Experience using Git/GitHub for source control, collaboration, PRs and code reviews
• Good understanding of software architecture, design patterns and distributed services
• Experience with automated testing and modern engineering practices
• Strong project management and organisational skills — managing priorities, dependencies, risks and delivery commitments
• Strong written and verbal communication, with technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Practical experience using AI coding tools/agents (e.g. GitHub Copilot, Claude Code) — or demonstrated willingness to adopt them quickly
• Computer Science/Information Systems degree or diploma, or equivalent practical experience

Additional Experience We Value

• Docker and containerised application development
• Kubernetes and AWS EKS
• CI/CD platforms, including GitHub, Tekton and Argo
• Event-driven architectures and messaging (Kafka, Kinesis, SQS)
• Maven or Gradle
• DynamoDB or other AWS-native data services
• Observability, monitoring and production support
• Secure cloud-native application development
• Experience in SaaS or high-volume transactional environment

Our Ideal Candidate

• Cares about outcomes delivered, not just code shipped
• Takes ownership rather than waiting for every decision to be made for you
• Comfortable working through ambiguity, asking the right questions before implementation
• Understands delivery includes designing, building, deploying, monitoring and supporting in production
• Genuinely curious about AI and agentic tooling
• Uses AI as an accelerator while staying accountable for quality and correctness
• Works independently, but knows when to involve others (engineers, architects, Product, Infrastructure)
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, weighing security, reliability and operational risk
• Communicates clearly, raises risks early, keeps stakeholders informed
• Contributes actively to code reviews, technical discussions and developing others
• Lives out Yoyo's values in how they work, collaborate and deliver

Duties and Responsibilities

As a Mid-Senior Java Engineer, you'll take end-to-end ownership of the solutions you work on - from problem to production support and continuous improvement.

Solution Design & Technical Ownership

• Translate business outcomes into practical technical solutions
• Challenge unclear requirements and work with Product, Architecture and other stakeholders to resolve ambiguity early
• Make sound technical decisions, weighing architecture, security, reliability, maintainability, cost and risk
• Consider build, buy, reuse, AI, automation or process simplification when choosing an approach

Engineering & Delivery

• Design and build reliable, maintainable and scalable Java/Spring Boot services and APIs
• Own your work through implementation, testing, code review, CI/CD and deployment
• Manage delivery commitments, dependencies and risks, raising issues early
• Contribute to technical standards, code quality and team-wide improvement

AI-Augmented Engineering

• Use AI coding tools and agents across analysis, development, testing, documentation and troubleshooting
• Identify where AI, automation and simplification can cut manual effort and improve time-to-value
• Apply security, privacy and operational guardrails when introducing AI or automation
• Stay accountable for understanding, reviewing, testing and supporting all AI-assisted solutions

Production, Reliability & Security

• Own the services you contribute to once in production
• Build logging, monitoring, alerting and observability into solutions
• Support incident investigation, root-cause analysis and preventative fixes
• Apply secure engineering practices — data protection, permissions, dependencies and operational risk — throughout

Collaboration & Communication

• Work closely with Product Owners, Systems Analysts, Architects, Infrastructure and other engineering teams
• Communicate technical decisions, progress, dependencies and risks clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Show progress through working software and measurable outcomes, not activity
• Participate actively in code reviews, technical discussions and knowledge sharing

Documentation & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain useful technical documentation, runbooks and decision records
• Improve existing systems when simplification, reliability or maintainability opportunities arise
• Share learnings, patterns and effective AI/tooling use with the team