Senior Azure Java Stack Software Engineer (Developer)

The NCIS Program is seeking an experienced Senior Full Stack Java Developer to design, develop, enhance and support mission-critical enterprise applications and large-scale data platforms supporting national law enforcement and intelligence capabilities.

The successful candidate will be a highly capable software engineer with recent experience developing and supporting enterprise-scale applications across the full technology stack. This includes backend services, APIs, integrations, modern web applications, distributed systems and data-intensive platforms.

The role requires strong technical leadership, solution ownership, stakeholder engagement and the ability to independently drive delivery outcomes within a complex enterprise environment.

What NCIS is Ultimately Looking For

NCIS is seeking an experienced Senior Full Stack Java Developer who demonstrates strong technical leadership capabilities remaining actively engaged in hands-on software engineering activities.

The successful candidate will:

• Demonstrate recent hands-on full-stack development experience across backend, frontend and integration technologies. This position will have a backend focus within the broader team.
• Take ownership of technical solutions from requirements through to production support.
• Operate independently with minimal supervision and sound technical judgement.
• Design scalable, resilient and secure enterprise solutions.
• Understand operational support, performance optimisation and production stability.

Technical Skills:

1. Full Stack Software Development

• Demonstrated recent hands-on full-stack development experience within enterprise environments.
• Experience developing and supporting:
• Backend services, APIs and integrations.
• Modern web-based user interfaces.
• Experience designing end-to-end solutions across presentation, business, integration and data layers.

2. Java & Spring Ecosystem

Minimum 7 years’ experience developing enterprise applications using:

• Java
• Spring Framework
• Spring Boot
• JPA/Hibernate
• Maven
• REST APISs
• JSON
• Unit and integration testing

3. Architecture, Data Platforms and Integration
Experience designing and implementing:

• Microservices architectures
• Event-driven solutions
• Distributed systems
• Service integration patterns
• Enterprise data platforms

4. Big Data and Data Platform Experience

• Experience designing, building and supporting large-scale data integration, processing and distribution platforms.
• Experience with technologies such as Apache Kafka, Apache NiFi and Elasticsearch.
• Experience supporting high-volume, high-throughput and mission-critical environments.
• Understanding of data ingestion, streaming, indexing, search, analytics, ETL/ELT patterns and operational monitoring.
• Understanding of data governance, security, traceability, resilience and availability requirements.

5. Software Engineering
   Strong understanding of:

• Object-oriented design principles
• Design patterns
• Secure coding practices
• Application performance tuning
• Concurrency and multithreading
• Distributed systems design

6. Databases

• SQL databases (Oracle, PostgreSQL or similar).
• NoSQL database concepts.
• Data modelling and query optimisation.

7. DevOps and Engineering Practices

• Git version control and branching strategies.
• Maven dependency and build management.
• Jenkins CI/CD pipelines.
• Automated testing and DevSecOps practices.
• Release and deployment automation.

Desirable:

1. Cloud and Infrastructure

• Azure services and cloud-native design patterns.
• Linux administration.
• Docker/Kubernetes.
• Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Ansible).

2. Front-End Technologies
   Recent experience developing modern web applications using frameworks such as:

• Angular
• React
• TypeScript
• JavaScript
• HTML5
• CSS3

3. Emerging Technologies

• • AI-assisted software engineering tools.
  • Cloud-native architecture and modern observability platforms.

Key duties and responsibilities

Job duties and responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, deploy and support secure, scalable and high-availability full-stack Java applications, APIs, microservices and distributed data solutions.
• Take end-to-end ownership of technical solutions from requirements through to deployment, production support and continuous improvement.
• Lead technical design, architecture, integration and engineering activities across distributed systems, data platforms and cloud-hosted environments.
• Troubleshoot complex production issues, perform root-cause analysis, optimise system performance, and drive improvements in reliability, security and operational resilience.
• Provide technical leadership through mentoring, code reviews, engineering best practices, stakeholder engagement and continuous capability uplift.

Other duties may include:

• Provide technical leadership across projects, workstreams and development teams.
• Guide architectural decisions and ensure alignment with security, operational and enterprise design principles.
• Resolve complex technical challenges and provide direction during design and implementation activities.
• Support planning, estimation, prioritisation and delivery activities.
• Lead proof-of-concepts, innovation initiatives and technical investigations.
• Drive consistency in engineering standards, development practices and technical governance.

Expected Behaviours

• Demonstrates ownership, accountability and initiative.
• Works effectively in ambiguous and complex environments.
• Makes sound technical decisions under pressure.
• Proactively identifies risks, issues and improvement opportunities.
• Maintains a strong focus on quality, security, resilience and maintainability.
• Collaborates effectively and contributes positively to team capability and culture.

The ACIC requires specified personnel to:

• Obtain the ACIC’s Organisational Suitability Assessment (OSA) prior to commencement.
• Have an Australian Government security clearance (AGSVA) to the minimum of Negative Vetting Level 1 (NV1) or be willing to undergo and obtain and AGSVA NV1 clearance.
• As directed by the ACIC, complete a Deed of Confidentiality or Non-Disclosure Agreement prior to commencement or comply with processes required to engage the Specified Personnel under section 48 of the Australian Crime Commission Act (2002).
• Note: Seller may be required to meet the cost of any security clearances

About the team

Technical Delivery Team The Technical Delivery Team is responsible for delivering the NCIS application and its underlying data platform. The platform enables ingestion, integration, enrichment, search and distribution of data from partner agencies, transforming large volumes of information into actionable intelligence. The team’s primary responsibility is delivering secure, scalable and high-performing technology solutions that directly support NCIS business outcomes and national intelligence capabilities.
• Mentor and support other developers through coaching, code reviews and knowledge sharing.
• Balance delivery outcomes with security, maintainability, resilience and operational support requirements.
• Contribute to technical leadership, engineering excellence and continuous improvement across the platform. NCIS Technology Stack NCIS is hosted within Microsoft Azure, primarily leveraging Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) components including Azure networking, virtual machines and storage accounts, together with supporting Azure services such as Azure Monitor, Log Analytics and Key Vault.

The platform utilises a modern distributed architecture comprising:
• Java (Spring Boot) microservices
• Apache Kafka
• Apache NiFi
• Elasticsearch, Logstash and Kibana (ELK)
• GraphQL and REST APIs
• React and TypeScript
• Relational databases
• Enterprise integration and messaging platforms

About the project

National Criminal Intelligence System (NCIS) Program The National Criminal Intelligence System (NCIS) Program within the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) provides Australia’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies with the first unified national view of criminal intelligence. The program enables secure access (up to the PROTECTED level) to consolidated intelligence holdings, improving information sharing, collaboration, and deconfliction across agencies. By delivering a more complete national intelligence picture, NCIS supports frontline officers and decision-makers with timely access to critical information to combat crime and terrorism and help keep the Australian community safe.

About the organisation

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) provides unique, actionable and insightful intelligence to combat the threats Australia faces from transnational serious and organised crime. The ACIC is part of the Department of Home Affairs portfolio and is a member of the Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group and National Intelligence Community. ACIC’s purpose is to protect Australia from serious crime threats by collecting, assessing and disseminating intelligence and policing information.

Essential criteria

1.Full Stack Java Engineering and Data Platform Expertise – Demonstrated recent experience designing, developing, testing and supporting enterprise-scale full-stack applications using modern Java technologies, contemporary frontend frameworks, and large-scale data processing, integration and search platforms.

2.Architecture, Scalability, Distributed Systems and Data Platforms – Demonstrated ability to design scalable, resilient and secure enterprise solutions, including microservices, event-driven architectures, distributed systems, data platforms and high-volume data processing environments, and deliver architecture that meets performance, security, maintainability and operational requirements.

3.DevOps, Cloud, Data Engineering and Software Delivery Practices – Demonstrated experience applying modern software engineering and delivery practices, including CI/CD, automated testing, containerisation, cloud-native technologies, DevSecOps principles, and enterprise data engineering capabilities such as integration, streaming and data processing platforms.

4.Technical Leadership, Ownership and Problem Solving Demonstrated ability to lead technical outcomes, solve complex problems and provide technical guidance within a large-scale enterprise environment. This includes taking ownership of solutions from design through to production support, resolving complex technical issues, managing ambiguity, driving continuous improvement, mentoring team members, and exercising sound technical judgement.

5.Communication, Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively, build productive working relationships, influence technical and delivery outcomes, and collaborate with business and technical stakeholders across multidisciplinary teams.

This role requires candidates primarily to be onsite from Canberra office. Working remotely up to two (2) days per week may be negotiated after six (6) months. This will be subject to approval and in accordance with the ACIC Home Based Work Policy.