Junior Software Engineer (Java / Kotlin / JVM)

Junior Software Engineer (Java / Kotlin / JVM) Contract Overview Role: Junior Software Engineer (Java/ Kotlin/ JVM) Location: Victoria, London Length: 12 months Start: ASAP Rate: £200 per day Status: Inside IR35 Pattern: Hybrid working About the Role I’m currently recruiting for a Junior Software Engineer to join a digital product team working across modern financial services technology. This role would suit someone with a few years’ commercial software engineering experience, particularly across Java, Kotlin and JVM-based backend development. The successful candidate will be working on modern applications and services that support customer-facing digital products, with a focus on clean code, APIs, service-based architecture and production-quality software delivery. Experience within digital banking, fintech, financial services or insurance would be beneficial, although the main priority is strong backend engineering capability and a genuine interest in building reliable, scalable applications. Client The client is a leading global financial services organisation with a major digital technology function. The team is responsible for building and supporting customer-facing digital products used at scale, with a strong focus on modern engineering, secure platforms, API-led development and high-quality customer experiences. Key Responsibilities * Build, maintain and improve backend services using Java, Kotlin and JVM technologies * Work across the full software delivery lifecycle, from design and development through to testing, deployment and production support * Develop and integrate APIs that support customer-facing digital products and internal platforms * Contribute to both greenfield and brownfield development projects * Participate in code reviews, technical discussions and system design conversations * Work closely with product, engineering and wider technology teams to refine requirements and deliver new features * Write clean, maintainable and well-tested code * Support live applications and help ensure performance, reliability and quality in production environments * Use modern engineering practices, including source control, CI/CD, automated testing and monitoring Skills and Experience * A few years’ commercial experience in software engineering * Strong hands-on experience with Java, Kotlin and JVM-based backend development * Understanding of service-based architecture and API-led development * Experience working with live applications and production environments * Good understanding of computer science fundamentals, data structures and software design principles * Experience with software testing, including unit testing and integration testing * Experience working with databases such as PostgreSQL, MongoDB or Redis * Familiarity with Git and source code control platforms such as GitHub, Bitbucket or GitLab * Experience working in Agile or Scrum environments * Good communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively across technical and non-technical teams Useful Technical Experience * Kotlin * Java * JVM * Ktor or Spring * REST APIs * PostgreSQL * MongoDB * Redis * GitHub Actions or other CI/CD tools * Docker * Kubernetes * AWS, GCP or Azure * Monitoring and logging tools such as CloudWatch, Prometheus, OpenSearch or Elasticsearch * Jira, Trello or similar delivery tools Desirable Experience * Experience or interest in AI tools and how they can support software development * Experience using tools such as GitHub Copilot, Devin or similar AI-assisted development tools * Ability to review, challenge, correct and improve AI-generated code or technical output * Experience in digital banking, fintech, financial services or insurance * Full stack experience, particularly with React or modern web technologies * Cloud deployment or container orchestration experience * A curious, adaptable and problem-solving mindset Important Information No visa sponsorship available. Candidates must already have the right to work in the UK. Salt contact Robert Sprigens, Senior Consultant – rsprigens@welovesalt.com *Rates depend on experience and client requirements