Job Description

Overview

We are seeking an experienced Senior Java Platform / Developer Experience Engineer to help make a large, long-running legacy web application safe and efficient for AI-assisted development using Claude Code.

This role focuses on enablement, guardrails, and automation—not rewriting or modernizing the application. The objective is to help existing engineers ship bug fixes and small features faster, safer, and with better confidence.

Key Objective

Improve the developer workflow and reliability of a 20+ year-old Java web platform while preserving the existing architecture and frontend patterns.

Existing Technology Stack

The current application stack must remain intact.

Backend

• Java
• JSP
• Servlets
• Spring Framework
• Hibernate

Frontend

• prototype.js
• jQuery
• Angular (legacy usage)

Infrastructure / Tools

• Ant (build.xml)
• SQL Server
• Apache
• Tomcat
• SVN

Development Environment

• Windows

⚠️ This is not a migration or rewrite project.

Responsibilities

AI Enablement

• Create a CLAUDE.md file and AI-friendly repository documentation
• Define safe patterns for AI-assisted development
• Establish guardrails and workflows for engineers using AI coding tools

Build & Development Workflow

• Make Ant builds deterministic and stable on Windows
• Improve local development reliability
• Simplify project onboarding for developers

Testing & Validation

• Add lightweight smoke tests
• Implement a few key UI journey validations
• Improve confidence in releases

Automation

• Automate simple staging deployments
• Add verification steps for deployments

Documentation

• Leave clear scripts and documentation for the internal team
• Document build processes and developer workflows

Required Experience

• 10+ years of professional Java development
• Strong experience with:
  • JSP
  • Servlets
  • Spring
  • Hibernate
• Experience working with legacy frontend stacks
• Strong knowledge of:
  • Ant builds
  • SQL Server
  • Apache
  • Tomcat
• Comfortable working with SVN repositories
• Experience improving developer productivity in legacy systems

Nice to Have

• Experience with Playwright or Selenium
• Background in Developer Experience / Platform Engineering
• Experience using AI coding tools on large codebases

What We’re Looking For

We want a senior engineer who:

• Understands the realities of legacy systems
• Improves systems without forcing rewrites
• Focuses on stability, clarity, and delivery speed
• Can guide teams on safe AI-assisted development

Application Requirements

Please include the following in your application:

Confirmation that you will preserve existing frontend patterns

Examples of legacy Java systems you have worked on

Experience improving developer productivity without rewriting systems