Java Chapter Lead - Core Banking @ ING Hubs Romania
Job Description
Discover ING Hubs Romania
ING Hubs Romania offers 130 services in software development, data management, non-financial risk & compliance, audit, and retail operations to 24 ING units worldwide, with the help of over 2000 high-performing engineers, risk, and operations professionals.
We started out in 2015 as ING’s software development hub, then steadily expanded our range to include more services and competencies. Now we provide borderless services with bank-wide capabilities and operate from two locations: Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca.
Our tech capabilities remain the core of our business, with more than 1800 colleagues active in Data and Analytics Tech, Tech Foundation and Channels, Retail Core Banking and Architecture, and Global Products and Technology Services.
We enjoy a flexible way of working and a highly collaborative environment, where fair and constructive feedback is encouraged.
For us, impact isn't a perk. It's the driver of our work. We are guided and rewarded by a shared desire to make the world a better place, one innovative solution at a time. Our colleagues make it their job to do impactful things and they love doing it in good company. Do you?
Here’s a sneak peak of what our colleagues say about working within ING Hubs Romania:
- At ING, we're building the solutions of tomorrow, today | 80% of our colleagues in Romania agree
The Mission
This is a hands-on Chapter Lead role, combining engineering contribution (40–60%) with people leadership (40–60%).
You will lead a chapter of Java engineers working across multiple squads in the Core Banking and Easy Financing domains, supporting Germany Retail. The role focuses on:
Delivering high-quality backend systems
Driving technical excellence and engineering standards
Growing and mentoring engineers within the chapter
You will operate in a complex environment involving core banking systems, credit workflows, and integrations with risk, compliance (KYC/AML), and external partners, while contributing to the ongoing evolution from monolithic systems to microservices architectures.
Your day to day
1. Engineering Contribution
Design, build, and maintain Java (17+) Spring Boot microservices
Maintain and evolve a legacy monolithic middleware and drive it’s incremental decomposition into microservices
Design and evolve REST APIs, domain models, and integration contracts
Design and evolve event-driven architectures using Kafka
Drive system reliability, scalability, and performance improvements
Troubleshoot and resolve issues across environments (test, acceptance, production)
2. Technical Leadership
Define and enforce engineering standards and best practices across squads
Contribute to architecture decisions (service boundaries, data models, integration patterns)
Guide the evolution from monolith to distributed systems, ensuring pragmatic trade-offs
Drive improvements in CI/CD pipelines, deployment automation, and developer experience
Ensure strong testing strategies (unit, integration, performance) are consistently applied
Support cross-team alignment on design and implementation decisions
3. Chapter / People Leadership
Lead, coach, and develop a chapter of engineers across multiple squads
Drive performance, accountability, and continuous improvement within the chapter
Provide structured feedback and support career development
Identify and address performance gaps proactively
Align skills development with domain and technology needs
Collaborate with other Chapter Leads and IT Area Leads to improve engineering maturity
Support hiring and onboarding of engineers
What you’ll bring to the team
Experience
7–10+ years experience in backend development in enterprise/distributed systems
Proven experience as a technical lead, senior engineer, or people lead
Experience designing and evolving distributed systems and microservices architectures
Experience working in complex integration environments (APIs, event-driven systems)
Technical Skills (Mandatory)
Strong experience with Java (17+) and Spring Boot
Solid understanding of:
REST API design and contract evolution
Distributed systems and microservices patterns
Event-driven architecture (e.g., Kafka)
Experience with testing strategies (unit, integration, performance)
Familiarity with CI/CD practices and modern SDLC
Strong problem-solving and system design skills
Experience with Docker, OpenShift, Azure DevOps
Leadership & Collaboration
Experience mentoring or leading engineers
Ability to drive engineering standards, accountability, and team performance
Strong collaboration skills across squads, domains, and stakeholders
Comfortable operating in Agile environments
Good to Have
Experience in core banking, payments, or lending domains
Exposure to legacy system modernization
Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science or a related field
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