Senior Backend Engineer (Java/AWS)

Job overview

The Senior Backend Engineer (Java/AWS) works onsite in Washington, DC, with compensation of $43–$45 per hour. The role is a W-2 contract opportunity through ZipStaff for a national passenger transportation organization, supporting critical operational systems. The engineer builds and supports cloud-native integrations and transaction-processing services, emphasizing resilient AWS architectures, event-driven pipelines, high availability, disaster recovery, and B2B data exchange. The work also includes production reliability, deployment automation, and mentoring junior developers.

What you'll do

• Design and maintain Java and Python microservices, REST APIs, and event-driven architectures
• architect high-availability AWS solutions
• investigate production incidents and implement observability
• build CI/CD pipelines
• optimize PostgreSQL and Aurora data models
• lead code reviews, automated testing practices, and junior developer mentoring.

What we're looking for

Skills & competencies

senior backend engineer

java

aws

washington dc

onsite

w-2 contract

$43–$45/hour

microservices

spring boot

postgresql

ci/cd

high availability

passenger transportation

Work arrangement

• Weekend coverage required

Benefits & perks

• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with matching
• paid time off
• referral program.

Why this role

The posting specifies Java 17+, Spring Boot, Python, AWS services, PostgreSQL/Aurora, CI/CD tools, JUnit, and Mockito; 7+ years of backend engineering experience is required.

About the employer

ZipStaff Inc. is hiring for this role. Industry: Special Needs Transportation. Sector: 48.