Lead Java Engineer with AI tools (Relocation to Qatar)

We are looking for a Lead Java Engineer with AI tools to join our team, with eventual relocation to Qatar. EPAM is renowned for delivering cutting-edge technological solutions to transform businesses worldwide.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to pragmatic AI architectures (RAG/agents/copilots/automation) integrated into cloud-native microservices (including Kafka) and enterprise data platforms (e.g., Oracle), supporting decisions on when to use RAG vs agents vs conventional approaches
• Implement and apply SDD specs/templates, support governance/quality gates, and help embed SDD into delivery workflows
• Build and maintain agentic use cases, including hands-on ability to run/write agents and implement guardrails defined by the program
• Deliver production solutions (LLM integrations, retrieval, embeddings/vector stores where relevant) embedded into Java/Spring Boot services
• Implement observability, rollout/versioning, and CI/CD for prompts/specs/models, deploying and operating on AKS and Azure hosting with guidance from platform/SRE teams
• Contribute to tracking adoption, productivity, quality, and risk KPIs for AI-enabled delivery
• Participate in playbooks, training, documentation, and team mentoring, sharing patterns and examples across squads
• Ensure responsible AI controls, data handling constraints, and agent guardrails are implemented in line with company policies and engineering standards

Requirements

• 5+ years of hands-on development experience with Core Java, Spring/Spring Boot, and web services/microservices
• At least 1 year of relevant leadership experience
• Hands-on delivery exposure to LLMs, RAG, and agentic systems (production or strong pilot/enterprise PoC experience)
• Understanding of cloud-native architecture, database concepts (preferably Oracle/PL/SQL), and Kafka/GitLab
• Knowledge of AI concepts, especially Spec Driven Development (SDD), with working experience in running and writing agents and implementing guardrails
• Experience with LLM providers and/or self-hosted models, prompt engineering, and an evaluation/testing mindset
• Practical experience applying SDD (spec-driven ways of working) in a team setting
• Hands-on capability to build and integrate agentic and/or RAG capabilities into real engineering workflows
• Ability to balance cost, productivity, quality, and risk when implementing LLM/agentic solutions (with guidance where needed)
• Production mindset covering testing, observability, safe rollout, and secure-by-design implementation
• Strong communication skills and ability to work in a global team
• Proficiency in English at an Upper-Intermediate level (B2) or higher

Nice to have

• Familiarity with Azure (AKS and/or Azure Web Apps) and CI/CD with GitLab (Azure DevOps is a plus)
• Knowledge of React
• Familiarity with Ansible
• Knowledge of Kubernetes
• Experience with LangChain