Senior Java Lead - Agentic AI

Location: Toronto, ON (Hybrid 3 days/week onsite)

Duration: Long Term

About the Role

We are looking for highly experienced, hands-on Senior Java Engineers (Architects /Technical Leads with strong hands-on Software Engineering background) to join an innovation-focused on Agentic AI initiatives. This is not a traditional feature development role. We are looking for engineers who are independent thinkers-professionals who can take an idea or problem statement, evaluate multiple technology options, design the solution, build it, and deliver an end-to-end outcome with minimal direction. You will work in an environment where the destination is known, but the path is not. There is no predefined architecture, framework, or implementation approach. Your ability to evaluate technologies, make sound technical decisions, and deliver quality solutions will be critical.

What You'll Do

The team works across two key streams:

Technology Evaluation

- Evaluate emerging technologies, frameworks, AI tools, and development approaches.

- Build proof-of-concepts and prototypes.
- Recommend Go/No-Go decisions based on technical feasibility, scalability, and compliance.

Product Evaluation
- Partner with product teams to develop early-stage products and services.
- Design, develop, test, and integrate beta solutions.
- Support pilot releases, collect feedback and usage data, and help determine product readiness for production.

Key Responsibilities

- Design, architect, develop, test, and implement Java-based backend solutions.
- Own features from concept through implementation without requiring detailed technical direction.
- Evaluate and recommend the best technologies, frameworks, and architectural approaches for each solution.
- Build scalable, secure,



and high-quality applications using modern engineering practices.
- Work closely with engineering and product teams to transform ideas into working solutions.
- Leverage AI-powered development tools to improve engineering productivity and software quality.
- Contribute to technology evaluations and innovation initiatives while ensuring compliance and engineering best practices.

Required Skills

- 8+ years of hands-on Java backend development experience.
- Strong expertise in Java, Spring Boot, and Microservices.
- Proven experience in software design, architecture, and end-to-end implementation.
- Hands-on experience with GitHub Copilot and/or Claude as part of the software development lifecycle.
- Valuable understanding of AI/ML concepts and AI-assisted software development.
- Experience working with Agentic AI, AI agents, workflows, skills, or AI-powered coding tools.
- Strong system design and problem-solving skills.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
- Ability to work independently in ambiguous environments with minimal supervision.

Nice to Have

- Hands-on experience developing AI/ML solutions.
- Experience with AWS.
- Experience with Databricks.
- Experience building proof-of-concepts, prototypes, or innovation-focused solutions.

What We're Looking For

The ideal candidate is someone who:

- Is a hands-on engineer first, with architecture and technical leadership capabilities.
- Thinks independently and takes ownership from problem statement to solution delivery.
- Can evaluate multiple technologies and determine the best implementation approach.
- Is comfortable working without predefined designs or frameworks.
- Uses AI tools effectively to improve development speed and quality.
- Communicates effectively, collaborates well, and influences through technical expertise rather than authority.

📌 Java Lead /Architect (Toronto)
🏢 VDart
📍 Toronto