Java Tech Lead

About Us: 

Delasport is where technology meets the excitement of sports and gaming! As a leading powerhouse in iGaming software, we provide everything from sports betting to online casinos and player account management. Our platform is designed to make every player feel like the star of the show, with personalized experience and cutting-edge technology at its heart.   

Since 2010, we've made a significant impact in industry, earning awards and expanding our global presence. With offices in Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Malta, our team of over 500 experts is constantly driving innovation and striving for excellence. 

About the Role:

We are looking for a Java Tech Lead to be the technical authority across our Java engineering teams, ensuring that everything we ship meets the highest standards for quality, operational reliability, and security. 

You will raise the technical bar across teams, drive technology decisions in close collaboration with the Architect, and serve as the bridge between engineering teams and business stakeholders. The Tech Lead owns technical quality, standards, and technology evolution. 

This role is based in Sofia, Bulgaria, and we welcome candidates who are open to relocating (relocation support provided).

What You’ll Do:

• Technical Quality Ownership - Set and enforce technical standards for code quality, testing practices, deployment procedures, and observability across all Java teams. Ensure deliverables consistently meet company and industry standards. 

• Security & Compliance - Champion security best practices in application design and delivery. Drive secure coding standards, dependency management, and vulnerability remediation across the development lifecycle. 

• Technology Decisions - Drive and consult on technology choices in collaboration with the Architect and engineering teams. Evaluate new tools, frameworks, and patterns with a clear focus on efficiency, maintainability, and long-term sustainability. 

• Architecture & Design Guidance - Review and guide system designs, API contracts, data models, and integration patterns. Ensure business requirements are implemented following sound architectural principles and established standards. 

• Hands-On Engineering - Stay deeply hands-on with production code. Lead by example in modern Java (21/25), Spring Boot 3/4, Kafka Streams, and cloud-native microservices. Conduct in-depth code reviews and contribute to critical path development. 

• Observability & Operational Excellence - Define and drive observability standards (metrics, logging, tracing, alerting) to ensure production systems are transparent, diagnosable, and reliable. 

• Technology Adoption - Drive the adoption of new technologies and practices across teams. Build proof-of-concepts, define migration paths, and ensure smooth rollouts with minimal disruption. 

• Cross-Team Collaboration - Act as the technical mediator between Java teams, Team Leads, the Architect, and business stakeholders. Translate business requirements into sound technical guidance and ensure alignment across all parties. 

• Knowledge Sharing - Foster a culture of technical excellence through design reviews, tech talks, documentation, and hands-on mentoring of senior engineers. 

Employees may be required to participate in an on-call rotation, ensuring availability outside regular working hours to respond to urgent issues as needed as per the On call policy.

Who You Are:

Experience: 7+ years of hands-on backend development with strong Java expertise, including 2+ years in a technical leadership capacity (Tech Lead, Principal Engineer, or equivalent). 

Technical Expertise: 

• Deep knowledge of modern Java (21+), concurrency, JVM internals, and performance characteristics 
• Strong experience with Spring Boot (3/4) and building production-grade microservices 
• Strong expertise with Kafka and Kafka Streams — event-driven architectures, stream processing, schema evolution, and exactly-once semantics 
• Solid understanding of REST API design principles and synchronous integration patterns 
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, GitOps (ArgoCD, Kustomize), and container orchestration 
• Experience defining and implementing observability strategies (metrics, distributed tracing, structured logging, alerting) 
• Strong understanding of application security practices, secure coding, and dependency management 
• Solid database knowledge: relational and document databases, data modeling, and performance tuning 

Soft Skills: Excellent communicator who can translate between technical and business language. Comfortable presenting ideas, challenging decisions constructively, and building consensus across teams. 

Collaboration: Proven ability to work effectively with Architects, Team Leads, Product, and DevOps in a cross-functional environment. 

Mindset: Ownership-driven, pragmatic, and passionate about engineering excellence. You care as much about maintainability and operational quality as you do about shipping features. 

Nice to Have: 

• Experience in iGaming, Sportsbook, or real-time transaction-heavy systems 
• CDC architectures (Debezium) 
• Redis or distributed caching strategies 
• Performance tuning and benchmarking (JMH, async-profiler, JFR) 
• Architecture patterns such as DDD, CQRS, or Event Sourcing 
• Contributions to open-source projects 

What We Offer: 

We’re not just about work,  we are about creating a great place to grow, connect, and enjoy the journey. Here’s what you can expect when you join us:

• Competitive Salary Package: We value your skills, dedication, and contributions
• Time Off: Enjoy 21+ days of annual paid leave so you can rest, recharge, and come back inspired
• Bonus & Rewards: Performance-based annual bonuses, special vouchers for birthdays and welcoming a newborn
• Health & Wellness: Additional Health insurance including dental care; Co-funding a Multisport/Coolfit card to help you stay active
• Extra Benefits: Employee discounts at various retailers and a monthly allowance for public transportation
• Great Office Locations: Central office location in Sofia and Plovdiv
• Relax & Recharge Zone: Take a break with colleagues in our PlayStation and Pool Area - perfect for recharging during the day

Wait, there’s more:

• Happy Hour Fridays: Every Friday we host themed Happy Hours with snacks, fun activities, and plenty of opportunities to connect and unwind with colleagues
• Multicultural Days: Celebrate diversity and experience the traditions, food, and cultures of teammates from around the world
• Massages at the Office: Weekly Free Recreational Massages to help relax during the workday
• Chess Lessons: Sharpen your strategic thinking and enjoy some friendly competition with colleagues
• Sports & Football Team: We regularly participate in various sports events and have our own Delasport Football Team, competing in the IT League
• Bulgarian Language Lessons: Bulgarian for Foreigners classes to support smoother communication
• Office Library: Enjoy access to technical literature to expand your knowledge

Ready to Be Part of Something Big?   

If you're excited to join a team that's revolutionizing the iGaming world and want to make a real impact, apply today. We can't wait to meet you! 

#LI-HYBRID