Senior Java Engineer · Technical Lead · Agentic AI

Khalid
Chaudhry.

I build reliable backend systems, lead engineering teams and bring practical AI into software delivery.

Open to senior engineering and technical leadership roles

Based near Edinburgh · Remote / hybrid

24+ years in software engineering Scotland, UK

Companies I’ve worked with

01 / Recommendations

In my colleagues’ words.

View my LinkedIn profile

Selected excerpts from LinkedIn recommendations. Each expands to the original wording.

Java architecture & collaboration

“He worked closely with the COBOL team, asked thoughtful questions, clarified requirements clearly, and supported the Java translation work effectively.”

Read full recommendation from Shobana Natarajan

I had the opportunity to work with Khalid as his Project Lead on a short COBOL-to-Java modernisation assignment, where he joined our team as the Java Solution Architect. Khalid settled in quickly and made a strong contribution from the start. He worked closely with the COBOL team, asked thoughtful questions, clarified requirements clearly, and supported the Java translation work effectively. He also helped the COBOL team become more comfortable with the Java tools, technologies and overall tech stack.

Shobana Natarajan

Project Lead, Enterprise Mainframe Applications

Managed Khalid directly

· LinkedIn

Technical leadership & delivery

“Khalid is a strong technical lead who effectively guides and mentors engineers, fostering a collaborative environment which delivers scalable and maintainable solutions.”

Read full recommendation from Steven Lyne

Khalid is a strong technical lead who effectively guides and mentors engineers, fostering a collaborative environment which delivers scalable and maintainable solutions. He is skilled in working with cross-functional teams, ensuring alignment to goals and smooth project execution. His expertise, particularly in Java, microservices, DevOps and Agile practices, provides an ability to navigate complex challenges that are key to a team’s success, making him a valuable asset to any organisation.

Steven Lyne

Technical Lead at M&G plc

Worked on the same team

· LinkedIn

Supportive teammate & code reviewer

“I have always found his code reviews really helpful”

Read full recommendation from Mark Gunn

Khalid is a great person to work with who always encourages and supports others. I have always found his code reviews really helpful and well thought outt

Mark Gunn

Senior Software Engineer at Specsavers

Worked on the same team

· LinkedIn

02 / Selected work

Engineering and leadership in practice.

Selected delivery examples and a project in progress

Mercor / Java modernisation

Bringing legacy logic into Java.

Context
A short COBOL-to-Java modernisation assignment involving COBOL and Java engineers.
My contribution
Contributed architecture, mapping rules and implementation slices, reviewed AI-generated code, and helped clarify requirements and the Java approach with the COBOL team.
Colleague feedback
The project lead highlighted my contribution from the start and how I helped the COBOL team become more comfortable with the Java stack.
Read Shobana’s recommendation

Prudential / M&G / Team development

Building Java capability across teams.

Context
Technical leadership across distributed teams in the UK, Poland and India, combining delivery with coaching and mentoring.
My contribution
Provided a Java learning platform and organised workshops for engineers inside and outside my team, creating space for questions and collaborative learning.
Colleague feedback
A Chief Engineer described the work as helping engineers grow in their careers and creating a culture of continuous learning.
Read David’s recommendation

Java + applied AI

Career Pilot

WIP · Work in progress

A career co-pilot built around the person looking for the role.

I’m building Career Pilot to discover opportunities, evaluate their fit against configurable candidate profiles and bring the evidence together in one place.

Currently in development. Discovery, AI analysis and recommendation quality are being refined and validated.

  • Java 21
  • Spring Boot
  • SQLite
  • OpenAI
  • Adzuna
Explore the repository
Career Pilot / Illustrative previewWIP

Your next move.

Senior backend engineer · Software engineering

HTTP 200 · OKExample response state
Profile & review
Candidate profileSenior backend engineer
Job discoveryAdzuna integration
AI analysisOpenAI
Application decisionsHuman review
DiscoverEvaluateReviewTrack
Illustrative dashboard state, not a live run. Career Pilot is a work in progress.
01

Explainable fit

Candidate profiles and rule-based scoring make the reasons behind a match visible.

02

Controlled agent actions

The agent chooses its next action; Java validates tools, limits and recommendation evidence.

03

Human decisions

Recommendations support the job search. The user controls application tracking and decisions.

03 / Experience

Built on real delivery.

Full career history
2026Contract

Mercor

Senior Software Engineer / Frontier AI Lab

Java architecture, COBOL-to-Java modernisation and review of AI-generated code.

  • Reviewed AI-generated code and software outputs, providing technical feedback and design guidance.
  • Contributed high-level design, implementation slices and mapping rules for legacy-to-Java transformation.
  • AI code review
  • Java architecture
  • Legacy modernisation
2026Contract

DVLA

Senior Software Engineer

Public-facing Clean Air Zone services spanning payments, accounts and vehicle-management journeys.

  • Delivered Java/Spring Boot APIs and Ruby on Rails service changes, including payment-failure handling and operational logging.
  • Supported account and vehicle journeys with automated tests, AWS delivery and CI/CD.
  • Java / Spring Boot
  • AWS
  • TDD / BDD
2025–2026Feb 2025 to Feb 2026Contract

Specsavers

Senior Software Engineer

Cloud services and agentic engineering workflows supporting a retail digital transformation programme.

  • Built Java/Spring Boot microservices and REST APIs using JPA, Azure and Terraform.
  • Applied AI-assisted and agentic workflows to code comprehension, change analysis, testing and CI/CD delivery.
  • Agentic AI
  • Spring Boot
  • Azure / Terraform
2019–2024Sep 2019 to Sep 2024Permanent

Prudential / M&G

Technical Lead / Manager

Technical leadership across distributed engineering teams in the UK, Poland and India.

  • Led Java service delivery, platform modernisation and cloud migration, alongside line management, coaching and mentoring.
  • Worked with Product Owners and engineering leadership to align delivery, improve release practices and maintain engineering standards.
  • Organised Java workshops and a learning platform for engineers within and beyond my team.
  • Applied AI-assisted engineering and explored agentic workflows during later modernisation initiatives.
  • Technical leadership
  • Platform modernisation
  • Team development

Earlier experience

Financial services, engineering and quality assurance.

Nov 2017 to Apr 2018

Clydesdale Bank

Java Engineer

Converted legacy COBOL logic into Java 8 / Spring Boot REST services backed by Oracle and Elasticsearch.

Dec 2016 to Feb 2017

British Airways

Java Developer in Test

Delivered automated testing with Java, Selenium, Cucumber and Jenkins in an Agile delivery environment.

Oct 2015 to Oct 2016

BSkyB

Java Developer in Test

Built RESTful automated test coverage, working with developers to validate client and end-user journeys.

Jun 2012 to Apr 2014

Barclays Corporate

Application Solution Designer

Translated Fixed Income requirements into Java/Spring solutions, service specifications and designs for distributed delivery teams.

Apr 2011 to Oct 2011

JP Morgan Chase

Java Developer

Turned quantitative financial requirements into Java/Spring functionality and refactored a legacy codebase for testability.

Aug 2010 to Feb 2011

Standard Life

Java Developer

Delivered Java and Spring business services for quantitative and actuarial requirements in a service-oriented environment.

04 / Expertise

Depth in Java.
Perspective across delivery.

Backend & cloud engineering

Maintainable services, clear interfaces and reliable integration. From Java and Spring to cloud infrastructure and delivery pipelines.

  • Java
  • Spring Boot
  • REST / SQL
  • AWS / Azure
  • Terraform

Technical leadership

Architecture decisions, hands-on delivery, coaching and mentoring. Experience connecting distributed teams and business priorities.

  • Architecture
  • Mentoring
  • Agile delivery
  • CI/CD

Applied AI & quality

Practical agentic workflows and review of AI-generated code, backed by established engineering judgement and automated testing.

  • Agentic AI
  • AI code review
  • TDD / BDD
  • Test automation

05 / Get in touch

Let’s talk engineering.

Looking for a senior Java engineer or technical lead who can combine hands-on delivery with team development and practical AI? Let’s talk about your team.

Khalid Chaudhry

Portrait of Khalid Chaudhry in a dark suit and open-collar white shirt