An international software company with its own product and inhouse development team in Dortmund, NRW is seeking an experienced Java Softwareentwickler:in mit AI-Fokus (m/w/d) for a full-time hybrid position (2 Tage mobiles Arbeiten/Woche). This is a senior-to-mid-level Java engineering role with a genuine AI integration mandate — combining Java/Spring backend development with hands-on use of AI-coding tools (Claude Code, AWS Bedrock/LiteLLM, LangChain, Python) in a modern product environment. Technology stack: Java, Spring, REST, JPA/Hibernate, PostgreSQL/Oracle/NoSQL, React, Python, LangChain. Salary: ca. 58.000–78.000 € depending on experience and technical background. Benefits include flexible working hours, individual Weiterbildungsmöglichkeiten, and a modern Dortmund location. Requires multiple years of Java experience and demonstrable AI-tool or AI-project experience beyond ChatGPT/Copilot.
About the Employer — International Software Company, Dortmund NRW
Model: International aufgestelltes Softwareunternehmen — eigenes Produkt, vollständig inhouse Entwicklung
Development Culture: Moderne Produktentwicklung — kurze Entscheidungswege, langfristige Perspektive
Team: Collaborative engineering culture — active contribution to Softwarearchitektur & technische Konzepte expected and welcomed
AI Focus: AI tools integrated into the actual development process — not a future roadmap item but current practice
Location: Dortmund, NRW — modern Standort, hybrid 2 days remote per week, flexible Arbeitszeiten
Technology Stack
Core Backend: Java · Spring · REST APIs · JPA / Hibernate · PostgreSQL · Oracle · NoSQL
AI / ML Tools: Claude Code · AWS Bedrock · LiteLLM · LangChain · Python
Frontend: React
Architecture: Modern microservices / API-first software product architecture — Softwarearchitektur contributions expected from senior developers
Salary Range: ca. 58.000 – 78.000 € / Jahr depending on experience and technical background
Position Overview
The Java Entwickler:in mit AI-Fokus role in Dortmund is exactly the kind of position that experienced Java engineers interested in AI integration have been waiting for — and that has been genuinely rare in the NRW market until now. Most AI-adjacent Java roles are either conventional Java positions with a vague “familiarity with AI tools a plus” line in the requirements, or dedicated ML/Data Science roles that have little to do with the Java backend engineering that most experienced Java developers have spent years perfecting. This role is deliberately neither.
Here, the expectation is that you bring solid, multi-year Java engineering depth — Java, Spring, REST, JPA/Hibernate, relational and NoSQL databases, software architecture thinking — and combine it with genuine, hands-on experience using AI-coding tools and AI-powered development workflows. The company works with Claude Code, AWS Bedrock/LiteLLM, and LangChain — a notably forward-leaning AI toolchain that goes well beyond the ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot exposure most developers have now accumulated. They are looking for engineers who understand how to integrate AI capabilities into real software products, not just generate code snippets faster. The hybrid model (2 Tage mobiles Arbeiten), flexible working hours, individual Weiterbildungsmöglichkeiten, and a salary of up to 78.000 € for the right profile make this one of the most attractive Java AI engineering positions currently open in NRW.
Why This Java AI Developer Role in Dortmund Is Among the Most Interesting in NRW Right Now: The combination of a genuine inhouse product development environment (no client project rotation, no billable hours pressure), a hands-on AI toolchain that includes Claude Code and AWS Bedrock, a Java engineering codebase where your architecture contributions actually shape the product, and a salary range of 58k–78k€ with 2-day remote flexibility is a profile that almost never appears in German SME software hiring. Most companies are still debating AI strategy while this team is already using it. If Java engineering depth combined with real AI-tool mastery is where your career is heading, this Dortmund role is worth a direct conversation.
Key Responsibilities
AI-Tool Integration & AI-gestützte Softwareentwicklung
- Lead and demonstrate the active use of AI tools throughout the software development process — applying Claude Code, AWS Bedrock/LiteLLM, LangChain, and Python-based AI capabilities not as experimental side projects but as integrated elements of the daily engineering workflow, from code generation and review to architectural analysis, documentation, and test coverage improvement, helping the team move faster and build better software by treating AI as a practical engineering multiplier rather than a marketing talking point
- Develop and maintain AI-powered features and integrations within the company’s Java product — designing and implementing the software interfaces, API layers, data pipelines, and integration patterns that connect the Java/Spring backend with LLM services, vector search capabilities, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) architectures, and AI agent frameworks, applying the production-engineering rigour that real product reliability requires rather than the proof-of-concept looseness that characterises many early AI integrations
- Share AI knowledge and help define best practices for AI tool usage across the engineering team — contributing to team-level understanding of when and how AI tools genuinely improve engineering output versus where they introduce technical debt or reliability risk, helping establish the shared standards and workflows that turn individual AI proficiency into a consistent team capability advantage
Java Backend Development & Software Architecture
- Drive the Weiterentwicklung moderner Java Softwarelösungen — taking active ownership of feature development, refactoring, performance optimisation, and reliability improvement in the company’s Java/Spring backend codebase, applying the engineering depth and code quality standards that sustain a growing software product through increasing user demand and feature complexity, and contributing the kind of senior-level implementation judgement that separates maintainable long-term codebases from technically indebted ones
- Contribute to the Mitgestaltung von Softwarearchitektur & technischen Konzepten — actively participating in architecture discussions, proposing technical approaches, evaluating design trade-offs, and helping shape the technical direction of the software product, in an environment where “kurze Entscheidungswege” means your architectural input is heard and acted on rather than disappearing into a committee review process
- Design and implement REST APIs and data persistence layers using Spring, JPA/Hibernate, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and NoSQL technologies — applying consistent API design discipline, robust error handling, appropriate transaction management, and data modelling clarity to build the backend services that the product’s reliability and scalability depend on across its full lifecycle from prototype-to-production to enterprise-scale operation
- Collaborate with React frontend development and cross-functional team members — contributing to the full-stack understanding and technical coordination that a modern inhouse product team requires, applying Java backend engineering expertise to inform frontend integration design, API contract definition, and the end-to-end technical coherence of the software product
Code Quality, Reviews & Weiterbildung
- Participate in code reviews and engineering best practice promotion — applying senior Java engineering judgement to review submissions, providing technically authoritative and constructively delivered feedback, and contributing to the team’s shared quality standards, testing culture, and documentation practices in a product environment where code quality directly affects customer experience and product reliability
- Actively engage with individuelle Weiterbildungsmöglichkeiten — taking advantage of the personalised professional development support the company offers to stay current with evolving AI tooling, Java ecosystem developments, cloud-native architecture patterns, and the LangChain/LLM orchestration landscape, in a company that views engineer growth as a strategic investment rather than a budgeted cost to minimise
Required Skills & Experience
Mandatory Requirements
- Mehrere Jahre Java Erfahrung — commercially proven, production-grade Java development experience with Spring, REST, JPA/Hibernate, relational databases (PostgreSQL, Oracle), and ideally NoSQL; this is the non-negotiable foundation that the AI integration mandate is built on top of, not a replacement for it
- AI-Coding-Tool or AI-Project experience beyond ChatGPT and Copilot — demonstrable hands-on experience with more advanced AI tools and workflows, whether through AWS Bedrock, LangChain, LiteLLM, Claude Code, or equivalent; experience working on software that integrates LLM capabilities, RAG systems, AI agents, or similar AI-powered features is explicitly what differentiates the target profile for this role
- Genuine motivation to integrate AI more deeply into software engineering practice — not curiosity about AI from the outside but an active interest in building with it, improving workflows using it, and contributing to a team culture where AI-augmented engineering is standard practice
Why Java + AI Engineering in Dortmund NRW Is a High-Value Career Position in 2026
The intersection of strong Java engineering and genuine AI tool proficiency is currently one of the most underserved talent intersections in the German technology market. There are many experienced Java engineers who have not invested in AI tool depth beyond Copilot, and there are many AI enthusiasts who lack the production Java engineering foundation to build reliable, scalable, enterprise-grade software with it. The engineers who have developed genuine depth in both — who can architect and implement Java/Spring backend systems to production standards and also know how to integrate Claude Code, AWS Bedrock, LangChain, and LiteLLM into real product workflows — are genuinely scarce, and that scarcity is reflected in the salary that this role is prepared to pay for the right profile.
Dortmund and the broader NRW Ruhrgebiet technology market have matured significantly as software product and technology company destinations — no longer overshadowed by Berlin, Munich, or Hamburg for inhouse product roles. An international software company in Dortmund offering genuine AI-tool integration work, inhouse product ownership, modern hybrid working, individual Weiterbildungsmöglichkeiten, and a salary up to 78.000€ is a professionally compelling proposition for any experienced Java engineer who is ready to bring AI and Java together. If that describes you, apply now — the conversation is well worth having.
Who Should Apply?
- Senior Java Backend Engineers mit AI-Tool-Erfahrung in NRW: With multiple years of commercial Java/Spring production engineering experience — including REST API design, JPA/Hibernate, relational databases — and hands-on exposure to AI coding tools and AI integration projects that goes beyond ChatGPT and Copilot; ready to join an inhouse product team in Dortmund where AI tools are already embedded in the engineering process and your depth in both Java and AI amplifies your contribution immediately
- Java Entwickler:innen die KI in die Softwareentwicklung integrieren wollen: With strong Java engineering foundations who have been actively developing their AI tooling skills — building with LangChain, experimenting with AWS Bedrock, using Claude Code or LiteLLM in development workflows — and who want a permanent, hybrid inhouse product role in Dortmund NRW where that combination is the explicit job description rather than an unofficial side project they pursue outside of work hours
- Full-Stack Java Engineers mit Architektur-Interesse: With Java backend depth, React frontend familiarity, and an interest in contributing to software architecture and technical concept development — not just implementing assigned tickets but actively shaping the technical direction of a growing product in an environment where “kurze Entscheidungswege” means architectural input genuinely influences outcomes, at a salary up to 78.000€ for the right experience level
- Java Engineers seeking stability and Gestaltungsspielraum in a product company: Who have spent time in consulting, contracting, or agency environments with frequent client-project rotation and want the depth and continuity of inhouse product development — building the same codebase over time, seeing architectural decisions play out, owning features through their full lifecycle — in a Dortmund-based software company with a modern hybrid working model and genuine Weiterbildungsmöglichkeiten
- Mid-to-Senior Java AI Engineers relocating to or within NRW’s Ruhrgebiet: Based in or willing to commute to Dortmund — comfortable with a 2-Tage-remote hybrid model — with the Java production engineering and AI-tool integration profile this role requires and the salary expectations that the 58k–78k€ range comfortably meets for well-matched candidates
Recently Opening Job👇
