Principal Java Architect (Kafka / AWS) at Cognizant
Atlanta, GA
$102,000–$175,000from the description
Jul 23, 2026
Atlanta, GA
Jul 25, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A senior individual-contributor and technical leadership role focused on designing and building microservices and event-driven systems for large-scale enterprise applications. Day-to-day work spans Java and Spring Boot development, Kafka-based data pipelines, and cloud-native deployment on AWS, alongside setting engineering standards and mentoring other engineers. Suited to a seasoned architect with 15+ years of enterprise software experience and deep distributed-systems expertise.
Senior level · 15+ years · Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA · Full-time
Advertised as Principal, but the requirements read as Senior.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 80 people in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (software developers). range 50–120
Applicant volume Moderate — A normal amount of company. The rare requirements below are what will separate a shortlisted application from the rest.
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $135,884 (middle half $106,941–$167,811). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (5)
The title says 'Principal Java Architect' but the actual requirements — 15+ years of experience, hands-on IC delivery, mentoring engineers, and no explicit org-wide or cross-portfolio authority — are consistent with a Senior individual contributor. The advertised seniority reflects the title; the assessed seniority reflects the scope.
The JD requires 'strong understanding of relational and NoSQL database technologies' but names no specific database product, so no database skill was emitted.
Docker and Kubernetes appear only under the 'These Will Help You Stand Out' (preferred/nice-to-have) section.
No degree requirement is stated anywhere in the posting.
The role requires candidates to be legally authorized to work in the US without employer sponsorship.
Read the full posting
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