I'm Samuel Jackson, a Senior Java Back End Developer with over 25 years of experience delivering high-performance software across finance, energy, retail, government, and — most distinctively — the betting exchange industry.
My core expertise is Java and the Spring ecosystem. I've spent my career building systems where reliability, latency, and correctness genuinely matter — real-time trading frameworks, national-scale government platforms, enterprise event-driven pipelines, and cloud-native AWS architecture.
I'm multi-dimensional: strong backend depth across 11 domains, with real full-stack, DevOps, and DevSecOps capability. I integrate AI tooling across every phase of delivery — from prototyping and strategy modelling to test generation and production-grade code.
Day-rate or fixed-scope contracts, remote-first. My preferred mode of working — clear deliverables, senior-level output, no overhead. Inside or outside IR35.
Right for: project work, platform builds, integrations, team augmentation
Half-day or full-day engagements for architecture review, technical due diligence, or a second opinion on a system design. Ideal if you need senior input without a full commitment.
Right for: architecture audits, greenfield design, pre-build technical review
Open to the right permanent opportunity — a technically ambitious team, genuine autonomy, and work that's worth doing. Betting exchange, fintech, and government technology are of particular interest.
Right for: lead/principal engineering roles, CTO-adjacent positions
“Engaged at a critical juncture mid-migration — Kafka idempotency patterns Samuel introduced turned out to be essential for safe reprocessing when upstream services retried.”
“Hit the ground running in a demanding trading environment, delivering robust, well-tested Java components under real pressure and earning the team's trust quickly.”
“Outstanding technical depth and genuine talent for collaboration — contributions to our real-time data ingestion platform were instrumental in delivering exceptional value to clients.”
“Technical expertise and professionalism elevated the entire development process — deep knowledge of smart metering drove meaningful and measurable improvements across the platform.”
No drawn-out procurement. I move quickly once scope is clear.
A 30-minute call to understand your project, constraints, and timeline. No sales pitch — just a focused conversation to establish whether there's a fit and what shape the engagement needs to take.
A written scope covering deliverables, timeline, and day rate. I'll flag anything that needs shaping before we commit — I'd rather raise a concern early than discover a mismatch mid-engagement.
Contract signed, access granted, we start. Hitting the ground running and onboarding fast is part of the value a senior contractor brings — expect productive output from day one.
I respond promptly — usually same day.