Java Backend Engineer 7+ Years in Microservices and Cloud-Native

Gulcin Saran McLaren

+1-571-***-**** ******@*******.*** linkedin.com/in/saranmclaren/ Davenport,FL

Professional SUMMARY:

Java Backend Engineer with 7+ years of experience designing and delivering scalable, secure microservices using Java 17, Spring Boot, and Spring Cloud. Strong contributor to architecture and domain design across Shopping Cart, Finance, and Customer Preference platforms, with hands-on ownership of reactive systems, distributed data platforms (Cassandra, PostgreSQL, Oracle), and cloud-native deployments using Docker and Kubernetes. Experienced in CI/CD, security, and observability, collaborating closely with architecture and platform teams in Agile environments.

EDUCATION:

•Safety and Health Technology, AA, Anadolu University, Turkey 2019 – 2022

•Web Design and Coding, AS, Anadolu University, Turkey 2016 - 2019

•Global Governance and Politics, MA, Katip Celebi University, Turkey 2015 – 2017

•Finance, BA, Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey 2002 – 2010

TECHNICAL SKILLS:

Languages: Java 17, TypeScript 5.4, JavaScript (ES2023), Python

Web: HTML5, CSS3, Bootstrap 5.3, Tailwind CSS 3.2, JSP 2.3, React.js, Angular, JavaFX 16

Web Services: RESTful APIs, Swagger, Feign Client, Kafka, WebClient

Frameworks: Spring Boot 3.2, Hibernate 6.2, Spring MVC 5.3, DropWizard 2.0, Node.js 20.0, Express 5.0, Spring Cloud 2024.0

Databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Elasticsearch, Oracle 19c, Cassandra 4.1, Apache Hadoop, JPA, Oracle

Architecture & Patterns: Domain-Driven Design (DDD), Layered Architecture, Reactive Architecture, Repository, Strategy, Factory, Singleton, Observer, Adapter

Version Control & Tracking: Git, GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Jira

Cloud (AWS): AWS S3, EC2, Lambda, SNS, SQS, CloudWatch, RDS, ECR, EKS, ELK

IDEs: IntelliJ IDEA 2024.2, VSCode 1.82, PyCharm 2024.1

DevOps Tools: Jenkins 2.415, Maven 3.9, CircleCI, Docker 24.0, Kubernetes 1.27, Terraform 1.6, Logstash 8.7, Ansible, Unleash.

Testing: JUnit5, Mockito, Spring Test, Postman, Jest.

WORK EXPERIENCE:

Verizon, Miami, FL, USA 07/16/2025 – Present

Senior Java Developer

Roles and Responsibilities:

Lead Developer for the Shopping Cart domain, owning end-to-end implementation across cart creation, updates, eligibility checks, guest and authenticated user flows, and legacy compatibility.

Designed and implemented Spring Boot (Java 17) microservices using reactive programming (Project Reactor – Mono/Flux) to support high-throughput, non-blocking enterprise systems.

Worked across three major projects: Shopping Cart (primary ownership), Glow Finance integration, and Customer Preferences domain.

Coordinated onshore and offshore teams, driving cross-team delivery from requirements through production while serving as the primary bridge between product, architecture, and engineering to ensure aligned, on-time delivery.

Led system design and NSA architecture discussions, contributing to domain-driven design (DDD), service boundaries, validation strategies, and integration patterns across multiple teams.

Implemented Glow Finance workflows by preparing finance requests, integrating with external Glow APIs via Spring WebClient, and handling response mapping, retries, and error translation.

Integrated and worked with multiple databases, including Cassandra, PostgreSQL, and Oracle, selecting the appropriate data store based on performance, scalability, and legacy requirements.

Implemented enterprise-grade error handling using custom exceptions, centralized HTTP error mapping, and robust validation layers to ensure API consistency.

Built observability and tracing using Correlation IDs, global transaction IDs, and distributed tracing headers, enabling end-to-end request tracking.

Acted as Spring Manager / Technical Lead, coordinating development tasks, performing code reviews, mentoring engineers, and ensuring alignment with architectural and coding standards.

Led security ownership for NSA projects, working with 42 Crunch Security to implement dynamic and static application security scans, ensuring compliance with enterprise security requirements.

Supported CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, integrating build, test, coverage, and security scan stages.

Used Postman extensively for API validation, contract testing, and cross-team troubleshooting.

Implemented centralized logging and monitoring using Log4j2 and ELK stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana) to support production monitoring and incident analysis.

Developed comprehensive unit and reactive tests using JUnit, Mockito, StepVerifier, and enforced coverage standards with JaCoCo.

Used GitLab and Bitbucket for source control, code reviews, and enterprise CI/CD workflows.

Managed containerized deployments using Docker images and tracked releases across all environments (dev, test, stage, prod) through Kubernetes.

Implemented deployment controls using the Unleash feature management platform to enable controlled rollouts and safe feature releases.

Foster Made, Richmond, Va, USA 11/06/2023 – 06/27/2025

Full Stack Java Developer

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Developed a comprehensive finance application for online business operations, focusing on inventory, invoice, product, and reporting management, using Java, Spring Boot, Hibernate ORM, PostgreSQL, and Spring MVC for a robust backend.

• Designed and consumed RESTful APIs across microservices for seamless communication between modules like inventory, invoicing, and reporting.

• Integrated inter-service communication using Feign Client, simplifying REST client code and improving maintainability in a microservices environment.

• Architected event-driven microservices with Apache Kafka and Spring Integration to enable asynchronous communication between invoice, reporting, and product services.

• Designed a scalable microservices architecture using Docker, Kubernetes, and AWS, improving system reliability by 30% and reducing service response time by 20%.

• Developed a dynamic Angular-based frontend for real-time dashboards and data entry, featuring inventory tracking, invoice creation, and profit/loss reporting with reusable components and responsive UI.

• Implemented secure authentication and role-based access using JWT, Angular, and RESTful APIs to protect sensitive financial and inventory data.

• Used NgRx for state management in Angular and ensured UI stability with Jasmine and Karma unit testing.

• Streamlined service routing and load balancing via Spring Cloud Gateway for efficient microservice communication across modules like reporting and product management.

• Applied Spring Security, Keycloak, and OAuth 2.0 to enforce secure user access, complemented by comprehensive unit and integration testing using JUnit5, Mockito, and Spring Test.

Technologies: Java, Spring Boot, Spring Cloud Gateway, Feign Client, Hibernate ORM, PostgreSQL, Angular, REST API, Swagger, Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkins, Keycloak, Apache Kafka, AWS, IntelliJ IDEA, Visual Studio Code, Jira, Git, Microservices, Agile Development, Confluence.

Municipality of Bornova, Turkey 04/02/2018 – 08/11/2023

Java Full Stack Developer

Roles and Responsibilities:

E-Governance App- Digital Class App

Developed and maintained Java-based microservices for E-Governance and Digital Class applications, ensuring scalability and high performance with Spring Boot and Kafka for real-time data streaming.

Designed and developed RESTful APIs using Spring Boot for managing critical government services such as citizen requests, document submissions, and workflow automation, integrating with PostgreSQL and MongoDB.

Built Spring Boot microservices to manage student profiles, course materials, grading, and real-time class interactions, utilizing Spring Data JPA for Oracle and Cassandra for multimedia and chat logs.

Created intuitive desktop UIs with JavaFX, improving usability and enhancing the user experience for both E-Governance and Digital Class applications.

Implemented role-based access control and authorization using Spring Security, improving application security and protecting sensitive data.

Orchestrated deployment processes in AWS, provisioning EC2 instances, containerizing applications with Amazon ECR, and configuring RDS for high availability, security, and performance.

Developed dynamic user interfaces using React for citizen portals and service request dashboards, ensuring fast and responsive experiences.

Built Angular-based modules for government workflow management, including administrative dashboards, document approvals, and legal case tracking, ensuring scalable and maintainable applications.

Implemented event-driven architectures with Apache Kafka, Terraform, and Hadoop, streamlining infrastructure management and ensuring efficient system communication.

Integrated third-party APIs for data synchronization and system communication, enhancing service efficiency, while implementing comprehensive logging and monitoring with the ELK stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana).

Technologies: Java, Spring Boot, Mongo DB, Cassandra, React JS, Oracle, Hibernate ORM, PostgreSQL, REST API, Apache Kafka, Microservices, JavaFX, Angular, Bootstrap, Docker, AWS (EC2, ECR, RDS), Postman, Terraform, Python, IntelliJ IDEA, Visual Studio Code, PyCharm, Hadoop, Linux, Angular, Microsoft Azure.

Municipality of Bornova, Turkey 04/01/2013 – 04/02/2018

Data Management Specialist/Project Manager

Collaborated closely with data scientists and analysts to create scalable and efficient data solutions for advanced analytics.

Spearheaded the design and implementation of Hadoop-based data processing pipelines, achieving a 30% reduction in data processing time with designed ETL processes.

Conducted project management tasks, including scheduling, budgeting, and risk management.

Participated in project meetings and provided updates on progress, risks, and issues.

Leveraged advanced Java programming skills to architect and implement a robust backend system, optimizing database queries and achieving a 40% improvement in application response times.

Yapi Kredi Bank, Turkey Customer Service Representative Pelikan Banking Application July 2010 – Sep 2011

Checked account balances, interest rates, fees, account types, and banking product using the Pelikan application.

Conducted money market account reviews, including loans, and credit cards.

Assisted banking customers who were victims of fraud and identity theft and replaced lost or stolen cards.

Provided exceptional customer service to help build and maintain positive customer relationships.

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