Freelance Staff Engineer / Hands-on Architect

Freelance Staff Engineer / Hands-on Architect Help incident responders around the world. Collaborate in a supportive, high-impact team and grow as we shape Europe’s leading incident response platform. Job description TheHive, incident response platform used by thousands of security analysts worldwide, is evolving. To support the next generation of capabilities, the backend platform is being progressively redesigned and migrated from Scala to Java. This is not a simple rewrite. It is a deliberate architectural redesign of a production system used in demanding operational environments. The goal : cleaner service boundaries, better observability, more predictable performance, and unlock new product capabilities our users need the most. As Hands-on Architect, you will own the technical vision for this migration. You'll work with other senior engineers. You code, you decide, you challenge, and you're accountable for outcomes. This is brownfield in the truest sense: real architectural ownership, from day one, with real constraints to navigate. This is not a "come implement our architecture" role. It is a "come define it, defend it, collaborate and build it" role. The constraints are real but the design space is wide. You will have direct influence over every foundational decision. If you've been waiting for a role where architecture is genuinely a first-class concern, this is it. Responsibilities Define and evolve the target Java architecture, layering, modularity, API design, persistence strategy; balancing ambition with real delivery constraints. Lead the POCs phase: evaluate architectures, migration options, java frameworks, validate patterns, and make opinionated calls with documented trade-offs. Establish engineering standards: code structure, testing strategy, observability, and CI/CD patterns that the team will actually follow. Work within existing database and infrastructure constraints (graph database (JanusGraph), on-premise client deployments, existing API contracts) and know when to push back on them or make them change. Onboard and technically mentor other engineers, while staying hands-on yourself. Engage early in features' conception: understand user and business needs, challenge requirements, and surface constraints before they become problematic. You understand that architecture exists to serve users, not only to be elegant for its own. Integrate AI tooling into the team's daily workflow (Copilot, Claude code, etc.) Requirements Ownership & accountability A pragmatist mindset: you choose tools because they solve problems, not because they're fashionable. You can argue for boring technology when it's the right call. Comfort with ambiguity: You help shape requirements, not just fulfill them. Proactive: you flag problems early, propose solutions, and follow through. You have at least 10 years of experience in development Rigor Architectures deep expertise (Example : Clean, Hexagonal .. etc ), you have demonstrated architectural work: you've made real design decisions, lived with their consequences, and learned. Patterns experiences (Example : CQRS, Strangler fig.. etc) Experience with development methodologies like TDD, ATDD or Property-based testing ..etc. Modern Java expertise (17+), concurrency, performance Experience with complex domain modeling, graph or document stores, and event-driven or async architectures. Product mindset & impact orientation You care about how the product is used, not only how it is implemented. You connect technical decisions to user workflows, operational realities and business impact. You understand when engineering perfection improves the product and when pragmatic solutions are required. You connect technical decisions to system-level consequences, other teams’ impacts, performance, reliability and cost. Communication & collaboration Strong opinions, loosely held : you argue your case, listen to pushback, and adapt. Clear and direct communicator. Comfortable working across multiple product and engineering teams simultaneously. You challenge requirements constructively. Curiosity Genuinely enthusiastic about AI, both as a development tool and as a product dimension to explore. Technically curious beyond your current stack: you experiment, form opinions, and bring what you learn back to the team. The Java stack will be defined by you and your team. The existing Scala stack we’re migrating from (for reference): Scala, Play Framework, Akka, JanusGraph, Tapir. You might feel hesitant to apply if you don’t match 100% of the requirements. This list is a guide, we encourage you to apply even if you are a partial match. We are building teams that innovate, not teams that simply tick every box . Hiring process We aim to keep our process transparent, structured, and respectful of your time. Discovery call with the hiring team (30 minutes) Interview with two developers (60 minutes). Interview with the hiring manager (45 minutes) Interview with the CTPO (30 minutes) Interview with the Head of HR (30 minutes) Please note we may conduct a reference check before finalizing the offer. About us StrangeBee is a European cybersecurity software company specializing in Incident Response. Founded in 2018 by the creators of TheHive and Cortex, StrangeBee was built on the success of these tools that quickly became widely adopted within the cybersecurity community. What started as open-source initiatives evolved into enterprise-grade solutions trusted by organizations worldwide. Today, TheHive is recognized as a leading incident response platform, empowering thousands of security analysts to detect, investigate, and respond to cyber threats efficiently. StrangeBee now operates as a fully commercial software vendor, focused on delivering robust, scalable, and continuously evolving solutions tailored to the needs of modern security teams. Our ambition is clear: strengthen our product ecosystem, meet the fast-growing demands of the cybersecurity market, and establish StrangeBee as a global leader in incident response platforms. We are growing fast and we’re looking for people who want to grow with us. Why join us At StrangeBee, you won’t just join a company, you’ll help shape a growing European cybersecurity leader. What makes us different is not only what we build, but how we build it. Customer Centric Everything we do starts with impact. We build for real security teams facing real threats. We listen carefully, challenge assumptions, and aim to deeply understand the “why” behind every need. If you care about delivering meaningful value, not just shipping features, you’ll feel at home here. Quest for Excellence “Good enough” is not our standard. We continuously question how we work, how we collaborate, and how we improve our product. Excellence for us means rigor, accountability, and pride in craftsmanship, whether in code, sales conversations, customer support, or internal processes. Embrace Change Cybersecurity evolves constantly, so do we. We encourage initiative, ideas, and constructive challenge. If you see something that could be better, you’re expected to speak up and help drive improvement. Change is not something we endure; it’s something we actively shape. One Team We believe performance comes from trust. We foster open communication, mutual respect, and psychological safety. Everyone’s voice matters, and collaboration goes beyond titles or departments. We succeed together. Joining StrangeBee means working in an environment where ownership is real, standards are high, and impact is visible, while being part of a team that genuinely supports each other. Département Tech Locations France Remote status Hybrid Employment type Contract