Peter A. Pilgrim
Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom--https://www.xenonique.co.uk/consultancy/
WHO AM I?
I am a Principal Engineer, Java Champion, and accomplished Technical Lead with
expertise in Microservices architecture, Spring Boot, and polyglot development using
Java, Scala and Kotlin. With extensive experience delivering cloud-native solutions, I
bring leadership and a proven ability to build scalable, high-performance systems. I am
also a published author of two technical books and a keynote speaker at international
conferences, solidifying my thought leadership in the Java ecosystem.
Based in Milton Keynes, England, I am certified in Agile methodologies (Scrum Master)
and specialize in modern cloud platforms like AWS and Kubernetes.
WHAT AM I LOOKING FOR?
I am seeking a challenging permanent role or contract where I can drive innovation,
lead teams, and deliver impactful projects using my consider knowledge of Java (JDK
21), Spring Boot, and Cloud-Native technologies. I am passionate about building
distributed systems and fostering engineering excellence.
- Desired Salary (Permanent Role): minimum £100K base salary for positions involving
Spring Boot, Java, Kotlin, or Scala cloud-native engineering.
- Contract Requirements: Minimum 6-month engagements, outside IR35, rate of £600
per day or higher.
- Technology Focus: Strong preference for roles utilizing Kubernetes, AWS or Azure,
and Java 21. Other cloud-native technologies are a bonus.
WHERE DO I WORK FROM?
I am currently working with Solirius in a remote-first capacity with 1 day a month on
client site (HMCTS/MOJ/Petty France). I am open to roles that require occasional travel
to London, with a maximum of 1-2 days per month. I am available immediately.
REJECTION CRITERIA
- No International Roles: I am only interested in UK-based positions (no interest in
relocation).
- No Testing Roles: My expertise lies in software development and technical leadership.
- No Gaming/Betting/Gambling Roles: These industries do not align with my personal or
professional interests.
Peter_Pilgrim--short-expt.docx
1
WHAT MAKES ME QUALIFIED
- Oracle Java Champion (#91): Recognized for my contributions to the Java ecosystem.
Speaker at major conferences including QCon London (2022), JavaOne (2015)
- Author: Published two books with Packt Publishing: *Digital Java EE 7* (2015) and
*Java EE 7 Developer Handbook* (2013).
Profile
Principal Engineer: With over 25 years of experience in IT, I am a recognized Oracle Java
Champion with deep expertise in Java EE and Java SE, as well as proficiency in
alternative JVM languages such as Groovy, Scala and Kotlin.
Education
- B.Sc. (Hons) in Physical Sciences with Scientific Computing: 2:1, London South Bank
University.
Skills
Experience
Level
Remarks
Java SE
25 years
Advanced
Developed apps with Java JDK 21
Jakarta EE
20 years
Advanced
Jakarta EE
Kubernetes
3 years
Intermediate
HMCTS, HMPO, DWP
AWS
4 years
Intermediate
EC2 instances, VPC, KMS, IAM,
S3, ELB, ECR, ECS
Azure
2 years
Intermediate
HMCTS Azure Portal
Scala
2.5 years
Intermediate
Scala at GOV.UK Home Office and IB
Boost / HSBC; Attended Object
functional 2-day Scala course by
Martin Odersky
Web
Application
Frameworks
15 years
Advanced
Experienced earlier Jakarta EE 11,
Struts, JSF, JSP; Angular 8 /9,
Bootstrap, CSS3 etc
Testing
Development
15 years
Advanced
JUnit 5, Mockito, ScalaTest, and
Kotest, Cucumber JVM and TDD
Spring Boot /
Framework
16 years
Advanced
As used at HMCTS, HMPO,
Santander
Kotlin
3 months
Intermediate
Proof of concept HMCTS / MOJ
Linux/UNIX
30 years
Advanced
Commercial UNIX experience since
1993
Technical
Leadership
3 years
Decent
HMCTS Housing Dispute Project
squad leader, Centre of Excellence,
Cognizant , Santander (1 year) White
Clarke Group – Agile SCRUM (5
months), EMSO (6 months),
Peter_Pilgrim--short-expt.docx
2
RECENT WORK EXPERIENCE
Principal Engineer
Solirius Consulting
(Permanent)
June 2023 – Current
Overview: Consultancy with Centre of Excellence function, Facilitation, Assurance
Summary: Architecture, assurance, governance and software development
consultancy within HMCTS, Ministry of Justice GOV.UK. Supporting observability,
cloud native technologies on the Java server side. Engagement with 658 software
developers with engineering presentations. Provide software assurance in Java
technology. Upgrade codebase to Java 21 planning and inception. Developed
software in the Civil CI department, code reviews, intense refactoring away from
Camunda BPM workflow. Joined Housing Disputes Policy to support greenfield
development and coach and technically lead 5 developers in my squad.
Technologies: Java 21, Open JDK, Kubernetes, Gradle, Jakarta EE, Mockito,
SpringBoot 3, Grafana, PostgreSQL, Azure Cloud Platform
Senior Developer Consultant (Senior Manager)
Cognizant
Mar 2021 – Feb 2023
(Permanent)
Overview: Java senior developer consultant, assistant technical lead
Technologies: Java 11, Web CMS, JAX_RS, Gradle and Spring
Summary: Working for Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) and delivering EZRI
Guidance tool and Overseas Casework Management Tool using the tech stack Java 8
/ Java 11, Open JDK, Java CMS 7.3/7.4, Scala 2.13, Kubernetes v1.21, Helm 3.54,
AWS Console
Overview: Java senior developer consultant
Technologies: Java 17, Open JDK, Kubernetes, Rancher, Mockito, JUnit 5, MongoDB
(Robo 3T), Eclipse Jetty, JAX-RS for RESTful Services, Kafka Broker, Quartz, Bazel
(Buck)
Summary: Working for Department Work & Pensions (DWP) and Universal Credit
project enhancements:
Senior Developer Consultant (Senior Manager)
Cognizant
Mar 2021 – Feb 2023
(Permanent)
Overview: Java senior developer consultant, assistant technical lead
Technologies: Java 11, Web CMS, JAX_RS, Gradle and Spring
Peter_Pilgrim--short-expt.docx
3
Summary: Working for Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) and delivering EZRI
Guidance tool and Overseas Casework Management Tool using the tech stack Java 8
/ Java 11, Open JDK, Java CMS 7.3/7.4, Scala 2.13, Kubernetes v1.21, Helm 3.54,
AWS Console
Overview: Java senior developer consultant
Technologies: Java 17, Open JDK, Kubernetes, Rancher, Mockito, JUnit 5, MongoDB
(Robo 3T), Eclipse Jetty, JAX-RS for RESTful Services, Kafka Broker, Quartz, Bazel
(Buck)
Summary: Working for Department Work & Pensions (DWP) and Universal Credit
project enhancements:
Java Developer Consultant,
Santander UK (SANTECH)
(Fixed Term Contract)
Mar 2020 – Mar 2021
Overview: Software engineer with Mortgage Online, Contract Variation, Eclipse, ABLE
Technologies: Java 11, Spring Boot, Angular, Spring Cloud, OpenShift
Summary: Working in Mortgage Domain, Pair-programming, TDD, Microservices,
RESTful interface, Angular 9, AP. Swagger, Kubernetes, Chaos Monkey, POC, MVP,
MVR
Senior Developer Consultant (Contractor),
Wunderman Thompson Commerce
Senior Java Engineer (Contractor)
Kobalt Music Engineering
Cloud-Native Java Consultant (Contractor),
Obillex
Senior Java Engineering Consultant,
June 2019 – Nov 2019
Feb 2019 – Apr 2019
Oct 2018 – Dec 2018
Santander UK / MBC
Senior Java Developer Consultant, Unisys
Aug 2017 – Oct 2018 (Contractor)
April 2017 – July 2017 (Contractor)
Technical Architect Dev Consultant, RS Components
Java Developer Consultant, White Clarke Group
Java Developer, E M S O Partners
Oct 2016 – Dec 2016 (Contractor)
Aug 2015 – May 2016 (Contractor)
Dec 2014 – July 2015 (Contractor)
Scala Developer, GOV.UK Home Office
Java Developer, Pearson
Java Developer, Barclays.co.uk
Senior App Developer, Digitas LBi
Jan 2014 – Sept 2014 (Contractor)
Oct 2013 – Dec 2013 (Contractor)
July 2013 – Sep 2013 (Contractor)
Jan 2013 – April 2013 (Contractor)
Full CV available on request
I used to be an IT contractor, but I stopped this in 2021, because of the Off Payroll Worker Rules. POA if you want me
to seriously reconsider this decision, and it will be expensive and dear.
Peter_Pilgrim--short-expt.docx
4
