Spring Batch testing - Autowired bean is null

I am completely stumped. I am new to Spring Batch testing and I have found countless examples that have left me confused.

I'm trying to test a Spring Batch decider. This decider checks to see if certain JSON files exist before continuing.

To begin, I have a BatchConfiguration file marked with @Configuration in my Spring Batch project.

In the BatchConfiguration, I have a ImportJsonSettings bean which loads its properties from settings in the application.properties file.

  @ConfigurationProperties(prefix="jsonfile")
    @Bean
    public ImportJSONSettings importJSONSettings(){
        return new ImportJSONSettings();
    }

When running the Spring Batch application, this works perfectly.

Next, here are the basics of the JsonFilesExistDecider , which Autowires a FileRetriever object...

public class JsonFilesExistDecider implements JobExecutionDecider {

    @Autowired
    FileRetriever fileRetriever;

    @Override
    public FlowExecutionStatus decide(JobExecution jobExecution, StepExecution stepExecution) { ... }

The FileRetriever object itself Autowires the ImportJSONSettings object.

Here is the FileRetriever...

@Component("fileRetriever")
public class FileRetriever {

    @Autowired
    private ImportJSONSettings importJSONSettings;

    private File fieldsFile = null;

    public File getFieldsJsonFile(){
        if(this.fieldsFile == null) {
            this.fieldsFile = new File(this.importJSONSettings.getFieldsFile());
        }
        return this.fieldsFile;
    }
}

Now for the test file. I am using Mockito for testing.

public class JsonFilesExistDeciderTest {
    @Mock
    FileRetriever fileRetriever;
    @InjectMocks
    JsonFilesExistDecider jsonFilesExistDecider;

    @Before
    public void setUp() {
        MockitoAnnotations.initMocks(this);
    }
    @Test
    public void testDecide() throws Exception {
        when(fileRetriever.getFieldsJsonFile()).thenReturn(new File(getClass().getResource("/com/files/json/fields.json").getFile()));

        // call decide()... then Assert...
    }
}

PROBLEM... The ImportJSONSettings object that is @Autowired in the FileRetriever object is always NULL.

When calling the testDecide() method, I get a NPE since calling the getFieldsJsonFile() in FileRetriever, the ImportJSONSettings bean does not exist.

How does the ImportJSONSettings bean get properly created in the FileRetriever object so it can be used??

I have tried adding the following to my test class, but it does not help.

@Mock
ImportJSONSettings importJSONSettings;

Do I need to create it independently? How does it get injected into the FileRetriever?

Any help would be appreciated.