Principal Software Engineer (.NET Technical Lead)

About the Role

Northern Trust’s Global Engineering team is seeking a Principal Software Engineer (.NET Technical Lead) to provide technical leadership for the design, development, and delivery of modern cloud-native applications and platforms. This role serves as a senior technical leader and principal designer, working closely with business, product, architecture, and engineering teams to deliver scalable, resilient, secure, and high-performing solutions. The ideal candidate combines deep hands-on expertise in .NET development, cloud technologies, microservices architecture, and AI-assisted software engineering with strong leadership, communication, and project delivery skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and guidance to engineering teams, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and engineering excellence.
• Serve as the principal designer for major systems and applications, defining architectures, technical standards, and implementation strategies.
• Partner with business stakeholders, product teams, and architects to translate business requirements into scalable technical solutions.
• Design, develop, and support applications using C#, .NET Core/.NET, ASP.NET Core, Entity Framework Core, SQL Server, and modern API frameworks.
• Architect and implement microservices and event-driven solutions leveraging Kafka and related messaging technologies.
• Design and deploy cloud-native solutions utilizing Azure and/or AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, and Infrastructure as Code.
• Drive adoption of CI/CD, automated testing, DevOps, and secure software development practices.
• Lead technical project planning, solution design, implementation, and status reporting for strategic initiatives.
• Ensure compliance with enterprise standards, audit requirements, change management controls, and data security policies.
• Collaborate with vendors, consultants, and technology partners as needed.
• Evaluate and recommend emerging technologies, tools, and architectural patterns to improve business outcomes and operational efficiency.
• Champion the use of AI-powered development tools such as GitHub Copilot, Microsoft Copilot, and AI-assisted engineering platforms to enhance developer productivity, code quality, testing, and documentation.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 10+ years of software engineering experience with enterprise-scale systems.
• 5+ years of experience in technical leadership, solution design, systems analysis, or project leadership roles.
• Strong expertise in:
  • C#
  • .NET Core / ASP.NET Core
  • Entity Framework Core
  • SQL Server
  • REST APIs
  • Microservices Architecture
• Experience with:
  • Kafka or equivalent messaging platforms
  • Docker and Kubernetes
  • Azure and/or AWS
  • Git, GitHub, Azure DevOps, Jenkins, or similar CI/CD tools
• Strong understanding of software development lifecycle (SDLC), design patterns, distributed systems, Agile, and DevOps practices.
• Hands-on experience using GitHub Copilot and other AI-assisted software engineering tools to accelerate software development and improve engineering effectiveness.
• Proven ability to lead complex technical initiatives and influence technical direction across multiple teams.
• Excellent communication, analytical, problem-solving, and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Financial Services experience.
• Knowledge of Infrastructure as Code tools such as Terraform.
• Familiarity with modern security frameworks including OAuth, JWT, SAML, SSO, and Identity Management solutions.

Pay

Salary range is $137,400 - 233,600 USD. Northern Trust provides a discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package including:
  • Retirement benefits (401k and pension)
  • Health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts, and disability)
  • Paid time off, parental and caregiver leave
  • Life & accident insurance
  • Other voluntary and well-being benefits

Work Authorization

Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future. Northern Trust will not sponsor applicants for U.S. work visa status for this opportunity.