Principal, SW Eng

As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) guides the world’s most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions. Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure: Service, Expertise, and Integrity. With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

About the Role

We are seeking a highly experienced Principal Software Engineer to provide technical leadership and hands-on execution across complex, cloud-native software initiatives. This role combines deep engineering expertise with mentorship, architecture influence, and strong collaboration across global teams. The ideal candidate is passionate about engineering excellence, AI-assisted development, and building high-quality, scalable products using modern development practices.

Responsibilities

• Act as a hands-on technical leader, designing, developing, and reviewing high-quality, production-ready software.
• Lead development using Java as the primary language, following clean code, TDD, and spec-driven development principles.
• Drive adoption of AI-assisted development capabilities (e.g., Copilot-style tools, intelligent automation) to improve developer productivity and code quality.
• Influence and review application and solution architecture for scalability, security, performance, and maintainability.
• Partner with architects and senior engineers to define and enforce engineering standards and best practices.
• Design, build, and deploy applications on Microsoft Azure, leveraging cloud-native services.
• Lead cloud architecture decisions with a strong understanding of Azure compute, networking, storage, and security, as well as cloud-based databases (SQL & NoSQL) and performance considerations.
• Support and continuously improve DevOps pipelines, CI/CD practices, and infrastructure automation.
• Champion Test-Driven Development (TDD) and automated testing at all levels (unit, integration, system).
• Enable and evolve test automation frameworks and practices across teams.
• Collaborate with DevOps and SRE partners to improve release reliability, deployment frequency, reduce operational risk, and strengthen monitoring, alerting, and production readiness.
• Mentor and groom engineers to elevate technical skills, design thinking, and ownership mindset through code reviews, design discussions, and technical deep dives.
• Foster a culture of high engineering standards, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Act as a trusted technical advisor to product, QA, and platform teams.
• Work closely with cross-functional stakeholders including Product, Architecture, QA, and Operations.
• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Collaborate effectively with globally distributed teams across North America, EMEA, and India, accommodating time-zone overlaps when required.
• Proactively identify risks and propose pragmatic solutions.

Requirements

• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a strong hands-on track record.
• Deep expertise in Java and modern application frameworks.
• Strong experience with Azure cloud services and cloud-native application development.
• Solid understanding and practical application of Test-Driven Development (TDD), spec-driven/contract-first development, CI/CD, and DevOps practices.
• Working knowledge of cloud databases, data modeling, and performance tuning.
• Proven ability to lead by influence rather than authority.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong problem-solving, design, and decision-making abilities.
• Comfortable operating in fast-paced, evolving environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Microsoft Azure Architect Certification (strongly preferred).
• Experience integrating or enabling AI-assisted engineering tools within development workflows.
• Exposure to large-scale modernization, cloud migration, or distributed systems.
• Experience working in regulated or enterprise-grade environments.
• Experience in Capital Markets/Asset Servicing space.

What Success Looks Like

• Engineering teams consistently deliver high-quality, secure, and scalable products.
• Robust DevOps and automation practices reduce friction and improve time-to-market.
• Engineers grow in capability, confidence, and ownership.
• Architecture decisions balance innovation, stability, and long-term maintainability.
• Global collaboration is effective, respectful, and outcome-driven.

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.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future.