Senior Software Engineer - Back End / Java, Spring Boot, Kafka

At PNC, our people are our greatest differentiator and competitive advantage in the markets we serve. We are all united in delivering the best experience for our customers. We work together each day to foster an inclusive workplace culture where all of our employees feel respected, valued and have an opportunity to contribute to the company’s success.

About the role

As a Senior Backend Software Engineer within PNC's Retail Technology organization, you will design, develop, and lead the delivery of scalable, high-performance backend services that power mission-critical applications. The ideal candidate is a hands-on technical leader with deep expertise in Java, Spring Boot, and Apache Kafka, with a passion for building distributed systems, mentoring engineers, and driving engineering excellence.

In this role, you will collaborate with architects, product managers, and cross-functional engineering teams to define technical solutions, establish best practices, and deliver highly reliable, secure, and scalable software platforms. This position is based in Pittsburgh, PA or Strongsville, OH. PNC is an in-office company that fosters a supportive culture where employees can thrive and achieve balance.

PNC will not provide sponsorship for employment visas or participate in STEM OPT for this position.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and implement enterprise-scale backend applications and microservices.
• Architect and build event-driven systems using Apache Kafka and modern distributed system patterns.
• Develop RESTful APIs and backend services using Java and Spring Boot.
• Drive application architecture decisions, ensuring scalability, reliability, maintainability, and performance.
• Partner with product management and business stakeholders to translate requirements into technical solutions.
• Define and promote software engineering best practices, coding standards, and development processes.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex production issues while continuously improving system observability and resiliency.
• Collaborate with DevOps teams to implement CI/CD pipelines and cloud-native deployment strategies.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend improvements to the overall technology stack.
• Participate in sprint planning, estimation, and technical roadmap development.
• Ensure security, compliance, and operational excellence across backend platforms.
• Provides detailed technical design and development of software solutions using existing and emerging technology platforms.
• Proposes and designs software solutions to address complex business needs.
• Writes code, tests, and deploys software.
• Prepares technical and procedural documentation required for software.
• Maintains and debugs software.

PNC Employees take pride in our reputation and to continue building upon that we expect our employees to be:

• Customer Focused - Knowledgeable of the values and practices that align customer needs and satisfaction as primary considerations in all business decisions and able to leverage that information in creating customized customer solutions.
• Managing Risk - Assessing and effectively managing all of the risks associated with their business objectives and activities to ensure they adhere to and support PNC's Enterprise Risk Management Framework.

Requirements

• Strong expertise in Java (Java 11/17+).
• Extensive experience developing applications using Spring Boot and the Spring ecosystem.
• Hands-on experience designing and implementing Kafka-based event-driven architectures.
• Strong understanding of microservices architecture and distributed systems.
• Experience building and consuming REST APIs.
• Proficiency with relational databases such as PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle, or MySQL.
• Experience with containerization technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes.
• Strong understanding of software design patterns, object-oriented design principles, and clean coding practices.
• Experience with source control systems such as Git.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.

Qualifications

Successful candidates must demonstrate appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities for a role. Roles at this level typically require a university/college degree, with 3+ years of relevant/direct industry experience. Certifications are often desired. In lieu of a degree, a comparable combination of education, job-specific certification(s), and experience (including military service) may be considered.

• Education: Bachelor’s degree.
• Preferred Skills: Apache Kafka, Application Development, Back-End Development, Business Management, Customer Solutions, Design, Group Problem Solving, Java, Process Improvements, Release Management, Software Solutions, Spring Boot, User Experience (UX) Design.
• Competencies: Application Delivery Process, Application Design, Architecture, Application Development Tools, Application Testing, Packaged Application Integration, System Development Life Cycle, Technical Troubleshooting, Technical Writing/Documentation.

Pay

Base Salary: $86,250.00 – $143,750.00. Salaries may vary based on geographic location, market data, and individual skills, experience, and education. This role is incentive eligible with the payment based upon company, business, and/or individual performance.

Benefits

PNC offers a comprehensive range of benefits to help meet your needs now and in the future. Depending on your eligibility, options for full-time employees include:

• Medical/prescription drug coverage (with a Health Savings Account feature), dental and vision options.
• Employee and spouse/child life insurance.
• Short- and long-term disability protection.
• 401(k) with PNC match, pension, and stock purchase plans.
• Dependent care reimbursement account.
• Back-up child/elder care.
• Adoption, surrogacy, and doula reimbursement.
• Educational assistance, including select programs fully paid.
• A robust wellness program with financial incentives.
• Paid time off, including:
• Maternity and/or parental leave.
• Up to 11 paid holidays each year.
• 9 occasional absence days each year, unless otherwise required by law.
• Between 15 to 25 vacation days each year, depending on career level and years of service.

To learn more about these and other programs, including benefits for full-time and part-time employees, visit pncthrive.com.