Director, Software Engineering

Fidelity Investments

$150K — $180K *
Information Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-7 years of software engineering leadership experience
  • Expertise in Java and Spring Boot for backend development
  • Proven knowledge of event-driven systems and microservices architecture
  • Strong background in API development using OpenAPI/Swagger standards
  • Experience with cloud-native platforms, preferably AWS
  • Capability to implement engineering best practices for testing and delivery
  • Familiarity with regulated industries, particularly financial services

Responsibilities

  • Provide technical leadership for architectural decisions aligning business goals and technical strategy
  • Drive engineering excellence through mentorship and development of scalable practices
  • Oversee end-to-end engineering delivery from specification to production
  • Manage external technical partnerships and integrations for API governance
  • Establish and enforce engineering standards across the platform
  • Guide teams in decision-making focused on business impact and efficiency
  • Build and nurture a high-performing engineering team aligned with strategic priorities

Benefits

  • Opportunity to influence and shape engineering practices
  • A collaborative environment focused on continuous improvement and innovation
  • Exposure to modern technologies including AI-enabled tools
  • Part of a strategic initiative aimed at enhancing client digital experiences
  • Being a key player in a fast-paced, innovative brokerage technology team
Full Job Description
Job Description:

Note: Fidelity will not provide immigration sponsorship for this position.

The Role

Enterprise Digital Operations, a product within Brokerage Recordkeeping Technology, is seeking a Director of Software Engineering who combines deep technical expertise with a strong engineering mindset and a passion for delivering business outcomes. This leader will provide hands-on technical guidance, elevate engineering practices, and coach teams in building scalable, resilient, and high-quality solutions. The ideal candidate will influence the adoption of modern engineering approaches, including AI-enabled development tools, while fostering a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, and effective delivery. As the organization grows, this leader will build and develop a high-performing engineering team capable of scaling enterprise platforms and driving operational excellence.

Primary Responsibilities

Engineering and Delivery
  • Provide strong technical leadership guiding architectural decisions, ensuring alignment between business objectives and technical strategy, and enabling teams to deliver high-quality solutions.
  • Drive engineering excellence through mentorship, technical coaching, and the establishment of scalable development practices that improve delivery effectiveness, quality, and operational resilience.
  • Own engineering delivery for your domain end-to-end: from specification through production, including testing strategy, pipeline design, and operational readiness.
  • Manage external technical partnerships where your domain is the integration point - own API contracts, integration test harnesses, and ongoing governance as partner platforms evolve.


Standards and Craft
  • Establish and enforce engineering standards across the platform: contract-first API development, OpenAPI specifications, code review standards, CI/CD pipeline design, and observability practices.
  • Drive engineering excellence by guiding technical strategy, influencing solution design, and fostering the adoption of proven engineering patterns and practices. Lead the integration of AI-powered tools and streamlined delivery methodologies that accelerate innovation and improve delivery outcomes.
  • Guide teams in making sound technical decisions by focusing on business impact, challenging conventional thinking, and driving solutions that improve efficiency, scalability, and customer experience.


Team Building and Leadership
  • Build and develop a high-performing engineering organization by attracting top talent, aligning team capabilities with strategic priorities, and fostering a culture of continuous learning, coaching, and technical excellence.
  • Partner with the Engineering Leader, architect, and product stakeholders to shape technical direction and represent engineering credibly in senior forums.
  • Assume accountability for resolving critical delivery and organizational challenges, collaborating across engineering, product, and business teams to accelerate execution and achieve desired outcomes.


The Expertise and Skills You Bring

Required Expertise
  • Advanced proficiency in Java and Spring Boot for production backend service development.
  • Strong working knowledge of event-driven and distributed systems: Kafka-based architectures, messaging patterns, microservices, and asynchronous design - sufficient to evaluate architectural decisions, lead technical discussions, and set direction for the team.
  • Contract-first API development: deep understanding of OpenAPI/Swagger standards, RESTful API design, API lifecycle management, and consumer-driven contract practices.
  • Cloud-native platform experience: AWS (preferred), container orchestration (Kubernetes), IAM, secrets management, and multi-account operational patterns.
  • Engineering practice leadership: building and enforcing standards for testing, delivery pipelines, observability (distributed tracing, structured logging, metrics), and code quality.
  • Experience delivering in regulated industries, financial services, or compliance-driven platforms where accuracy and reliability are non-negotiable.


Preferred:
  • Experience leading a Cloud migration program: replacing or transforming a legacy platform while maintaining production operations.
  • Familiarity with AI-assisted engineering practices - spec-driven development, code transformation, AI-accelerated delivery - and a track record of driving adoption across a team.
  • Background in financial services, brokerage technology, or communications-heavy platforms.


How Your Work Impacts The Organization

Enterprise Digital Operations is embarking on a multi-year strategic initiative to bolster the digital experience for our clients and customers by leveraging consistent patterns and adhering to higher security standards to keep the client and technology secure and resilient.

The Team

Fidelity's Brokerage Recordkeeping Technology team designs, develops, implements, and supports applications for our industry leading brokerage platforms. The team focuses on delivering innovative solutions which meet the needs of our customers. Our systems professionals thrive, with a steadfast dedication to innovation, which cultivates a culture of continuous improvement and significant achievement. We see ourselves as a vital link to Fidelity's customers. This is a fast-paced group delivering technology solutions to the complex needs of our clients using distributed and cloud-based technologies.

Fidelity's Onsite Working Model
Fidelity is transitioning to a full-time onsite working model through a phased rollout across regions and roles. Currently, some roles and locations require 100% onsite presence, while others require less. Onsite expectations are likely to evolve as the rollout continues. This transition does not apply to fully remote roles.

Certifications:

Category:

Information Technology

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