Full Job Description
Role Description
The Java Engineering Lead, Executive Director, Capital Markets Technology will provide strategic leadership and oversight for multiple engineering teams responsible for the design, development, and delivery of mission-critical technology platforms supporting Front Office and enterprise Capital Markets functions.
This role will lead the development of highly scalable, event-driven microservices and distributed systems that enable Trading, Risk Management, Settlements, Collateral Management, Finance, Regulatory Reporting, and other core Capital Markets capabilities.
Role Objectives
• Lead multiple engineering teams responsible for designing, developing, and supporting mission-critical platform capabilities across Capital Markets Technology.
• Drive the development of highly scalable Java-based microservices, APIs, Kafka producers and consumers, streaming applications, and real-time event processing solutions that support trading, risk, settlements, collateral, finance, and regulatory platforms.
• Establish engineering roadmaps that enable modernization, scalability, resiliency, and operational excellence across distributed systems and event-driven architectures.
• Ensure platform capabilities are designed for high availability, low latency, fault tolerance, and enterprise-scale performance requirements.
Architecture & Technology Strategy
• Define and implement enterprise-scale event-driven architecture patterns across mission-critical Capital Markets platforms.
• Champion modern architectural principles and distributed systems design, including:
o Command Query Responsibility Segregation (CQRS)
o Event Sourcing
o Saga Pattern
o Outbox Pattern
o Retry and resiliency strategies
o Idempotent service design
• Partner with Enterprise Architecture and senior technology leadership to establish architecture standards, governance models, and long-term technology roadmaps.
• Drive technology transformation initiatives focused on cloud adoption, microservices, real-time data processing, and platform modernization.
Engineering Excellence & Delivery
• Establish and enforce engineering standards that promote software quality, security, scalability, and operational stability.
• Drive adoption of:
o Secure coding practices
o Code quality standards and automated code reviews
o Performance engineering and optimization
o CI/CD pipelines and deployment automation
o Automated testing strategies, including unit, integration, performance, and regression testing
o Engineering KPIs and metrics to improve quality, productivity, reliability, and delivery predictability
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, accountability, and engineering excellence across all development teams.
• Provide leadership, coaching, and mentorship to Engineering Managers, Architects, and senior engineering staff while developing future technology leaders within the organization.
Qualifications and Skills
• 15+ years of hands-on software engineering experience with a strong emphasis on Java-based application development and distributed systems architecture.
• 10+ years of experience within financial services, preferably supporting Capital Markets, Investment Banking, Trading, Risk Management, Market Data, Settlements, Collateral, or Regulatory technology platforms.
• 8+ years of progressive leadership experience managing engineering teams, engineering managers, and complex technology delivery organizations.
• Proven track record leading the design, development, and deployment of large-scale distributed systems supporting mission-critical business functions.
• Extensive experience building and operating high-performance, low-latency platforms with stringent uptime, resiliency, and scalability requirements.
• Deep understanding of electronic trading systems, market connectivity, order management, real-time data processing, and front-to-back Capital Markets workflows.
• Demonstrated success delivering complex technology transformation initiatives, platform modernization programs, and cloud adoption strategies.
• Strong executive presence with the ability to influence senior business stakeholders, technology leaders, and cross-functional teams.
Leadership
• Ability to lead multiple engineering organizations and complex technology portfolios simultaneously.
• Experience mentoring Engineering Managers, Architects, and senior technical leaders.
• Strong strategic planning, budget management, vendor management, and technology governance capabilities.
• Proven ability to build high-performing teams and foster a culture of engineering excellence, innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills with experience partnering directly with Executive Management, Front Office leadership, Risk, Finance, Operations, and Regulatory stakeholders.
Technical Expertise
• Java
• Spring Boot and microservices architecture
• Apache Kafka, event streaming, and messaging platforms
• RESTful APIs and API gateway frameworks
• gRPC and high-performance service communication patterns
• Kubernetes
• Docker and containerization technologies
• Cloud platforms, including AWS and Azure
• Databricks and modern data engineering ecosystems
• PostgreSQL and relational database design
• Redis and distributed caching technologies
• Event-Driven Architecture
• Event Sourcing and CQRS patterns
• Distributed systems design and resiliency engineering
• Real-time data processing and streaming architectures
• CI/CD pipelines and DevSecOps practices
• Observability, monitoring, logging, and operational excellence frameworks
Preferred Qualifications
• Experience supporting Fixed Income, Equities, Foreign Exchange, Derivatives, Prime Services, or other Capital Markets businesses.
• Experience implementing enterprise event-driven architectures and modernization initiatives at scale.
• Knowledge of regulatory reporting, risk systems, collateral management, and post-trade processing platforms.
• Experience leading cloud migration and platform transformation initiatives within highly regulated financial institutions.
• Familiarity with Agile delivery methodologies, platform engineering, and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) practices.
Additional Requirements
SMBC's employees participate in a Hybrid workforce model that provides employees with an opportunity to work from home, as well as, from an SMBC office. SMBC requires that employees live within a reasonable commuting distance of their office location. Prospective candidates will learn more about their specific hybrid work schedule during their interview process. Hybrid work may not be permitted for certain roles, including, for example, certain FINRA-registered roles for which in-office attendance for the entire workweek is required.
