Citigroup, Inc

Senior Java Engineering Lead (Payments Technology) - Vice President

Citigroup, Inc • $113K — $170K *
Tampa, FL 33647Hybrid
Finance & Insurance
5 - 7 years of experience
Today
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Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 6+ years in software development of enterprise-scale applications; 3+ years in technical leadership.
  • Expertise in Java and Spring Boot, proficient in production-grade microservices.
  • Knowledge of microservice architecture and event-driven design with hands-on experience in Kafka or RabbitMQ.
  • Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, and modern DevOps practices.
  • Ability to apply Clean Code and SOLID principles through code reviews and team mentoring.
  • Hands-on with relational (Oracle) and NoSQL databases (MongoDB).
  • Strong communication skills for engaging technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

  • Lead end-to-end delivery of payment applications, managing the software development lifecycle.
  • Design and build high-throughput microservices, ensuring performance and security standards.
  • Implement modern architectural patterns to transform legacy payment platforms.
  • Mentor a cross-functional team and establish technical standards through code reviews.
  • Integrate AI-powered tools into the software development lifecycle for better productivity.
  • Architect payment systems for high availability and implement resilience patterns.
  • Collaborate with teams to translate payment requirements into scalable solutions.

Benefits

  • Hybrid work model allows for 3 days in-office and 2 days remote.
  • Ownership of the technical direction in a strategically important platform.
  • Access to cutting-edge engineering and AI tools at a global scale.
  • Opportunities for continuous learning and professional certifications.
  • Employee wellbeing support and work-life balance initiatives.
  • Leadership role to shape the team and the technical culture.
Full Job Description
Citi's Core Payment Systems team is looking for a Senior Engineering Lead, Payments Technology to architect, build, and evolve the global payment processing platforms that sit at the heart of one of the world's largest financial institutions. In this Vice President-level role, you will combine deep hands-on engineering with technical leadership, setting the direction for a cross-functional team responsible for delivering highly resilient, high-throughput microservices that process transactions at global scale. This is an opportunity to shape the future of mission-critical payment infrastructure using modern engineering practices, AI-accelerated development, and cloud-native architecture.

Responsibilities
  • Lead the end-to-end delivery of critical payment applications as a Senior Engineering Lead, owning the full software development lifecycle from architectural design through to production deployment and ongoing support.
  • Design and build high-throughput, low-latency microservices using Java 8+, Spring Boot, and cloud-native principles, ensuring each service meets rigorous standards for performance, scalability, and security.
  • Champion modern architectural patterns - including Domain-Driven Design, event-driven architecture, and containerization with Docker and Kubernetes - to accelerate the transformation of legacy payment platforms.
  • Mentor and guide a cross-functional engineering team, establishing clear technical standards through code reviews that enforce Clean Code and SOLID design principles across all payment services.
  • Integrate AI-powered developer tooling - such as GitHub Copilot and LLM-based code generation - into the software development lifecycle to increase delivery velocity and enable intelligent automated test generation and static analysis.
  • Architect payment systems to achieve 99.99%+ availability by implementing active-active failover, multi-region redundancy, zero-downtime deployments, and resilience patterns including Circuit Breakers, Bulkheads, and Saga-based transaction management.
  • Define and own SLAs, SLOs, and SLIs for all critical payment services, lead Chaos Engineering experiments to proactively surface weaknesses, and partner with infrastructure teams to leverage Kubernetes auto-scaling and service mesh technologies for traffic management.
  • Collaborate with product managers, business analysts, and operations partners to translate complex payment domain requirements into scalable, maintainable technical solutions backed by comprehensive documentation.


Required qualifications & skills
  • 6+ years of software development experience delivering complex, enterprise-scale backend applications, with at least 3 years in a hands-on technical leadership capacity.
  • Expert-level proficiency in Java and the Spring Boot framework, with a demonstrable ability to build and operate production-grade microservices at scale.
  • Deep knowledge of microservice architecture, Domain-Driven Design, and event-driven patterns, combined with hands-on experience using messaging and event-streaming platforms such as Kafka or RabbitMQ.
  • Practical experience with containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes) and cloud platforms, alongside solid understanding of CI/CD pipelines, automated testing strategies, and modern DevOps practices.
  • Proven ability to apply Clean Code and SOLID design principles in practice - through code reviews, team coaching, and direct contribution to production codebases.
  • Hands-on expertise with both relational databases (such as Oracle) and NoSQL databases (such as MongoDB), with the ability to select the appropriate technology for each use case.
  • Excellent communication skills, with a track record of engaging effectively with both technical teams and non-technical stakeholders in a mission-critical environment.


Beneficial skills & qualifications
  • Hands-on experience deploying and scaling AI-powered developer tools - such as GitHub Copilot or Amazon CodeWhisperer - within an enterprise engineering team, including application of AI-assisted code review, test generation, and AIOps platforms such as Dynatrace AI or Splunk ITSI to reduce MTTR and improve system reliability.
  • Demonstrated ability to embed AI and ML capabilities - including anomaly detection, predictive alerting, and fraud signal enrichment - directly into production payment or financial services systems, with an understanding of responsible AI governance and regulatory compliance obligations.
  • Proven experience architecting distributed payment or financial transaction systems to 99.99%+ availability, including hands-on implementation of active-active multi-region failover, blue-green or canary deployments, Circuit Breakers using Resilience4j or Hystrix, and Saga orchestration for distributed transactions.
  • Experience leading Site Reliability Engineering practices, including ownership of SLAs, SLOs, and SLIs, execution of Chaos Engineering experiments using tools such as Chaos Monkey or Gremlin, and building end-to-end observability stacks with distributed tracing and real-time alerting.
  • Familiarity with financial services payment standards and protocols such as SWIFT, ISO 20022, or clearing systems, gained through prior experience in a regulated financial services environment.


What we offer

Joining Citi's Core Payment Systems team means taking ownership of engineering that moves money for millions of people and institutions worldwide. You will work alongside talented engineers and technology leaders on problems that are genuinely complex, with the resources, scale, and global reach to make your solutions matter.
  • A hybrid working model with 3 days in the office and 2 days working remotely, giving you flexibility alongside meaningful in-person collaboration.
  • A high-impact senior role with clear ownership of technical direction across one of Citi's most strategically important engineering platforms.
  • Access to cutting-edge engineering practices, including AI-accelerated development tooling and cloud-native platform capabilities at global scale.
  • Continuous learning and development opportunities, including access to technical training, professional certifications, and exposure to enterprise-scale architectural challenges.
  • Competitive compensation and financial wellbeing benefits commensurate with a Vice President-level position at a leading global financial institution.
  • Wellbeing support and work-life balance initiatives designed to help you perform at your best over the long term.
  • The opportunity to lead and grow a high-performing engineering team, shaping both the technical culture and the careers of the engineers around you.


Build the payment technology that the world relies on - apply today to join Citi's Core Payment Systems team as a Senior Engineering Lead and help define what resilient, AI-ready financial infrastructure looks like at global scale.

Job Family Group:
Technology

Job Family:
Applications Development

Time Type:
Full time

Primary Location:
Tampa Florida United States

Primary Location Full Time Salary Range:
$113,840.00 - $170,760.00

In addition to salary, Citi's offerings may also include, for eligible employees, discretionary and formulaic incentive and retention awards. Citi offers competitive employee benefits, including: medical, dental & vision coverage; 401(k); life, accident, and disability insurance; and wellness programs. Citi also offers paid time off packages, including planned time off (vacation), unplanned time off (sick leave), and paid holidays. For additional information regarding Citi employee benefits, please visit citibenefits.com. Available offerings may vary by jurisdiction, job level, and date of hire.

Most Relevant Skills
Please see the requirements listed above.

Other Relevant Skills
For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter.

Anticipated Posting Close Date:
Sept 25, 2026

About Citigroup, Inc

Citigroup is a financial services holding company that provides financial products and services. The company operates through two segments, Global Consumer Banking (GCB) and Institutional Clients Group (ICG). The GCB segment offers traditional banking services to retail customers through retail banking, commercial banking, Citi-branded cards, and Citi retail services. The ICG segment offers various banking, and financial products and services to corporate, institutional, public sector, and high-net-worth clients. This segment provides wholesale banking products and services, including fixed-income and equity sales and trading, foreign exchange, prime brokerage, derivative services, equity and fixed-income research, corporate lending, investment banking, and advisory services, private banking, cash management, trade finance, and securities services. Citi is committed to sustainability and social responsibility, and the company invests in initiatives that promote economic progress.

Citigroup, Inc Careers

Join the vibrant team at Citigroup, Inc, a leading global bank, and propel your career into the future. Citigroup offers a plethora of job opportunities that span across various fields and expertise, making it an ideal place for ambitious professionals to thrive.

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At Citigroup, Inc, you will engage in exciting work that matters. Join our team to help innovate and drive transformation in the banking industry. With Citigroup, you can lead initiatives that redefine how banking works and how financial services can empower people globally.

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We believe our strength comes from the diversity of our team. Citigroup, Inc is dedicated to fostering an inclusive workplace where everyone can contribute their best work. Through diversity training and a culture that embraces differences, we create a welcoming environment for all employees.

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Citigroup, Inc values the well-being of its employees. We offer competitive benefits packages that support the health, finance, and lifestyle of our team members. Our culture is built on collaboration, respect, and a commitment to excellence. We ensure that every team member feels valued and part of our global family.

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Start your professional journey with Citigroup through our internship programs or full-time job opportunities. We are constantly hiring fresh talent and seasoned experts who bring creativity and innovation to our team. Whether you're refining your skills or ready to lead, there's a position waiting for you at Citigroup.

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Learn more about Citigroup, Inc
Market Cap
$1.3 billion
Industry
Finance & Insurance
Net Income
$89.6 million
Founded
1812
5 Year Trend
+4.6%
NASDAQ
C
* Ladders Estimates

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