Lead software engineer

Job Description

Role summary

We're seeking a VP-level Lead Software Engineer with a strong backend engineering profile to lead the design and delivery of scalable, secure, cloud-native services on AWS , paired with React UI experience to ensure seamless end-to-end execution within a regulated financial services environment . You'll raise the bar on reliability and operational excellence, and drive an AI-first engineering paradigm —embedding AI tooling and automation into daily development while maintaining strict adherence to regulatory, compliance, and risk management standards.

What you'll do

• AI-first SDLC : standardize AI-assisted workflows for coding, test creation, code review, documentation, debugging, and incident response—ensuring all AI tooling usage complies with  firm-wide governance, model risk management, and data privacy policies .
• Lead backend architecture and delivery owning core services on  AWS and partnering closely on  React UI implementation.
• Own technical strategy : define target backend/cloud architecture, engineering standards, and near-/long-term roadmaps aligned with business objectives, regulatory requirements, and risk appetite.
• Design and build scalable backend systems on AWS (APIs, event-driven services, data integration, identity/security patterns, performance and cost controls) that meet  financial industry standards for data integrity, auditability, and resilience .
• Ensure strong React implementation : contribute to UI architecture where needed, guide reusable patterns, and ensure the front end cleanly integrates with backend contracts.
• Automate engineering hygiene : CI/CD improvements, quality gates, dependency management, and developer self-service to reduce toil and increase throughput while maintaining  audit trails and change management controls .
• Drive production excellence : observability, resiliency, SLOs, incident management, and post-incident learning with measurable improvements aligned to  business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) standards .
• Collaborate with risk, compliance, and information security teams to ensure all engineering practices meet regulatory expectations (e.g., SOX, GDPR, SEC/FINRA, OCC guidelines).
• Mentor and grow engineers : coach technical depth (especially backend/AWS), strengthen ownership, and develop future tech leads within a financial services context.
• Stay hands-on in critical backend components and high-impact design decisions, especially where scale, security, data sensitivity, or regulatory compliance are at stake.

What success looks like (first 3–6 months)

• Roll out  AI-first engineering workflows that measurably improve developer velocity and code quality, with appropriate  governance guardrails for AI usage in a regulated environment .
• Improve delivery throughput by clarifying backend priorities, reducing blockers, and introducing measurable execution metrics—while maintaining compliance with change management and release governance.
• Reinforce or modernize  AWS backend architecture with secure, scalable defaults and clear service/API standards that satisfy  internal audit and regulatory review .
• Improve production readiness: stronger monitoring/logging/alerting and faster recovery through better runbooks and automation, aligned to  firm-wide SLA and BC/DR expectations .

Required qualifications

• Proven experience leading delivery of  production backend systems (as lead engineer / tech lead / engineering lead) in  financial services , preferably within an  investment bank or capital markets environment .
• Strong expertise in  AWS (cloud-native architecture, security, scalability, reliability, and cost awareness) within a  regulated industry context .
• Strong backend fundamentals: API design, distributed systems concepts, data modeling, integration patterns—with experience handling  high-volume, low-latency, and mission-critical financial workloads .
• Solid  React experience sufficient to guide UI architecture and ensure high-quality integration with backend services.
• Deep understanding of financial services technology landscape : familiarity with trading systems, risk platforms, client onboarding, regulatory reporting, or similar banking domains.
• Demonstrated ability to set technical direction across engineers and influence stakeholders, including  technology risk, compliance, and business partners .
• Strong engineering craft: testing strategy, CI/CD, observability, and operational excellence within a  controlled, auditable environment .

Preferred qualifications

• Demonstrated  AI tooling adoption (coding assistants, LLM-enabled workflows) with measurable impact on quality/velocity, ideally within a  governance-conscious environment .
• Investment banking or markets technology experience (e.g., front-office tools, middle/back-office platforms, trade lifecycle, market data, or client-facing portals).
• Track record of building  automation for developer productivity (pipelines, templates, self-service, guardrails) in a  large-scale enterprise or financial institution .
• Familiarity with event-driven architectures and asynchronous patterns on AWS, particularly for  real-time financial data processing or transaction workflows .
• Experience modernizing legacy systems incrementally within  complex, regulated environments (migration strategies, strangler patterns, dual-running).
• Strong security mindset (threat modeling, least privilege, secrets management,  encryption at rest/in transit for sensitive financial data ).

About Us

J.P. Morgan is a global leader in financial services, providing strategic advice and products to the world’s most prominent corporations, governments, wealthy individuals and institutional investors. Our first-class business in a first-class way approach to serving clients drives everything we do. We strive to build trusted, long-term partnerships to help our clients achieve their business objectives.

We recognize that our people are our strength and the diverse talents they bring to our global workforce are directly linked to our success. We are an equal opportunity employer and place a high value on diversity and inclusion at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of any protected attribute, including race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital or veteran status, pregnancy or disability, or any other basis protected under applicable law. We also make reasonable accommodations for applicants’ and employees’ religious practices and beliefs, as well as mental health or physical disability needs. Visit our  FAQs for more information about requesting an accommodation.

About the Team

J.P. Morgan’s Commercial & Investment Bank is a global leader across banking, markets, securities services and payments. Corporations, governments and institutions throughout the world entrust us with their business in more than 100 countries. The Commercial & Investment Bank provides strategic advice, raises capital, manages risk and extends liquidity in markets around the world.