Lead Software Engineer, Customer Experience & Reliability

The Mission
Financial advisors rely heavily on Morningstar's Direct Advisory Suite and when software breaks, they need instant resolution. Our Delight team transforms support from cost center into competitive advantage by combining hardcore production engineering with AI-enhanced diagnosis to deliver service excellence competitors can't replicate.
Role Summary
As a Lead Software Engineer for Customer Experience & Reliability, you are a technical leader and customer advocate responsible for driving the resolution of complex, cross-system production issues.
This role offers a unique mix of technical leadership and hands-on engagement, allowing you to influence outcomes while staying close to the technology. You'll partner closely with a Senior Engineering Manager to ensure:

• The right problems are prioritized and addressed
• Engagement within the team
• Root causes are clearly identified
• Follow-up actions are effectively executed

You will remain technically engaged in reading code, analyzing logs, and troubleshooting issues, but your primary impact will come through ownership, coordination, and sound technical judgement.
Location: Chicago, IL (4 days onsite, Monday - Thursday)
What You'll Do
Lead Production Issue Ownership
Coordinate & Facilitate Technical Problem Solving

• Lead cross-functional debugging sessions across Engineering, Customer Success Managers, Operations, and Support.
• Help teams converge on root causes by asking the right technical questions.
• Support during incidents by tracking decisions, risks, and next steps.
• Translate between customer impact and system behavior.

Technical Troubleshooting & Guidance
Maintain deep technical fluency to:

• Read and reason about C#, .NET / .NET Core, and JavaScript code
• Analyze logs, metrics, and traces (e.g., Splunk, New Relic, APM tools)
• Reproduce issues at a conceptual or functional level
• Review proposed fixes and designs with a focus on reliability, operability, and customer impact.

Proactive Customer Experience & Reliability Improvements

• Manually reproduce customer issues, isolate root causes, and deploy fixes under time pressure while partnering with L1/L2 support teams to resolve high-priority advisor tickets.
• Recognize recurring issue patterns and provide feedback to feature development teams to drive systemic improvements.
• Identify systemic weaknesses and partner with engineering teams to improve observability, diagnostics, and operational readiness.
• Support and influence emerging automation or AI-assisted diagnostic workflows.

Mentorship & Leadership

• Model strong ownership, calm decision-making, and accountability during production incidents.
• Mentor engineers and support teams on effective incident handling and production readiness.
• Reinforce a culture where customer experience is an engineering responsibility.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years experience in software engineering, production support, reliability, or tech-lead roles
• Hands-on experience with C#, .NET / .NET Core
• Practical familiarity with JavaScript / web application behavior
• Experience working with distributed systems in production
• Familiarity with AWS-hosted systems and cloud-based architectures
• Proven ability to lead incidents and cross-team technical problem solving
• Strong communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences

What Success Looks Like

• Ownership & Accountability - You take end-to-end responsibility for production issues and follow through until resolution and prevention are confirmed.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration - You work across engineering, operations, support, and customer success to align on priorities and drive outcomes.
• Technical Curiosity - You stay close to the code, the logs, and the systems-not to write every line, but to ask the right questions and spot incomplete solutions.
• Customer-First Mindset - Every technical decision is evaluated through the lens of advisor impact and experience quality.
• Calm Under Pressure - You lead incidents with composure, clear communication, and structured decision-making.
• Continuous Improvement - You identify patterns, advocate for systemic fixes, and raise the bar on operational readiness across teams.

Compensation and Benefits
At Morningstar we believe people are at their best when they are at their healthiest. That's why we champion your wellness through a wide range of programs that support all stages of your personal and professional life. Here are some examples of the offerings we provide:

• Financial Health
  
  • 100% 401k match up to 6% of salary
  • Stock Ownership Potential
  • Company provided life insurance - 1x salary + commission
• Physical Health
  
  • Comprehensive health benefits (medical/dental/vision) including potential premium discounts and company-provided HSA contributions (up to $500-$2,000 annually) for specific plans and coverages
  • Additional medical Wellness Incentives - up to $300-$600 annual
  • Company-provided long- and short-term disability insurance
• Emotional Health
  
  • Trust-Based Time Off
  • 6-week Paid Sabbatical Program
  • 6-Week Paid Family Caregiving Leave
  • Competitive 8-24 Week Paid Parental Leave
  • Adoption Assistance
  • Leadership Coaching & Formal Mentorship Opportunities
  • Annual Flex Stipend - $1000 annually to cover personal education & well-being expenses
  • Tuition Reimbursement
• Social Health
  
  • Charitable Matching Gifts program
  • Dollars for Doers volunteer program
  • Paid volunteering days
  • 15+ Employee Resource & Affinity Groups

Total Cash Compensation Range
$114,100.00-167,350.00
Inclusive of annual base salary and target incentive
Morningstar's hybrid work environment gives you the opportunity to collaborate in-person each week as we've found that we're at our best when we're purposely together on a regular basis. In most of our locations, our hybrid work model is four days in-office each week. A range of other benefits are also available to enhance flexibility as needs change. No matter where you are, you'll have tools and resources to engage meaningfully with your global colleagues.
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