Lead Software Engineer - Wealth Platform

About the Role
Morningstar Wealth is seeking a Lead Software Engineer with strong backend expertise to lead the development and modernization of our model creation and data delivery systems. This role is central to advancing how Wealth builds, manages, and delivers data pipelines and services that power our products and client experiences.
The ideal candidate has deep technical expertise in backend system design, large-scale data delivery, and cloud-based development, with the ability to guide teams in building robust, scalable, and high-performance solutions. While primarily backend-focused, familiarity with front-end frameworks (Vue.js) is a strong plus. AI/ML experience is not required, but exposure or interest in these technologies is welcomed.
To foster continuous collaboration, we follow a hybrid policy in which you will work onsite a minimum of 4 days per week in our Chicago office.
Responsibilities

• Backend & Data Platform Development: Design, develop, and enhance systems that support the creation, publication, and delivery of data and models to downstream applications.
• System Modernization: Maintain, upgrade, and migrate existing applications and services, ensuring stability, scalability, and efficiency.
• Architectural Leadership: Define and evolve backend architecture for data delivery workflows, ensuring seamless integration with Morningstar's broader product ecosystem.
• Performance & Reliability: Drive improvements in system performance, resiliency, and delivery speed, while enforcing best practices in scalability and maintainability.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with architects, DevOps/SRE, product teams, and data engineers to align technical solutions with business objectives.
• Technical Guidance & Mentorship: Provide hands-on expertise in backend engineering, mentor junior engineers, and promote consistent engineering practices across teams.
• Project Oversight: Provide technical leadership for projects, ensuring design and implementation align with business and technical goals.
• Continuous Improvement: Stay current on emerging technologies in cloud, system design, and data engineering, introducing practices that improve delivery speed and quality.

Qualifications

• Problem-Solving: Demonstrated ability to analyze complex technical challenges, design effective solutions, and deliver high-quality results.
• Methodology: Strong understanding of Agile/Scrum and modern engineering practices.
• Security Awareness: Proven experience designing secure services, APIs, and data pipelines.
• Education: Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field required; advanced degree preferred.
• Experience: 8+ years in professional software development, with a strong focus on backend engineering and data-intensive systems.
• Strong background in C#/.NET (preferred)
• Proven experience designing and building REST APIs and event-driven systems on AWS (e.g., Lambda, SQS, SNS, EventBridge, API Gateway).
• Hands-on expertise with CI/CD and Infrastructure as Code (AWS CodePipeline, Terraform, Harness, or similar).
• Exposure to AI/ML integration in production systems (plus).
• Experience with databases (RDS, SQL, NoSQL) and large-scale data delivery systems(plus).
• Familiarity with Vue.js or other modern JavaScript frameworks (plus).
• Proficiency in Python for scripting and data workflows (plus).

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
  • 75% 401k match up to 7%
  • 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 Bonding Leave
  • Adoption Assistance
  • Leadership Coaching & Formal Mentorship Opportunities
  • Annual Education Stipend
  • 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 - 193,975.00 USD Annual
Inclusive of annual base salary and target incentive
If you receive and accept an offer from us, we require that personal and any related investments be disclosed confidentiality to our Compliance team (days vary by region). These investments will be reviewed to ensure they meet Code of Ethics requirements. If any conflicts of interest are identified, then you will be required to liquidate those holdings immediately. In addition, dependent on your department and location of work certain employee accounts must be held with an approved broker (for example all, U.S. employee accounts). If this applies and your account(s) are not with an approved broker, you will be required to move your holdings to an approved broker.
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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