Senior Software Engineer

About Morningstar Retirement:
At Morningstar Retirement Group, we're all in for investors. Our mission is to empower investor success and help them realize their retirement goals. We offer personalized guidance on how much to save, how to invest, when to retire, and more, based on individual circumstances. We challenge the status quo and foster a culture of curiosity. We focus on solving problems, optimizing our product development process, and enhancing team productivity through collaboration and AI. We value product thinking, involve engineers early in the process, and appreciate contributions from all team members.
The Role:
We're seeking talented engineers to build next-generation applications. Join us on this exciting journey as we develop a new platform, leveraging cutting-edge technologies like Generative AI, AWS Cloud, and Vue.js, to elevate our user experience to the next level. Engineers are expected to leverage AI tools and agents to accelerate development, automate workflows, and uncover opportunities for smarter, more intuitive user experiences.
As part of a cross-functional squad, you'll collaborate closely with product managers, designers, and fellow engineers to build an innovative financial platform used across the organization. You'll contribute to every stage of the product development lifecycle, from user experience design and system architecture to API/service development, data visualization, automated testing, infrastructure as code, monitoring, and reliability engineering.
The role includes participating in an equitable on-call rotation (approximately two weeks every three months) and offers ongoing opportunities to explore and adopt emerging technologies. You'll work closely with partners across Product, Operations, and Marketing to deliver high-quality features, drive engineering excellence, and continuously refine our technology ecosystem.
Position Location: Chicago, IL (this is a hybrid role requiring 4 days in-office)
You'll Thrive in This Role If You:

• Have 5+ years of experience building enterprise-grade applications.
• Are proficient in JavaScript or TypeScript and modern web application development.
• Approach challenges with curiosity, persistence, and a solutions-oriented mindset.
• Are passionate about technology and committed to ongoing learning.
• Demonstrate strong ownership, accountability, and follow-through.
• Regularly use AI tools to assist with coding, debugging, design, and documentation.
• Can think critically about when AI is helpful, and when it isn't.
• Bring positivity, energy, and a collaborative spirit to the team.

Nice to Haves - Not Requirements:
The list below is to provide you with a sense of the technologies and practices we work with. We really mean these to be "nice to haves."

• Experience with AI technologies including LLM's, GitHub Copilot, and Agentic AI.
• Familiarity with latest Browser technology and features.
• Proficiency in HTML/CSS and modern JavaScript frameworks like Vue.js.
• Experience designing and consuming RESTful APIs.
• Experience in writing SQL scripts.
• Experience working with cloud services, preferably AWS.
• Experience with containerization technologies like Docker and AWS Fargate.
• Knowledge of networking fundamentals (HTTP(s), basic security principles).
• Experience using CI/CD pipelines such as AWS CodeDeploy.
• Experience with infrastructure as code tools like Terraform or CloudFormation.
• Experience in C# and .NET Core.
• Experience with engineering best practices (design docs, code reviews, pair programming, Agile workflows).

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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