Principal, Software Engineering

As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world’s most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions.

Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure:
Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide.

With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

We are seeking a highly experienced Principal Software Engineer to provide technical leadership and hands‑on execution across complex, cloud‑native software initiatives. This role combines deep engineering expertise with mentorship, architecture influence, and strong collaboration across global teams. The ideal candidate is passionate about engineering excellence
, AI‑assisted development
, and building high‑quality, scalable products using modern development practices.

• Act as a hands‑on technical leader, designing, developing, and reviewing high‑quality, production‑ready software.
• Lead development using Java as the primary language, following clean code, TDD, and spec‑driven development principles.
• Drive adoption of AI‑assisted development capabilities (e.g., Copilot‑style tools, intelligent automation) to improve developer productivity and code quality.
• Influence and review application and solution architecture for scalability, security, performance, and maintainability.
• Partner with architects and senior engineers to define and enforce engineering standards and best practices.

• Design, build, and deploy applications on Microsoft Azure, leveraging cloud‑native services.
• Contribute to cloud architecture decisions with a strong understanding of:
• Azure compute, networking, storage, and security
• Cloud‑based databases (SQL & No
  
  SQL) and performance considerations
• Support and continuously improve Dev Ops pipelines, CI/CD practices, and infrastructure automation.
• Enable resilient, observable, and cost‑efficient systems in the cloud.

• Champion Test‑Driven Development (TDD) and automated testing at all levels (unit, integration, system).
• Enable and evolve test automation frameworks and practices across teams.
• Closely collaborate with Dev Ops and SRE partners to:
• Improve release reliability and deployment frequency
• Reduce operational risk and technical debt
• Strengthen monitoring, alerting, and production readiness

• Mentor and groom engineers to elevate technical skills, design thinking, and ownership mindset.
• Provide guidance through code reviews, design discussions, and technical deep dives.
• Foster a culture of high engineering standards, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Act as a trusted technical advisor to product, QA, and platform teams.

• Work closely with cross‑functional stakeholders including Product, Architecture, QA, and Operations.
• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Collaborate effectively with globally distributed teams across North America, EMEA, and India, accommodating time‑zone overlaps when required.
• Proactively identify risks and propose pragmatic solutions.

• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a strong hands‑on track record.
• Deep expertise in…