Principal Software Engineer - Full Stack

Principal Software Engineer – Full Stack

Location:

Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

The Principal Software Engineer is a senior technical leader responsible for designing, building, and evolving scalable, secure software systems while providing day‑to‑day technical leadership for a development team. This role blends hands‑on engineering with architectural ownership, mentorship, and accountability for engineering excellence and delivery outcomes.

• Lead the design and evolution of scalable, maintainable, and secure full‑stack solutions across frontend, backend, APIs, data stores, and cloud infrastructure
• Serve as the primary technical authority for the team, driving architectural decisions, engineering standards, and best practices
• Review system designs and code to ensure performance, reliability, testability, security, and long‑term maintainability
• Identify, prioritize, and proactively address technical debt and systemic risks
• Stay current with modern technologies and introduce new tools or patterns where they deliver clear value

• Contribute high‑quality, production‑ready code across the stack (Angular, Java/Kotlin, Spring Boot, RDBMS/PL‑SQL, APIs)
• Lead complex feature development, critical initiatives, proof‑of‑concepts, and technical spikes
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex issues spanning multiple services and layers
• Champion strong automated testing practices, CI/CD pipelines, and operational reliability

• Provide technical leadership for an agile development squad, setting clear expectations for quality, delivery, and engineering behavior
• Mentor and coach engineers through code reviews, design discussions, and ongoing technical guidance
• Foster a culture of collaboration, psychological safety, accountability, and continuous improvement
• Support hiring, onboarding, and development of engineering talent

• Take ownership of technical outcomes, delivery commitments, and engineering excellence
• Align technical work with business priorities and product outcomes
• Identify risks early and clearly communicate tradeoffs, impacts, and mitigation strategies
• Participate fully in agile ceremonies, planning, estimation, and prioritization

• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non‑technical stakeholders
• Partner closely with product managers, designers, architects, operations, and other engineering leaders
• Act as a trusted technical advisor to leadership and cross‑functional teams

• Influence and improve engineering processes, development practices, and team workflows
• Participate in and contribute to communities of practice and shared standards
• Ensure appropriate controls, documentation, and compliance with audit and risk requirements
• Operate within the organization’s risk appetite while consistently prioritizing customer and colleague outcomes

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/Information Systems or equivalent combination of education and work experience
• At least six years of engineering or other IT work experience relevant to the position
• Strong expertise in object‑oriented and functional design principles
• Experience building and maintaining RESTful services and distributed systems
• Prior experience with Git and Git Hub
• Proficiency with modern frontend and backend technologies (Angular, Java/Kotlin, Spring Boot)
• Experience with relational databases and SQL/PL‑SQL
• Understanding of software development methodologies
• Understanding of security best practices
• Strong problem‑solving skills
• Strong collaboration skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Position not available for immigration sponsorship.

Supers ivory responsibilities:
None.

• Base salary reflective of the range for roles within this pay grade across the U.S.; individual salaries vary based on role, relevant skillset, experience, education, and geographic location
• Eligible to participate in an incentive compensation plan, with payments based on company, line of business, and/or individual performance
• Comprehensive benefits program supporting physical, financial, emotional, and social well‑being; more information on benefits can be found on the careers page

Fifth Third Bank, National Association is proud to have an engaged and inclusive culture and to promote and ensure equal employment opportunity in all employment decisions regardless of race, color, gender, national origin, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, veteran status or any other legally protected status.