Consultant, Software Engineer; Emerging Technology Development Lab

If you’re passionate about innovation and love working in an environment where you can constantly improve and adopt new technologies to drive business results, then Nationwide’s Information Technology team could be the place for you! At Nationwide , “on your side” goes beyond just words. Our customers are at the center of everything we do and we’re looking for associates who are passionate about delivering extraordinary care.

This role will work a hybrid schedule coming into the Columbus, Ohio office 2 days per week on Tuesdays & Wednesdays.

We’re launching the Emerging Technology Development Lab – a small, high-impact group within Nationwide’s Emerging Technology team – built to explore, prototype, and validate the technologies that will shape our next 3-5 years.

As a Consultant, Software Engineering
, you’ll be a hands‑on technical leader, working across a broad spectrum of emerging technologies – from Quantum Computing and Neuromorphic Hardware to Physical AI, Immersive Experiences, Ambient Intelligence, and Conversational AI .

You will partner closely with other engineers, designers, and researchers (both on‑site and offshore) to experiment, build, and demonstrate what’s possible
, guiding the organization toward meaningful adoption of next‑generation platforms and paradigms.

• Explore & Prototype: Rapidly evaluate emerging technologies through proof‑of‑concept builds, prototypes, and technical demonstrations.
• Engineer the Future: Design and develop software solutions that blend classical and next‑generation computing models (e.g., AI/ML, quantum simulation, spatial computing, edge intelligence).
• Experiment & Learn: Continuously research, tinker, and learn – bringing new tools, platforms, and methodologies into the lab to test their applicability in an enterprise context.
• Collaborate Across Boundaries: Partner with on‑site engineers, offshore development teams, researchers, and business partners to co‑develop experiments and share learnings.
• Tell the Story: Translate complex technical findings into clear narratives that inspire action and help business and technology leaders understand potential impacts.
• Champion Adoption: Help design playbooks, frameworks, and developer enablement tools that accelerate company‑wide adoption of proven emerging technologies.

You’re not just a builder – you’re an explorer . You see technology as a creative medium and experimentation as a core part of learning. You thrive in uncertainty, move fast to test ideas, and find satisfaction in both breakthroughs and lessons learned.

You’re likely to describe yourself as:

• Curious – You love learning how things work and are always exploring what’s next.
• Versatile – You have experience across multiple technology domains (AI, cloud, data, web, hardware, or emerging computing paradigms).
• Hands‑on – You’re comfortable diving into code, wiring up devices, or experimenting with new SDKs or APIs.
• Creative Problem Solver – You approach challenges with a “how might we?” mindset.
• Collaborative – You thrive in diverse teams and can translate between technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Adaptive – You’re energized by change and uncertainty – and find opportunity in both.

• Demonstrated understanding of Emerging Technology & Innovation frameworks, experimentation models, and governance processes, with the ability to apply these approaches to advance current and future emerging technology initiatives
• Strong software engineering background with experience in one or more programming languages (Python, JavaScript/Type Script, Java, C#, Go, Rust, etc.)
• Demonstrated experience with modern development practices (cloud‑native architectures, Dev Ops pipelines, REST APIs, microservices, containerization, CI/CD, serverless architectures)
• Exposure to or deep interest in one or more emerging domains:
• AI/ML, Generative AI, and Autonomous Systems – experience with or interest in:
• Developing, training, and fine‑tuning machine learning and large language models (LLMs)
• Applying prompt engineering and context engineering strategies to optimize model outputs, reduce hallucinations, and improve grounding and task…