Lead Software Development Engineer (Java)

TL;DR

Lead Software Development Engineer (Java): Designing and building high-scale data ingestion and enrichment systems for customer-facing products with an accent on distributed data pipelines, search indexing, and AI-augmented intelligence. Focus on leading a high-ownership engineering team, setting technical standards, and ensuring system reliability in a hands-on, production-focused environment.

Location: Must be based in Seattle, WA; role is 5 days a week onsite.

Salary: $190,000–$230,000 base + 15% target bonus.

Company

A Morningstar company providing data and research for the financial industry, focused on innovation and collaborative product development.

What you will do

• Design and build robust systems for data ingestion, correlation, and enrichment.
• Lead a small, high-ownership engineering team through mentorship and direct pairing.
• Write production-grade backend code daily, including services, pipelines, and APIs.
• Drive system design for platform capabilities like search indexing and entity resolution.
• Own the technical quality, performance, and reliability of services in production.
• Collaborate with product and engineering leadership to define technical direction and resource allocation.

Requirements

• Must be authorized to work in the United States without visa sponsorship.
• 7+ years of backend software engineering experience, predominantly in Java.
• Deep experience with distributed data pipelines and streaming systems like Kafka.
• Strong hands-on experience with Elasticsearch or comparable search platforms.
• Solid expertise in PostgreSQL and relational database design at scale.
• Experience with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and cloud infrastructure (GCP preferred).
• Strong system design instincts and experience with distributed systems and API design.

Nice to have

• Experience with large-scale data ingestion, deduplication, or data quality pipelines.
• Enthusiasm for using AI tools for productivity (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Claude).
• Experience with Domain Driven Design and service-oriented architectures.

Culture & Benefits

• Comprehensive health benefits including medical, dental, and vision.
• 401k match and shared ownership employee stock program.
• Generous vacation, sick leave, and paid sabbatical program after four years.
• Annual educational stipend and tuition reimbursement opportunities.
• Supportive environment with employee resource groups and mentorship programs.
• Monthly transportation stipend and subsidized emergency childcare.