Application Engineering Technical Lead - III

Vanguard; Charlotte (NC); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Vanguard is evolving its fraud capabilities and building a unified case management platform to support investigations globally. The role leads architecture, platform delivery, and AI-enabled engineering across teams, driving scalable design and long-term platform evolution.

The ideal candidate brings 10+ years in application engineering, strong distributed-systems experience, and a track record mentoring engineers while balancing innovation with governance.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of application engineering experience.
• Strong experience with distributed systems, integrations, APIs, and modern application architectures.
• Demonstrated ability to influence technical direction without direct authority.
• Mentoring engineers and helping establish engineering best practices.
• Leveraging AI-assisted development tools within modern software engineering environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and delivery of a modern fraud case management platform that unifies multiple applications and services.
• Drive AI-enabled engineering practices to improve developer productivity and delivery speed.
• Influence roadmaps, integration strategies, and technical standards across teams.
• Build and mentor a new full‑stack engineering team, promoting ownership and continuous improvement.
• Define a strategic platform roadmap enabling onboarding of new fraud capabilities and regions over time.

Skills

Distributed systems

APIs

Modern architectures

Influence technical direction

Mentoring engineers

AI-assisted development

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Graduate degree preferred

Job description

Fraud investigators rely on multiple systems and workflows to identify, manage, and resolve cases. As Vanguard continues to evolve its fraud capabilities, we are building a unified case management platform that simplifies operations, improves investigator experiences, and creates a scalable foundation for future growth.

This role will serve as a key technical leader responsible for helping design, build, and deliver a resilient case management ecosystem that integrates multiple existing applications into a common platform supporting fraud investigations globally.

The ideal candidate combines strong hands‑on engineering experience with leadership, collaboration, and systems‑thinking skills. They are energized by ambiguity, enjoy building new capabilities from the ground up, and can influence teams without formal authority.

Lead Architecture and Platform Delivery

• Drive the technical design and implementation of a modern fraud case management platform that integrates multiple applications and services into a unified solution.
• Partner with architects, engineers, and product leaders to establish a scalable and resilient platform strategy.
• Make architectural and engineering decisions that balance speed of delivery with long‑term maintainability and operational excellence.
• Contribute directly to solution design, technical planning, and critical engineering decisions.

Champion AI-Enabled Engineering and Innovation

• Drive adoption of AI-assisted software engineering practices to improve developer productivity, code quality, testing effectiveness, and delivery speed.
• Evaluate and incorporate emerging AI capabilities into engineering workflows, including code generation, automated testing, documentation, and development lifecycle optimization.
• Partner with architecture and platform teams to identify opportunities for AI-driven capabilities within the fraud case management ecosystem.
• Establish engineering practices that balance innovation, security, governance, and responsible AI adoption.

Influence Across Teams and Systems

• Act as an informal technical leader contributing to the fraud modernization roadmap.
• Build strong partnerships with teams supporting existing case management and fraud‑related applications.
• Influence roadmaps, integration strategies, and technical standards to ensure a seamless end‑to‑end solution.

Build a New Engineering Team

• Help establish engineering practices, standards, and delivery processes for a newly formed team of full‑stack engineers.
• Mentor and develop engineers through technical leadership, coaching, design reviews, and collaboration.
• Promote a culture of ownership, innovation, automation, and continuous improvement.
• Champion agile delivery practices that enable rapid iteration and continuous value delivery.

Drive Long-Term Platform Evolution

• Help define a strategic roadmap that enables onboarding of additional fraud capabilities, workflows, and regions over time.
• Identify opportunities to leverage cloud‑native technologies, automation, integration patterns, and modern engineering practices.
• Establish the foundation for a scalable global platform that can support future growth and evolving fraud prevention requirements.

Qualifications

• Approximately 10+ years of application engineering experience.
• Undergraduate degree or equivalent combination of training and experience. Graduate degree preferred.
• Strong experience with distributed systems, integrations, APIs, and modern application architectures.
• Demonstrated ability to influence technical direction without direct authority.
• Mentoring engineers and helping establish engineering best practices.
• Leveraging AI-assisted development tools within modern software engineering environments.

Sponsorship

Vanguard is not offering visa sponsorship for this position.

About Vanguard

At Vanguard, we don't just have a mission-we're on a mission.

To work for the long‑term financial wellbeing of our clients. To lead through product and services that transform our clients' lives. To learn and develop our skills as individuals and as a team. From Malvern to Melbourne, our mission drives us forward and inspires us to be our best.

How We Work

Vanguard has implemented a hybrid working model for the majority of our crew members, designed to capture the benefits of enhanced flexibility while enabling in‑person learning, collaboration, and connection. We believe our mission‑driven and highly collaborative culture is a critical enabler to support long‑term client outcomes and enrich the employee experience.