Associate Director, Software Engineering

Fifth Third Bank; Cincinnati (OH); On-site; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Fifth Third Bank in Cincinnati, OH seeks an Associate Director of Software Engineering to lead people and influence across the organization. You will coach engineers, drive performance, and shape insourcing strategies while collaborating with technology leaders to align with strategic priorities.

The role emphasizes hiring, mentorship, and building a high‑performing software craft. Base salary is competitive with incentives and comprehensive benefits, reflecting broad market ranges across the

Qualifications

• Typically at least ten years of hands-on experience in the Java/J2EE SDLC.
• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Computer Science/Information Systems or equivalent.
• Passion for guiding, teaching, mentoring, and leading people.
• Ability to establish self as a leader and be recognized by divisions as a leader.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills with impact across audiences.
• Ability to communicate complex information clearly and meet fast-paced deadlines.
• Experience removing impediments and fostering collaboration across boundaries.
• Deep understanding of all software lifecycle disciplines: PM, REQ, Analysis & Design, QA, Deployment, Change.
• Critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills.
• Understanding of agile principles and building the right teams.
• Ability to lead self-organizing teams and drive change through influence.
• Build trust and rapport for sustainable workplace.
• Familiarity with cloud computing concepts (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud).

Responsibilities

• Develop and coach employees to meet organizational needs while balancing personal development.
• Actively participate in hiring experienced and college graduate level employees.
• Solicit feedback from key team members and provide timely feedback.
• Work with other leaders to identify and solve issues preventing performance.
• Identify organizational needs and propose solutions to resolve.
• Be a leader of the Java/J2EE SDLC and share best practices and future direction.
• Remove impediments to progress (cultural, logistic, mindset).
• Facilitate communication, cooperation, and collaboration across the organization.
• Improve effectiveness of all roles and foster learning and growth.
• Challenge processes to drive efficiency, consistency and results.
• Build a trusting, positive culture where issues are addressed safely.

Skills

Java/J2EE SDLC

Leadership

Communication skills

Agile principles

Mentoring/Coaching

Hiring

Cross‑functional collaboration

Problem solving

Cloud computing

Education

Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Computer Science/Information Systems

Job description

Make banking a Fifth Third better®

We connect great people to great opportunities. Are you ready to take the next step? Discover a career in banking at Fifth Third Bank.

Make banking a Fifth Third better®

We connect great people to great opportunities. Are you ready to take the next step? Discover a career in banking at Fifth Third Bank.

Make banking a Fifth Third better®

We connect great people to great opportunities. Are you ready to take the next step? Discover a career in banking at Fifth Third Bank. The Associate Director, Software Engineering will have the responsibility of people leadership, with all the responsibilities that people management and leadership entail and will interact and influence leaders across the organization drawing connections to all strategic priorities. The main responsibilities will include developing and coaching employees, removing impediments to performance, developing ways to enable collaboration, being a leader of the software engineering craft, sharing best practices and executing insourcing strategies. The Associate Director will handle performance review, compensation, and other core human resources processes for their team. Will need to work collaboratively across the Technology team and other internal groups. Responsible and accountable for the identification of risk by openly exchanging ideas and opinions, elevating concerns. They personally follow policies and procedures as defined and are accountable for always doing the right thing for customers and colleagues. The incumbent ensures that their actions and behaviors drive a positive customer experience. While operating within the Bank's risk appetite, the role achieves results by consistently identifying, assessing, managing, monitoring, and reporting risks of all types.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Develop and coach employees to meet the needs of the organization while balancing personal development of the employee.
• Actively participate in the hiring of experienced and college graduate level employees.
• Solicit feedback from key team members to understand performance of team members and provide that feedback to the employee in a timely manner.
• Work with other leaders within the organization to identify and problem solve issues that are preventing employees from performing effectively.
• Identify organizational needs/gaps and propose solutions to resolve.
• Be a leader of the Java/J2EE SDLC and be able to provide insight on best practices and provide insight on future direction of the craft for the organization.
• Apply and deploy multiple approaches to remove organizational impediments (e.g. cultural barriers, logistic challenges, mindset shifts, etc.).
• Facilitate communication, cooperation, and collaboration across the organization, including continuous feedback loops.
• Work to improve the effectiveness of all roles of the organization, fostering self‑organization, learning and growth.
• Challenge current processes, identifying opportunities for increased efficiency, effectiveness, and consistency to drive continuous improvement in results.
• Build a trusting and positive culture where issues are resolved in a safe environment.

Supervisory Responsibilities

Duties include, but are not limited to performance management, focused investment in people growth and direction, feedback, coaching and disciplinary activities (if needed), succession planning, recognition of employees, etc.

Minimum Knowledge, Skills & Abilities Required

• Typically, will have at least ten (10) years of hands‑on experience in the Java/J2EE SDLC.
• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Computer Science/Information Systems or equivalent combination of education and experiences.
• A passion for guiding, teaching, mentoring, and leading people.
• Position requires the ability to establish self as a leader, to not only perform in a leadership role, but to also be recognized by other divisions and business partners as a leader.
• Strong presence and credibility with excellent communication, presentation and interpersonal skills which are effective and impactful to a range of audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex information in a simplified way and meet fast‑paced deadlines.
• Experience communicating and removing impediments at both the team level and organizational level, fostering collaboration across organizational boundaries.
• Deep understanding of all software lifecycle development disciplines - Project Management, Requirements Management, Analysis & Design, Quality Assurance & Testing, Implementation, Deployment, Configuration & Change Management.
• Critical thinking and creative problem‑solving skills.
• Understanding of agile principles and ability to reinforce the establishment of teams with the right people.
• Ability to lead self‑organizing teams and drive change through influence.
• Ability to build a sense of trust and rapport that creates a sustainable & effective workplace.
• Familiarity with cloud computing and associated concepts in a major cloud environment i.e. (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)

Job Description

Job Profile Summary The Associate Director, Software Engineering will have the responsibility of people leadership, with all the responsibilities that people management and leadership entail and will interact and influence leaders across the organization drawing connections to all strategic priorities. The main responsibilities will include developing and coaching employees, removing impediments to performance, developing ways to enable collaboration, being a leader of the software engineering craft, sharing best practices and executing insourcing strategies. The Associate Director will handle performance review, compensation, and other core human resources processes for their team. This individual will need to work collaboratively across the Technology team and other internal groups.

Associate Director, Software Engineering

At Fifth Third, we understand the importance of recognizing our employees for the role they play in improving the lives of our customers, communities and each other. Our Total Rewards include comprehensive benefits and differentiated compensation offerings to give each employee the opportunity to be their best every day.

The base salary for this position is reflective of the range of salary levels for all roles within this pay grade across the U.S. Individual salaries within this range will vary based on factors such as role, relevant skillset, relevant experience, education and geographic location. In addition to the base salary, this role is eligible to participate in an incentive compensation plan, with any such payment based upon company, line of business and/or individual performance.

Our extensive benefits programs are designed to support the individual needs of our employees and their families, encompassing physical, financial, emotional and social well‑being. You can learn more about those programs on our 53.com Careers page at: https://www.53.com/content/fifth-third/en/careers/benefits.html or by consulting with your talent acquisition partner.

LOCATION – Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

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.