CitiDirect Payments Senior Development Manager

Citi; Jersey City (NJ); On-site; USD 170,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Citi, the leading global bank, is seeking a hands-on engineering leader in Jersey City, NJ, to modernize CitiDirect Payments and guide a high‑performing team. The role emphasizes microservices, DevOps, and AI tooling to advance delivery across channels.

The position requires 15+ years in software development and 5+ years in DevOps with Docker/Kubernetes, plus strong leadership and collaboration with product and architecture teams.

Qualifications

• 15+ years experience with SDLC, microservices, and API design principles.
• 5+ years with DevOps tools (Jenkins, GitLab, Docker, Kubernetes) and IaC.
• Experience with Apache Kafka and event‑driven architectures.
• Proven leadership in mentoring engineering teams and setting standards.
• Experience with NoSQL/SQL data stores and data pipelines.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with proven delivery track record.

Responsibilities

• Mentor developers and lead code reviews; contribute to AI standards.
• Implement DevOps best practices: CI/CD, testing, and containerization.
• Set up automated testing for CI/CD and work with testing teams.
• Maintain hands-on development presence and tackle complex problems.
• Design scalable, robust microservices with cross-team collaboration.
• Drive adoption of new technologies to improve productivity and quality.
• Collaborate with product managers to define technical strategy and roadmap.
• Manage technical debt and optimize systems.
• Foster innovation and knowledge sharing within the team.

Skills

Software lifecycle

Microservices

API design

Leadership

DevOps

IaC

Kafka

Data storage

Performance

Agile

Education

Bachelor's in Computer Science or Engineering

Master's degree - preferred

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Apache Kafka

Job description

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

As a bank with a brain and a soul, Citi creates economic value that is systemically responsible and in our clients’ best interests. As a financial institution that touches every region of the world and every sector that shapes your daily life, our Enterprise Operations & Technology teams are charged with a mission that rivals any large tech company. Our technology solutions are the foundations of everything we do from keeping the bank safe, managing global resources, and providing the technical tools our workers need to be successful to designing our digital architecture and ensuring our platforms provide a first-class customer experience. We reimagine client and partner experiences to deliver excellence through secure, reliable, and efficient services.

Our commitment to diversity includes a workforce that represents the clients we serve from all walks of life, backgrounds, and origins. We foster an environment where the best people want to work. We value and demand respect for others, promote individuals based on merit, and ensure opportunities for personal development are widely available to all. Ideal candidates are innovators with well-rounded backgrounds who bring their authentic selves to work and complement our culture of delivering results with pride. If you are a problem solver who seeks passion in your work, come join us. We’ll enable growth and progress together.

Services is a leading provider of cash management, treasury, trade, clearing, depository receipts and commercial cards services. Services has a global network spanning more than 90 countries and is unique in the industry for its reach, interoperability, and flexibility. We provide clients with dynamic information, platforms, tools, and APIs to effectively manage their portfolios, financial positions, working capital and supply chains. CitiDirect serves as the unified digital gateway for clients to access our full suite of services.

The ideal candidate will be a hands‑on developer with strong leadership skills and the ability to build talent within the organization. The role will be focused on modernizing CitiDirect’s Payment flow, partnering across group lines to ensure consistent delivery of CitiDirect Payments across channels. This is an opportunity to drive change from the ground up, as well as experiment with AI tooling to not only update the stack, but also enhance you and your team’s skillset.

In addition to salary, Citi’s offerings may also include, for eligible employees, discretionary and formulaic incentive and retention awards. Citi offers competitive employee benefits, including: medical, dental & vision coverage; 401(k); life, accident, and disability insurance; and wellness programs. Citi also offers paid time off packages, including planned time off (vacation), unplanned time off (sick leave), and paid holidays. For additional information regarding Citi employee benefits, please visit citibenefits.com. Available offerings may vary by jurisdiction, job level, and date of hire.

Key Responsibilities

• Mentor junior developers, lead code reviews, and contribute to AI standards and best practices across org


• Implement and champion best DevOps practices, including CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) to streamline development and deployment


• Stand up automated testing frameworks for integration into CI/CD pipelines, in partnership with testing team


• Actively participate in coding and problem‑solving, maintaining a strong hands‑on presence in development


• Partner with architect to design scalable, robust solutions for complex technical challenges – ability to partner across groups to achieve goals/lead indirectly


• Proven track record of designing and implementing microservices architecture


• Drive the adoption of new technologies and methodologies to improve team productivity and product quality


• Collaborate with product managers and stakeholders to define technical strategy and roadmap


• Manage technical debt and guide system optimizations


• Foster a culture of innovation, continuous learning, and knowledge sharing within the team

Required Qualifications

• 15+ years experience and comprehensive understanding of software development lifecycle, microservices architecture, and API design principles.


• 5+ years experience with DevOps tools (Jenkins, GitLab, Docker, Kubernetes) and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) practices.


• Experience with Apache Kafka and event‑driven architectures


• Demonstrated leadership abilities in managing and mentoring engineering teams, setting development standards, and driving project execution.


• Experience with diverse data storage solutions (NoSQL, SQL, data lakes) and pipeline orchestration.


• Exceptional analytical, problem‑solving, and troubleshooting skills, with a track record of delivering innovative solutions and improving performance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge ofresponsible AI practices: bias detection, explainability, hallucination mitigation


• Familiarity with Agile methodologies and project management tools


• Experience with performance optimization and scalability of large‑scale applications


• Solid understanding of payments industry, including various payment systems and processes

Education

• Bachelor's niversity degree in COputer Science, Enginering or equivalent to experience.


• Master's degree - preferred

Job Family Group

Technology

Job Family

Applications Development

Time Type

Full time

Primary Location

Jersey City New Jersey United States

Primary Location Full Time Salary Range

$170,000.00 - $300,000.00

Anticipated Posting Close Date

Oct 26, 2026

Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you are a person with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation to use our search tools and/or apply for a career opportunity review Accessibility at Citi. View Citi’s EEO Policy Statement and the Know Your Rights poster.