Distinguished Engineer - Java / AWS - Zelle

Early Warning; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 206,000 - 275,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare Coverage

401(k) retirement plan

Paid Time Off

Paid parental leave

Maven Family Planning

Job summary

Early Warning is seeking a Distinguished Engineer to own an enterprise-scale initiative, reporting to the VP of Zelle Engineering, and shaping cloud-based, scalable systems.

You will lead architecture decisions, guide delivery across teams, mentor leaders, and collaborate with security, architecture, and operations to deliver value with rigor and speed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience.
• 15+ years in software engineering, with 10+ years leading initiatives.
• 5+ years with large-scale cloud systems and CI/CD practices.
• Proven leadership through large-scale designs, upgrades and releases.
• Strong leadership, business acumen, and mentoring ability.
• Experience with cloud, architecture, security concepts, networking.
• Deep understanding of scalable distributed applications in cloud.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration.
• Ownership mindset with urgency and drive.
• Background check and drug screen required.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Zelle journey to the cloud.
• Set architectures and tech decisions for cloud scale.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Architecture, Security, and partners.
• Coach and hire top talent to sustain high performance.
• Deliver value in incremental, production-ready releases.
• Ensure quality guidelines and CI/CD adherence.
• Maintain SLAs and audit compliance.
• Provide executive-level progress updates.
• Follow security policies and protect data confidentiality.

Skills

Technical leadership

Cloud architectures

Distributed systems

Mentoring teams

Cross-functional teamwork

Security best practices

Executive presence

Roadmaps & delivery

Education

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field

Tools

AWS

Job description

At Early Warning, we’ve powered and protected the U.S. financial system for over thirty years with cutting-edge solutions like Zelle®, Paze℠, and so much more. As a trusted name in payments, we partner with thousands of institutions to increase access to financial services and protect transactions for hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses.

Positions located in Scottsdale, San Francisco, Chicago, or New York follow a hybrid work model to allow for a more collaborative working environment.

Candidates responding to this posting must independently possess the eligibility to work in the United States, for any employer, at the date of hire. This position is ineligible for employment Visa sponsorship.

Overall Purpose

This position reports to the VP of Zelle Engineering and functions as a strategic individual contributor expected to solve enterprise-wide problems in a fast-paced and collaborate environment. To be successful, incumbents must be an expert in the realm of large scale, enterprise systems; understanding not only how to design, enhance, and grow complex systems but also how to collaborate and influence with teams and leaders to deliver on projects that may span years. The Distinguished Engineer must be capable of participating at any level of the project, from coding, to design, to security considerations, to infrastructure architecture and scaling concerns all the way up to building out and maintain project estimates, roadmaps, and high-level collaborative design content with leaders in and around the organization. This role is accountable for truly owning an enterprise level initiative.

Essential Functions

• Leads the Zelle journey to the cloud.
• Drives best practices, architectures, and technology decisions inside the Zelle organization utilizing knowledge and lessons‑learned from building enterprise‑scale systems in the cloud.
• Collaborates closely with Engineering leaders, Architecture, Security, and potentially external collaboration partners (FIs) that may be engaged with us on key efforts over the years.
• Maintains a very high bar for execution and excellence in the Engineering team, fostering leadership and executive presence throughout; can ‘coach up’ team members and leaders for a highly engaged, high‑performing team, and participates in hiring top talent into the team to support these large‑scale efforts.
• Identifies opportunities to ship value to Production quickly and in incremental chunks to avoid “big bang” delivery; complex environments benefit from incremental delivery.
• Builds and delivers well-considered scaling solutions via strong relationships with key stakeholders in the Data, Architecture and Operations organizations.
• Ensures software development follows effective quality guidelines and best practices in line with the rest of the Engineering organization.
• Ensures accurate/reliable information is provided within company standards including all service level agreements, and audit regulations.
• Ensures solutions are built following our Engineering best practices (e.g., Quality, CI/CD, scalability, etc.).
• Keeps executive‑level management informed of department progress and problems.
• Complies with all security policies and procedures, to ensure that the highest level of system and data confidentiality, integrity and availability is maintained.
• The above job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow instructions and perform other related duties as assigned by their supervisor.

Minimum Qualifications

• Education or experience typically obtained through completion of a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems, Information Technology, Information Systems, Computer Science or equivalent professional experience.
• Typically requires 15+ years of software engineering experience, including at least 10 years leading technology initiatives or processes.
• Must have 5+ years of experience working with large‑scale cloud systems and building application solutions using modern practices such as containerization, CI/CD, automated testing, and adherence to security guidelines.
• Demonstrated ability to provide technical leadership through large-scale system designs, upgrades, and releases.
• Superior leadership and management skills together with strong business acumen.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and energize people showcasing technical and leadership skills.
• Demonstrated experience with state- of- the- art technology, architecture and design concepts, open-source operating systems, database systems, computer networking, and security.
• A deep understanding of executing highly scalable, distributed applications in cloud environments.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in cross‑functional groups and generate results.
• Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills. Must convey responsiveness and competence when dealing with internal customers, staff, peers, senior management, and vendors.
• Work experience that demonstrates a strong sense of ownership, urgency, and drive.
• Must pass Background and drug screen

Preferred Qualifications

• Additional related education and/or related work experience preferred.
• Experience with large‑scale enterprises scaling out operations in Amazon Web Services is highly favorable.
• Experience with migrating application & data services from on‑prem to Cloud.

Physical Requirements

Working conditions consist of a normal office environment. Work is primarily sedentary and requires extensive use of a computer and involves sitting for periods of approximately four hours. Work may require occasional standing, walking, kneeling, and reaching. Must be able to lift 10 pounds occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently. Requires visual acuity and dexterity to view, prepare, and manipulate documents and office equipment including personal computers. Requires the ability to communicate with internal and/or external customers.

Employee must be able to perform essential functions and physical requirements of position with or without reasonable accommodation.

The Base Pay Scale For This Position In

Phoenix, AZ/Chicago, IL in USD per year is: $206,000 - $275,000.

San Francisco in USD per year is: $248,000 - $320,000.

Additionally, candidates are eligible for a discretionary incentive plan and benefits.

This pay scale is subject to change and is not necessarily reflective of actual compensation that may be earned, nor a promise of any specific pay for any specific candidate, which is always dependent on legitimate factors considered at the time of job offer. Early Warning Services takes into consideration a variety of factors when determining a competitive salary offer, including, but not limited to, the job scope, market rates and geographic location of a position, candidate’s education, experience, training, and specialized skills or certification(s) in relation to the job requirements and compared with internal equity (peers). The business actively supports and reviews wage equity to ensure that pay decisions are not based on gender, race, national origin, or any other protected classes.

Some of the Ways We Prioritize Your Health and Happiness

• Healthcare Coverage –Competitive medical (PPO/HDHP), dental, and vision plans as well as company contributions to your Health Savings Account (HSA) or pre‑tax savings through flexible spending accounts (FSA) for commuting, health & dependent care expenses.
• 401(k) Retirement Plan –Featuring a 100% Company Safe Harbor Match on your first 6% deferral immediately upon eligibility.
• Paid Time Off – Flexible Time Off for Exempt (salaried) employees, as well as generous PTO for Non-Exempt (hourly) employees, plus 11 paid company holidays and a paid volunteer day.
• 12 weeks of Paid Parental Leave
• Maven Family Planning - provides support through your Parenting journey including egg freezing, fertility, adoption, surrogacy, pregnancy, postpartum, early pediatrics, and returning to work.

And SO much more! We continue to enhance our program, so be sure to check our Benefits page here for the latest. Our team can share more during the interview process!

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Early Warning Services, LLC ("Early Warning") considers for employment, hires, retains and promotes qualified candidates on the basis of ability, potential, and valid qualifications without regard to race, religious creed, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, protected veteran or disability status or any factor prohibited by law, and as such affirms in policy and practice to support and promote equal employment opportunity and affirmative action, in accordance with all applicable federal, state, and municipal laws. The company also prohibits discrimination on other bases such as medical condition, marital status or any other factor that is irrelevant to the performance of our employees.