Principal Application Engineer

Banner Life family of companies | life insurance; Frederick (MD); Hybrid; USD 144,800 - 199,100; Full time

Job summary

Banner Life Insurance Company in Frederick, MD is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to design and build leading digital life-insurance platforms. You will drive development practices, mentor engineers, and collaborate with product teams to deliver scalable services.

The role requires 10+ years in software design, strong C#, .NET, distributed systems experience, and cloud skills (Azure). This hybrid opportunity offers a competitive compensation package, benefits, and potential leadership

Qualifications

• BS or MS in Computer Science or Engineering or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of software design and development experience with backend services.
• 10+ years hands-on experience in any Object-Oriented coding language, C# preferred.
• 3+ years designing distributed systems.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with excellent interpersonal collaboration.
• Ability to communicate technical details across organizational boundaries.
• Experience in DevOps to maintain live services and/or application frameworks.
• Cloud and services experience, with Azure cloud experience highly desirable.
• Excellent analytical skills with a systematic approach to software design.
• Passion for building highly scalable, highly reliable services.
• Experience with Agile and interactive development processes.
• Understanding of SDLC and Agile methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Drive multiple projects through to delivery, removing obstacles as needed to ensure success.
• Gain a working understanding of Banner Life as a business and collaborate with leaders to deliver end-to-end experiences for customers.
• Design and develop web-based applications and micro-services using both front-end and back-end technologies (full stack development).
• Drive improvements to software engineering practices.
• Identify changes needed to improve customer/partner experience through a data-driven approach.
• Maintain knowledge and understanding of corporate security procedures and policies for implementation, auditing, and documentation purposes.
• Mentor and train software engineering team members, including both employees and contractors.
• Keep up to date with industry trends and apply them to projects as appropriate.
• Recommend business solutions, comparing advantages and disadvantages of building solutions ourselves versus low-code/no-code options available in the market.
• Prepare technical documentation and participate in and lead code reviews to ensure that application code meets internal standards and follows industry best practices.
• Research new technologies and present proposals to management that would facilitate processing of business or reduce costs to the organization.

Skills

C#

.NET Core

Distributed systems design

DevOps

Azure

Communication

Agile methodologies

Mentoring

Leadership

Web services

Education

BS or MS in Computer Science or Engineering or equivalent experience

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Jira

Confluence

Git

Bitbucket

Angular

TypeScript

JavaScript

SQL

Entity Framework

Job description

Overview

At Banner Life Insurance Company, we lead with heart and ambition. Every day, we transform purpose into progress, guided by our unwavering commitment to be better for our customers, clients, and communities, not just today but long‑term as well. Our people are the driving force behind everything we achieve. Their passion, purpose, and pursuit of innovation empower us to deliver cutting‑edge solutions that support those we serve, ensuring we are here for you, here for good and striving for better.

We’re a forward‑thinking company energized by our work and how we show up for one another. Our culture is built on meaningful impact and genuine enjoyment, because we believe great work and great experiences should go hand in hand.

By offering career development opportunities, comprehensive benefits, and programs that support your well‑being, we help you thrive personally and professionally. We are here for you, here for good and here for better.

Banner Life is looking for a Principal Software Engineer to help design and build one of the leading digital life‑insurance platforms in the financial services industry. The principal software engineer will drive development practices focused on creativity and innovation across our project portfolios. They will influence other software engineers and establish best practices, design scalable and efficient services, and collaborate with many product teams to deliver quality solutions.

The principal software engineer is the highest level in our Software Engineer series and may be assigned a supervisory function, but this is not required. Management responsibilities, if any, would be limited to no more than two direct reports and would not diminish technical expectations.

Responsibilities

• Drive multiple projects through to delivery, removing obstacles as needed to ensure success.
• Gain a working understanding of Banner Life as a business and collaborate with leaders to contribute to cohesive, end‑to‑end experiences for customers.
• Design and develop web‑based applications and micro‑services using both front‑end and back‑end technologies (full stack development).
• Drive improvements to software engineering practices.
• Identify changes needed to improve customer/partner experience through a data‑driven approach.
• Maintain knowledge and understanding of corporate security procedures and policies for implementation, auditing, and documentation purposes.
• Mentor and train software engineering team members, including both employees and contractors.
• Keep up to date with industry trends and apply them to projects as appropriate.
• Recommend business solutions, comparing advantages and disadvantages of building solutions ourselves versus low‑code/no‑code options available in the market.
• Prepare technical documentation and participate in and lead code reviews to ensure that application code meets internal standards and follows industry best practices.
• Research new technologies and present proposals to management that would facilitate processing of business or reduce costs to the organization.

Qualifications

Education

• BS or MS degree in Computer Science or Engineering OR equivalent years of work experience.

Experience/Knowledge

• 10+ years of software design and development experience with backend services.
• 10+ years hands‑on experience in any Object‑Oriented coding language. C# preferred.
• 3+ years designing distributed systems.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with excellent interpersonal communication and collaboration skills.
• Ability to communicate technical details clearly across organizational boundaries.
• Experience in DevOps to maintain live services and/or application frameworks.
• Cloud and services experience, with Azure cloud experience highly desirable.
• Excellent analytical skills with a systematic and structured approach to software design.
• Passion for building highly scalable, highly reliable services.
• Experience with or exposure to Agile and interactive development processes.
• Clear and experienced understanding of software development life cycle procedures and processes, including agile methodologies.

Interpersonal Skills

• Desire to learn, embrace challenges, view failures as essential to mastery, learn from criticism, and find lessons and inspiration in others’ successes.
• Committed to creating a diverse and inclusive culture where all voices are heard and everyone can bring their authentic selves.
• Confident and articulate in expressing ideas to a mixed audience with varying views and challenges.
• A sense of personal ownership and accountability, with the ability to deliver to deadlines while managing internal stakeholder expectations.
• Self‑motivated with a strong drive to reach across teams and organizations to make progress collaboratively.

Technical Skills

• Expert level knowledge of C#, .NET Core, .NET Frameworks.
• Web Services, Micro‑services, SQL, Entity Framework.
• HTML, HTML5, CSS, Responsive Design.
• Experience with Typescript and JavaScript frameworks (JQuery, Angular, etc.).
• Experience with unit testing frameworks (nUnit, MSTest, Jasmine, Karma, etc.).
• Experience with Jira and Confluence.
• Experience with version control techniques using Git or BitBucket.
• Experience with Docker and Kubernetes (or other container methodologies).
• Experience with application deployment in the cloud (Azure, AWS, GCP, etc.).

Preferred Certifications

• Microsoft Azure Fundamentals AZ‑900
• Microsoft Azure Developer Associate AZ‑204

Benefits

The expected hiring compensation range for this position is $144,800–$199,100 annually. This is a hybrid opportunity working in Frederick, MD.

The total compensation package may include other elements such as a sign‑on bonus, long‑term incentives, and annual bonuses. The role is eligible to participate in the Annual Incentive Plan. The current target payment for the position is 20% of base salary, modified for corporate and individual performance. Bonuses are pro‑rated based on start date. The role has 20 vacation days and 10 sick days accrued on a bi‑weekly basis. Employees also have 9 paid holidays throughout the calendar year.

We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package focused on overall well‑being. Employee benefits include health, life, and dental insurance; 401(k) with company match up to 6% and a pension package; generous time off; and wellbeing initiatives throughout the year. We are committed to professional development and mentorship, and we encourage giving back to communities.

If hired, the employee will be in an at‑will position and the Company reserves the right to modify base salary or other compensation and benefits at any time.

We are an equal‑opportunity employer and value diversity. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will provide reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities to participate in the application or interview process and perform essential job functions.