Principal Forward Deployed Engineer/Finance/Hybrid

Motion Recruitment; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance

Stock Options

Vacation Time

Job summary

Motion Recruitment is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to join a Tier-1 financial services technology client in Chicago. You will embed with strategic bank clients, translating modernization goals into production software at scale using Go, Rust, or Java, Kafka, and cloud-native infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure).

You will own engagements across architecture, engineering, and client relationships, delivering end-to-end solutions with strong ownership, speed, and reliability.

Qualifications

• Minimum 4+ years in a technical, customer-facing role in a related field.
• Proven ability to ship robust, scalable infrastructure using Go or equivalent languages.
• Extensive experience with Kafka and distributed data systems across regions.
• Strong cloud platform experience (AWS/GCP/Azure) and IaC/Kubernetes knowledge.

Responsibilities

• Embed with bank architecture and product teams to translate modernization goals into technical requirements.
• Design future-state architecture and make system design decisions meeting non-functional needs.
• Build proofs of concept and end-to-end use cases such as digital twins or fintech workflows.
• Integrate upstream and downstream systems using durable, production-grade patterns.
• Develop high-performance data pipelines and conduct performance tests for scale and resilience.

Skills

Go/Rust/Java systems development

Kafka, event-driven architecture

AWS/GCP/Azure, Kubernetes/OpenShift

Data-intensive distributed pipelines

Ownership mindset, high agency

Client-facing engineering experience

Job description

Our client, a Tier-1 financial services technology company, is building an AI-enabled, autonomous banking platform for the world's largest banks. They are hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer to embed directly with strategic bank clients, translating modernization ambitions into production software at Tier-1 scale using Go, Rust, or Java, Kafka, and cloud-native infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure). This is a full-time opportunity.

This role offers the autonomy and ownership of a startup combined with the scale and long-term impact of an established enterprise. You'll sit at the intersection of engineering, architecture, and client relationship, shipping code, designing integrations, and building lasting trust with bank engineering leadership. Our client is looking for a high agency builder who thrives in ambiguity, owns outcomes rather than just tasks, and is naturally versatile. In return, you'll get direct, high visibility impact on core banking platforms used by the world's largest institutions, with the autonomy and accountability of a small, senior team.

Required Skills & Experience

• 4+ years in a technical, customer facing role (Forward Deployed Engineer, Solutions Architect, Consultant, or Software Engineer)
• Proven track record shipping robust, scalable infrastructure in Go or similar systems languages (Rust, Java)
• Deep experience with Kafka, concurrency patterns, event driven architecture, and multi-region databases
• Strong background in AWS, GCP, or Azure, including SRE principles, infrastructure as code, and Kubernetes/OpenShift
• Experience building data-intensive systems and distributed data pipelines
• High agency and ownership mindset; thrives in ambiguity and writes the playbook when none exists

Desired Skills & Experience

• Knowledge of financial transaction flows, core banking systems, or banking technology
• AI-native mindset, naturally integrates AI into workflow and stays current on LLM capabilities and agentic development patterns
• Versatile: comfortable switching between writing code, designing architecture, and leading a workshop

What You Will Be Doing

Tech Breakdown

• Go, Rust, or Java for systems-level development
• Kafka, distributed systems, and event-driven architecture
• AWS, GCP, or Azure with Kubernetes/OpenShift

Daily Responsibilities

• Embed with bank architecture, infrastructure, and product teams to translate modernization goals into technical requirements
• Design the bank's future-state architecture and make system design decisions to meet non-functional requirements
• Build proofs of concept and end-to-end use cases (e.g., digital twins, checking accounts, stablecoin wallets)
• Integrate upstream and downstream systems using clean, durable, production grade patterns
• Build and maintain high-performance data pipelines, and run performance tests to validate scale, resilience, and failover behavior

The Offer

• Bonus eligible

You will receive the following benefits:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• Vacation Time
• Stock Options

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the US on a full-time basis now and in the future.