Principal Software Engineer

Morningstar; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 117,957 - 123,010; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) match up to 6%

Stock ownership potential

Company-provided life insurance

Comprehensive health benefits

Wellness incentives

Sabbatical program

Parental leave

Tuition reimbursement

Volunteer program

Job summary

Morningstar is seeking an experienced software architect to lead AI and cloud-native solutions, focusing on scalable data acquisition, automation, and transcription platforms. You will guide multiple engineering teams, advocate best practices, and align technical decisions with business goals in the financial sector.

The role requires hands-on design, coding, and leadership across AWS, Azure, and OpenAI, with emphasis on performance, reliability, and security.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in CS/CE/IT or related field with 8 years of software engineering leadership experience.
• Or Master’s degree with 6 years of software engineering leadership experience.
• 5 years designing scalable AI and cloud-native solutions on AWS/Azure/OpenAI or similar platforms.
• 5 years building distributed, real-time systems and production ML deployments.
• 3 years mentoring teams and delivering POCs; strong debugging and performance focus.

Responsibilities

• Architect and lead scalable AI and cloud-native agentic solutions using OpenAI, AWS, and Azure.
• Drive design, coding, testing, and maintenance of high-performance software systems.
• Provide technical leadership across multiple engineering teams and stakeholders.
• Enforce coding standards, reliability, security, and reusability across projects.
• Lead DevOps with Docker, Kubernetes, and AWS Fargate; direct CI/CD pipelines and cost optimizations.

Skills

Python

Java

AWS

Azure

OpenAI

Docker

Kubernetes

DevOps

ML

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/Engineering/Info Tech

Master’s degree in Computer Science/Engineering/Info Tech

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

Azure

SonarQube

Job description

About the Role

Architect and lead the development of scalable AI and cloud-native Agentic solutions using OpenAI, Azure, and AWS to enhance financial data acquisition and automation capabilities. Spearhead the design and implementation of AI-powered transcription platforms, driving significant improvements in speed and efficiency (10%). Design, code, debug, maintain, and upgrade high-performance software systems, ensuring system performance, reliability, and maintainability (10%).

Provide technical leadership across multiple engineering teams, guiding day-to-day development activities and architectural decision-making (10%). Lead cross-functional collaboration with Application Architects, Systems Engineers, DevOps/SRE, and business stakeholders to ensure alignment between technical solutions and business objectives (10%). Advocate and enforce global best practices for product performance, reliability, scalability, security, and code reusability (5%). Conduct architectural design and system planning, ensuring scalable solutions that balance technical excellence with financial sector business needs (20%). Enforce coding standards and software engineering best practices for applications across development teams (10%).

Lead DevOps efforts with Docker, Kubernetes, and AWS Fargate; implemented CI/CD pipelines with SonarQube and automated infrastructure deployments (10%). Make strategic infrastructure decisions, monitor operational costs, and implement optimizations to reduce spend and improve system efficiency (10%). Attend team meetings to facilitate brainstorming, problem-solving, and project updates, fostering a culture of innovation and technical rigor (5%).

***Remote work requests will be considered consistent with company’s remote work policy.

Job Requirements

This position requires a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, or a technology-related field or foreign equivalent and 8 years of software engineering experience in Lead, Principal, Senior, Associate Software Engineer, Developer, or related position; or a Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, or a technology-related field or foreign equivalent and 6 years of software engineering experience in Lead, Principal, Senior, Associate Software Engineer, Developer, or related position.

This position also requires 5 years of experience in designing scalable AI and cloud-native solutions using AWS, Azure OpenAI or similar Cloud platforms; 5 years of experience developing commercial quality software products and solutions particularly focused on distributed and real-time systems; 5 years of experience with a variety of technology components and stacks, including Python and Java; 5 years of experience with performance, reliability, scalability, security, and reusability tactics and strategies; 5 years of experience defining, refining, and maintaining application architectures for sophisticated end‑user software products; 5 years of experience with troubleshooting and debugging skills; 3 years of experience mentoring and leading engineering teams; 3 years of experience in machine learning, including model development and deployment in production environments; 3 years of experience building and delivering proof‑of‑concepts (POCs) to validate technical solutions; 3 years of experience with AWS cloud platforms and SaaS architectures; 3 years of experience DevOps, implementing CI/CD pipelines, containerizing using Docker and orchestration using Kubernetes/AWS Fargate; 3 years of experience in agile development practices including scrum and scaled agile. Will accept any suitable combination of education, training, and experience.

Must possess unrestricted right to work in the U.S. in this position.

Base Salary Compensation: $117,957 – $123,010 per year.

Compensation and Benefits

At Morningstar we believe people are at their best when they are at their healthiest. That’s why we champion your wellness through a wide range of programs that support all stages of your personal and professional life. Here are some examples of the offerings we provide:

• Financial Health
  • 100% 401k match up to 6% of salary
  • Stock Ownership Potential
  • Company provided life insurance – 1x salary + commission
• Physical Health
  • Comprehensive health benefits (medical/dental/vision) including potential premium discounts and company-provided HSA contributions (up to $500–$2,000 annually) for specific plans and coverages
  • Additional medical Wellness Incentives – up to $300–$600 annual
  • Company-provided long‑ and short-term disability insurance
• Emotional Health
  • Trust-Based Time Off
  • 6-week Paid Sabbatical Program
  • 6-Week Paid Family Caregiving Leave
  • Competitive 8-24 Week Paid Parental Leave
  • Adoption Assistance
  • Leadership Coaching & Formal Mentorship Opportunities
  • Annual Flex Stipend – $1000 annually to cover personal education & well-being expenses
  • Tuition Reimbursement
• Social Health
  • Charitable Matching Gifts program
  • Dollars for Doers volunteer program
  • Paid volunteering days
  • 15+ Employee Resource & Affinity Groups

Morningstar’s hybrid work environment gives you the opportunity to collaborate in‑person each week as we’ve found that we’re at our best when we’re purposely together on a regular basis. In most of our locations, our hybrid work model is four days in‑office each week. A range of other benefits are also available to enhance flexibility as needs change. No matter where you are, you’ll have tools and resources to engage meaningfully with your global colleagues.