Principal, SW Quality Engineer

ntrs; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Northern Trust is seeking a Principal, Quality Engineering to lead its Corporate Applications testing team in Chicago. This role drives the overall quality strategy across multiple agile teams, emphasizing automation-first testing, release governance, and continuous quality signals to enable frequent deployments.

The ideal candidate will combine strong leadership with banking-domain expertise and deep QE practice knowledge, partnering with Product, Engineering, Architecture, Risk, Operations,

Qualifications

• 14-18 years of overall software/QA experience.
• Minimum 8 years in Quality Engineering.
• 5+ years in a leadership role.

Responsibilities

• Provide thought leadership and mentorship for test automation.
• Advance product quality through testing innovations and process improvements.
• Collaborate with BAs, Architects & Developers to design testable applications.
• Develop technical roadmaps for enterprise/test strategies.
• Lead and manage enterprise-level QA programs and dashboards.

Skills

Leadership

Test automation

Stakeholder collaboration

Quality engineering

Tools

Azure DevOps

Selenium with Java

Playwright

DevOps concepts

Job description

About Northern Trust As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world's most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions. Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure: Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide. With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world's most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

Principal, quality engineering Chicago - USA

Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future. Northern Trust will not sponsor applicants for U.S. work visa status for this opportunity (no sponsorship is available for H-1B, L-1, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, F-1, J-1, OPT, CPT or any other employment-based visa)

For more than a century, Northern Trust has worked hard building our legacy of outstanding service, expertise and integrity. From a Chicago-based bank founded in 1889, we now have more than 20 international locations and 18,500 employees globally. We serve the world's most-sophisticated clients - from sovereign wealth funds and the wealthiest individuals and families, to the most-successful hedge funds and corporate brands.

We burnished our reputation as a global leader delivering innovative investment management, asset and fund administration, fiduciary and banking solutions enabled by sophisticated, leading technology. And through it all, we continually laid a solid, forward-looking foundation on which future generations can continue growing and achieving greater.

$10.9 trillion in assets under custody/administration

$8.2 trillion in assets under custody

$1.2 trillion in assets under management

$122 billion in banking assets

Northern Trust is looking for a Principal, Quality Engineering to join its Corporate Applications testing team. This leader will be responsible for establishing and executing the overall quality strategy across multiple agile teams, driving automation-first testing, strengthening release governance, and building continuous quality signals that provide confidence for frequent deployments and releases.

The ideal candidate combines strong leadership, banking domain expertise, technical depth in modern Quality Engineering practices, and a track record of leading large-scale enterprise transformation programs. This role requires close partnership with Product, Engineering, Architecture, Risk, Operations, and Business stakeholders to ensure quality is embedded across the software delivery lifecycle.

Location : Chicago, IL, USA

Experience : 14 -18 Years ( Minimum 8 years in Quality Engineering and 5 years in leadership role)

Business Domain: Banking, Risk, Compliance

Tools: Azure Devops, Selenium with Java, Playwright, DevOps concepts

Good to have : Service Now ATF , Exposure to AI based QE solutioning

Job Description AND Principal Responsibilities

• Thought leadership, consultation, mentoring & guidance for test automation
• Advance product quality via testing innovations and process improvement
• Collaborate with BAs, Architects & Developers in designing testable applications
• Technical roadmaps & plans for implementing enterprise/program test strategies
• Design & manage technical proof-of-concept and feasibility studies
• Resolve technical issues, anticipate risks and ensure timely management escalation
• Utilize analytical skills in determining the root cause of defects & issues
• Influence and communicate effectively with both technical & non-technical audiences
• Analysis, optimization, improvement & maintenance of current test automation suites
• Master enterprise/program high-level business workflows
• Mentor junior SDETs to improve technical ability and effectiveness
• Promote and support implementation of automated CI/CT/CD pipeline
• Develop & extend test automation frameworks for UI, Micro services & API
• Guarantee compliance to automation framework, standards & best practices
• Facilitate automated, on-demand test automation metrics
• Ensure automated tests are run early & often providing quick feedback to the team
• Seek stakeholder feedback via test automation demos
• Accelerate test development process by leveraging existing assets, standards & best practices; Add new functions/methods to the libraries for continuous improvement
• Develop release confidence frameworks to support go/no-go decision making.
• Evaluate and implement AI-enabled Quality Engineering solutions to improve productivity, coverage, and defect prevention.
• Establish enterprise dashboards and quality scorecards using Azure DevOps and reporting platforms.