Senior Associate, Software Engineering: Java

OCC; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 89,000 - 152,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Tuition Reimbursement

Student Loan Repayment Assistance

Technology Stipend

Generous PTO and Parental leave

401k Employer Match

Medical, dental and vision

Job summary

OCC is seeking a Senior Associate on the Enterprise Automation Engineering team to design, develop, and evolve a robust framework supporting critical risk technology systems. You will own defined deliverables, follow engineering standards, and mentor Associates while partnering with testing teams, architects, and business stakeholders.

The role emphasizes Java microservice development, CI/CD pipelines, security integrations, and cloud familiarity, with a hybrid work environment and opportunities

Qualifications

• 3+ years of professional software engineering experience with production systems.
• Experience with distributed computing frameworks and scale/resilience.
• Solid API development, SQL databases, and data storage (S3).
• Working knowledge of CI/CD, DevOps tools, Git, and test automation.
• Strong Java, OOP, microservices, REST APIs, and Java 8+ features.

Responsibilities

• Design and write clean, maintainable Java code; debug and root-cause issues.
• Develop and enhance automation testing framework features and enable adoption.
• Participate in code reviews and improve delivery practices.
• Integrate security findings from SonarQube, Snyk, Sysdig, Veracode, and Black Duck.
• Maintain and improve CI/CD with Jenkins; containerized deployment with Docker, Harness, Rancher.
• Support testing teams; resolve framework issues; escalate complex problems as needed.
• Contribute to design discussions, evaluate architectural options with architects.
• Mentor Associates and collaborate in an Agile environment including sprint planning.

Skills

Java

Multithreading

Spring Boot

REST APIs

Distributed systems

OO design

Education

BS in Computer Science

Tools

Kafka

PostgreSQL

Docker

Jenkins

Git

SonarQube

Job description

What You'll Do

As a Senior Associate, you will be a key individual contributor on OCC's Enterprise Automation Engineering team, contributing to the design, development and evolution of the framework that supports critical risk technology systems. You will own well-defined technical deliverables, follow and reinforce engineering standards, and support Associates while partnering with testing teams, architects and business stakeholders.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each primary duty satisfactorily.

• Design and write clean, maintainable, well-tested Java code, and perform debugging and root-cause analysis of framework and integration issues.
• Design, develop and enhance automation testing framework features, and support adoption by testing teams through guidance, documentation and enablement.
• Participate in code reviews, follow engineering standards and best practices, and contribute to continuous improvement of the codebase and delivery practices.
• Support secure software delivery by integrating and acting on findings from SonarQube, Snyk, Sysdig, Veracode, and Black Duck, and partner with security teams to remediate vulnerabilities.
• Maintain and improve CI/CD automation using Jenkins and containerized deployment with Docker, Harness, and Rancher, focusing on reliability, speed and repeatability.
• Support testing teams by resolving automation framework issues, escalating complex problems as needed, and identifying recurring problems to eliminate at the source.
• Contribute to design discussions and proof-of-concept efforts, evaluate technical alternatives, and provide input on architectural decisions for the framework in collaboration with architects and engineering leadership.
• Solve problems creatively, communicate clearly to technical and business audiences, and take initiative in technical decisions within scope to achieve objectives.
• Support and mentor Associates, and collaborate effectively with business, technical and non-technical professionals in an agile environment, including contributing to sprint planning, estimation and roadmap discussions.

Supervisory Responsibilities

No formal direct reports; provides technical leadership, mentoring and guidance to Associates and other engineers, and may lead small project teams.

Qualifications

The requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the primary functions.

• 3+ years of professional software engineering experience with production systems, including distributed systems and backend microservice development, with a track record of delivering solutions with limited supervision.
• Experience with distributed computing frameworks such as Kafka Streaming and message queues, with an understanding of scale, resilience and fault tolerance.
• Solid experience in API development, SQL databases, and data storage such as S3.
• Working knowledge of CI/CD, DevOps tools, Git, and test automation frameworks, with experience contributing to pipelines and release processes.
• Solid understanding of OOP, microservices architecture, REST APIs, and Java 8+ features, with the ability to apply design patterns and make sound technical decisions.
• Experience working within Agile delivery models, including sprint planning, code reviews, backlog refinement, and cross-team communication.
• Demonstrate intellectual curiosity, a strong desire to learn fast, and the ability to support others and help the team adopt new technologies.

Technical Skills

• Strong Java programming skills including object-oriented design, concurrency and multithreading, performance tuning, and hands-on experience with Spring Boot.
• Working knowledge of Kafka including producers, consumers, topics, partitioning and delivery semantics; familiarity with message serialization formats such as Protobuf or Avro and schema governance patterns.
• Hands-on experience with AWS services, especially S3, and an understanding of cloud-based design, security and cost considerations.
• Ability to write and optimize analytical SQL queries for relational database systems such as PostgreSQL.
• Proficient with Git workflows including branching strategies, pull requests, and code review; hands-on experience building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines with Jenkins or similar orchestration platforms.
• Practical experience with AI-assisted development tools such as Claude Code for code generation, refactoring, unit tests, and documentation, and the judgment to apply them in a disciplined engineering environment.

Education and/or Experience

• [Required] BS degree in Computer Science or a similar technical field required; advanced degree or equivalent experience preferred.

Certificates or Licenses

• None required.

About Us

The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) is the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization. Founded in 1973, OCC is dedicated to promoting stability and market integrity by delivering clearing and settlement services for options, futures and securities lending transactions. As a Systemically Important Financial Market Utility (SIFMU), OCC operates under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. OCC has more than 100 clearing members and provides central counterparty (CCP) clearing and settlement services to 23 exchanges and trading platforms. More information about OCC is available at www.theocc.com.

Benefits

• A highly collaborative and supportive environment developed to encourage work-life balance and employee wellness.
• A hybrid work environment, up to 2 days per week of remote work
• Tuition Reimbursement to support your continued education
• Student Loan Repayment Assistance
• Technology Stipend allowing you to use the device of your choice to connect to our network while working remotely
• Generous PTO and Parental leave
• 401k Employer Match
• Competitive health benefits including medical, dental and vision
• Visit https://www.theocc.com/careers/thriving-together for more information

Compensation

• Salary Range $88,600.00 - $151,900.00
• Incentive Range 6% to 10%
• This position is eligible for an annual discretionary incentive compensation award, for which the target range is listed above (see Incentive Range). The amount of such award, if any, will be based on various factors, including without limitation, both individual and company performance.
• All employees may be eligible for a discretionary bonus. Discretionary bonuses are based on various factors, including, but not limited to, company and individual performance and are not guaranteed.

Equal Opportunity Employer

OCC is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. OCC provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, citizenship status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, marital status, religion, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws.

We welcome applications from all backgrounds. If you need a disability related accommodation for any part of the application process, please email [e-mail].