Senior Lead Java and Artificial Intelligence Engineer - Senior Vice President

Citi; Jersey City (NJ); On-site; USD 177,000 - 265,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental coverage

401(k)

Wellness programs

Job summary

Citi is seeking a hands-on software engineer in Jersey City, NJ, focused on AI-assisted production tooling and DevOps adoption within CitiDirect. You will mentor teams, drive CI/CD, and champion microservices architectures while partnering with enterprise architects.

The role demands strong leadership, deep experience with Java/.NET ecosystems, and expertise in Docker, Kubernetes, and Kafka. Join a team advancing scalable, secure financial platforms with cutting-edge automation.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software development lifecycle and microservices experience.
• 5+ years with DevOps tools and IaC practices.
• Experience with Apache Kafka and event-driven architectures.
• Proven leadership in mentoring engineering teams.
• Experience with NoSQL, SQL data stores and data pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Mentor junior developers, lead code reviews, and set AI/DevOps standards across teams.
• Implement CI/CD pipelines and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Stand up automated testing frameworks integrated with CI/CD pipelines.
• Hands-on development and problem-solving with CitiDirect architecture.
• Collaborate with architects to design scalable, robust microservices.

Skills

Software lifecycle

Microservices architecture

API design principles

Leadership abilities

Data stores

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Jenkins

GitLab

Docker

Kubernetes

Apache Kafka

Job description

Services is a leading provider of cash management, treasury, trade, clearing, depository receipts and commercial cards services. Services has a global network spanning more than 90 countries and is unique in the industry for its reach, interoperability, and flexibility. We provide clients with dynamic information, platforms, tools, and APIs to effectively manage their portfolios, financial positions, working capital and supply chains. CitiDirect serves as the unified digital gateway for clients to access our full suite of services.

The ideal candidate will be a hands-on developer who thrives where AI intersects with production software engineering. The role is responsible for working with colleagues in Digital Technology to build and adopt tooling to enhance the development lifecycle; sharing that knowledge back into scrum teams across CitiDirect. The role will also be responsible for partnering with CitiDirect architecture team to drive adoption for dev tooling as well as assist in testing framework design.

Key Responsibilities

• Mentor junior developers, lead code reviews, and contribute to AI standards and best practices across the teams
• Implement and champion best DevOps practices, including CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) to streamline development and deployment
• Stand up automated testing frameworks for integration into CI/CD pipelines, in partnership with testing team
• Actively participate in coding and problem-solving, maintaining a strong hands-on presence in development
• Partner with architect to design scalable, robust solutions for complex technical challenges
• Proven track record of designing and implementing microservices architecture
• Drive the adoption of new technologies and methodologies to improve team productivity and product quality
• Foster a culture of innovation, continuous learning, and knowledge sharing within the team

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years experience and comprehensive understanding of software development lifecycle, microservices architecture, and API design principles.
• 5+ years experience with DevOps tools (Jenkins, GitLab, Docker, Kubernetes) and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) practices.
• Experience with Apache Kafka and event-driven architectures
• Demonstrated leadership abilities in managing and mentoring engineering teams, setting development standards, and driving project execution.
• Experience with diverse data storage solutions (NoSQL, SQL, data lakes) and pipeline orchestration.
• Exceptional analytical, problem-solving, and troubleshooting skills, with a track record of delivering innovative solutions and improving performance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of responsible AI practices: bias detection, explainability, hallucination mitigation
• Familiarity with Agile methodologies and project management tools
• Experience with performance optimization and scalability of large-scale applications
• Solid understanding of payments industry, including various payment systems and processes

Education

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent job experience.

Job Family Group:

• Technology

Job Family:

• Applications Development

Time Type:

• Full time

Primary Location:

Jersey City New Jersey United States

Primary Location Full Time Salary Range:

$176,720.00 - $265,080.00

In addition to salary, Citi's offerings may also include, for eligible employees, discretionary and formulaic incentive and retention awards. Citi offers competitive employee benefits, including: medical, dental & vision coverage; 401(k); life, accident, and disability insurance; and wellness programs. Citi also offers paid time off packages, including planned time off (vacation), unplanned time off (sick leave), and paid holidays. For additional information regarding Citi employee benefits, please visit citibenefits.com. Available offerings may vary by jurisdiction, job level, and date of hire.

Most Relevant Skills

Please see the requirements listed above.

Other Relevant Skills

For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter.

Anticipated Posting Close Date:

Aug 28, 2026

Automated Processing and AI

We use automated processing, including artificial intelligence, for our legitimate business interests (or our reasonable and appropriate business purposes) to identify and align the candidate's skills and abilities with a specific job opening. Additionally, if you so choose, or consent, we can match your skills and abilities to other suitable roles at Citi. Importantly, all our hiring processes and decisions, including determining your suitability for a role, are conducted, checked, and decided by individuals. Our automated processing and AI do not involve relying on automatic or autonomous decision-making. Please refer to any Jurisdictional Considerations, with specific provisions for your country (where relevant) for further details.

Illinois residents – AI Notice and Right

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If you are a person with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation to use our search tools and/or apply for a career opportunity review Accessibility at Citi.

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