Senior Software Engineer

Northwestern Mutual; United States; On-site; USD 119,000 - 178,000; Full time

Job summary

Northwestern Mutual is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to design, build, and support scalable digital solutions. You’ll pair hands-on coding with technical leadership, guiding teams across architecture, development, and DevOps to deliver value.

You will work with product managers, designers, and QA to translate business needs into robust software, while promoting engineering standards, code quality, and automated testing in an Agile environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Experience leading technical design discussions and mentoring development teams.
• Strong understanding of Agile software delivery practices.
• Experience with software architecture, design patterns, and engineering best practices.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, deploy, and maintain enterprise-grade software applications.
• Lead the development of modern full-stack solutions, ensuring performance, scalability, reliability, and security.
• Conduct code and design reviews to uphold engineering standards and best practices.
• Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and guidance to engineers across the team.
• Collaborate with architects and engineering teams to design scalable system architectures and resolve complex cross-system challenges.
• Translate business requirements into technical solutions and implementation plans.
• Develop and maintain technical documentation, including architecture diagrams, specifications, and operational procedures.
• Create and execute unit, integration, and automated tests to ensure solution quality.
• Participate in Agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, daily standups, and retrospectives.
• Drive continuous improvement through code refactoring, automation, DevOps practices, and CI/CD adoption.
• Establish and promote engineering standards, reusable patterns, and development best practices.
• Partner with Product Managers, Business Analysts, UX Designers, and Quality Engineers to deliver business value.
• Build strong relationships across teams to ensure alignment, effective communication, and successful delivery.
• Stay current with emerging technologies and recommend innovative solutions to improve engineering effectiveness and customer outcomes.

Skills

Software Engineering

Programming Language Expertise

Software Architecture

Microservices

Cloud Technology

Containerization

Technical Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science / IT / Engineering

Tools

AWS

Docker

Kubernetes

Azure

GCP

Job description

About the Role

The Senior Software Engineer will be responsible for designing, developing, and supporting scalable, high-quality software solutions that align with business objectives and enterprise architecture standards. This role combines hands‑on engineering, technical leadership, and cross‑functional collaboration to drive the delivery of modern digital solutions.

What You’ll Do

• Design, develop, test, deploy, and maintain enterprise‑grade software applications.
• Lead the development of modern full‑stack solutions, ensuring performance, scalability, reliability, and security.
• Conduct code and design reviews to uphold engineering standards and best practices.
• Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and guidance to engineers across the team.
• Collaborate with architects and engineering teams to design scalable system architectures and resolve complex cross‑system challenges.
• Translate business requirements into technical solutions and implementation plans.
• Develop and maintain technical documentation, including architecture diagrams, specifications, and operational procedures.
• Create and execute unit, integration, and automated tests to ensure solution quality.
• Participate in Agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, daily standups, and retrospectives.
• Drive continuous improvement through code refactoring, automation, DevOps practices, and CI/CD adoption.
• Establish and promote engineering standards, reusable patterns, and development best practices.
• Partner with Product Managers, Business Analysts, UX Designers, and Quality Engineers to deliver business value.
• Build strong relationships across teams to ensure alignment, effective communication, and successful delivery.
• Stay current with emerging technologies and recommend innovative solutions to improve engineering effectiveness and customer outcomes.

What You’ll Bring to the Role

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Strong expertise in systems and integration architecture, including: API design and development Authentication and authorization frameworks Systems of record and data integration Enterprise integration patterns Vendor and third-party platform integrations Demonstrated experience designing and delivering scalable, distributed applications.
• Experience leading technical design discussions and mentoring development teams.
• Strong understanding of Agile software delivery practices.
• Experience with software architecture, design patterns, and engineering best practices.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with AWS cloud platforms.
• Experience with containerization and orchestration technologies.
• Experience supporting production systems and driving root cause analysis for critical incidents.

Skills You’ll Have

• Software Engineering: Applying engineering principles and development practices to design, build, test, deploy, and maintain reliable software.
• Programming Language Expertise: Hands‑on proficiency in the languages required by the team, such as Java, C#, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, C++, or Go.
• Software Architecture: Contributing to the high‑level structure, design patterns, integrations, and technical standards of a software system.
• Microservices: Designing and supporting applications composed of independently deployable services.
• Cloud Technology: Developing and deploying applications using AWS, Azure, GCP, or other cloud platforms.
• Containerization: Packaging and deploying applications using technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes.
• Technical Leadership: Guiding technical decisions, mentoring engineers, and improving engineering practices.

Compensation Range

• Pay Range - Start: $118,960.00
• Pay Range - End: $178,440.00
• Geographic Specific Pay Structure:
• Structure 110: $130,880.00 USD - $196,320.00 USD
• Structure 115: $136,800.00 USD - $205,200.00 USD

We believe in fairness and transparency. It’s why we share the salary range for most of our roles.

However, final salaries are based on a number of factors, including the skills and experience of the candidate; the current market; location of the candidate; and other factors uncovered in the hiring process.

The standard pay structure is listed but if you’re living in California, New York City or other eligible location, geographic specific pay structures, compensation and benefits could be applicable.

Grow your career with a best‑in‑class company that puts our clients’ interests at the center of all we do.

Northwestern Mutual is an equal opportunity employer that welcomes talented individuals of all backgrounds.

We are committed to creating and maintaining an environment in which each employee can contribute creative ideas, seek challenges, assume leadership and continue to focus on meeting and exceeding business and personal objectives.

At Northwestern Mutual, we believe relationships are built on trust. That our lives and our work matter. These beliefs launched our company over 160 years ago. Today, they’re just a few of the reasons why people choose to build careers at Northwestern Mutual.

What started in Milwaukee, WI has grown into 7,000+ home office professionals split across 3 campuses: New York City, Franklin and downtown Milwaukee (HQ) - each one bringing with it its own unique talent and culture.

In a company with such a long and storied history, this may be the most exciting and important time to be a part of Northwestern Mutual as we are growing our digital and tech capabilities and are always on the lookout for bright, tech‑savvy candidates.

Northwestern Mutual is an equal opportunity employer that welcomes talented individuals of all backgrounds. We are committed to creating and maintaining an environment in which each employee can contribute creative ideas, seek challenges, assume leadership and continue to focus on meeting and exceeding business and personal objectives.