Senior Software Engineer – Backend Platforms, Vice President (Wealth Custody & Clearing)

State Street; Princeton (NJ); On-site; USD 120,000 - 203,000; Full time

Job summary

State Street’s WC&C team seeks a Senior Software Engineer to architect and lead development of high-scale, low-latency backend systems in a cloud-native environment. You will influence architecture across teams and collaborate with stakeholders to deliver financial-grade platforms.

You will mentor engineers, drive reliability initiatives, and adopt technologies aligned with regulatory objectives, ensuring observability and security across production systems.

Qualifications

• 9+ years of backend software engineering experience in distributed systems.
• Experience at Staff or Principal Engineer level influencing multiple teams or domains.
• Proven ability to design high availability, fault tolerant systems with strong data consistency.
• Track record of ownership over large-scale architecture decisions and long-term evolution.
• Experience shipping in production-critical environments with emphasis on reliability and accuracy.

Responsibilities

• Architect and lead development of high-scale, low-latency backend systems for custody and wealth platforms.
• Define and enforce engineering standards, patterns, and system design principles.
• Drive long-term architecture vision for distributed systems and data platforms.
• Collaborate with product, data, and business leaders to translate requirements into scalable solutions.
• Mentor engineers and raise the overall engineering bar across the organization.
• Lead incident response, performance optimization, and reliability initiatives.
• Evaluate new technologies aligned with regulatory objectives and enterprise needs.
• Ensure systems meet resiliency, observability, auditability, and security expectations.

Skills

Java

Spring Boot

Microservices

AWS

Kubernetes

PostgreSQL

Distributed data stores

Caching layers

Kafka

API design

System design

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS/Engineering

Tools

Kafka

Job description

Who We AreState Street’s

Who We Are

State Street’s Wealth Custody & Clearing (WC&C) business delivers institutional grade custody, clearing, and platform services to wealth managers, broker dealers, and financial institutions. As WC&C continues to scale its digital and cloud native platforms, we are building modern, resilient backend systems that support high volume financial transactions, real-time data access, and regulatory grade controls. We are seeking a Senior Software Engineer to provide technical leadership across our backend and data platforms, shaping architecture, engineering standards, and system reliability for mission critical wealth technology.

Role Summary

As a senior technical leader within the WC&C Technology team, you will architect, design, and lead the development of high-scale, low-latency distributed systems in a cloud native environment. This role operates at a staff/principal level, influencing architecture and engineering practices across multiple teams and domains. You will partner closely with product, data, risk, and business stakeholders to deliver financial grade systems that meet stringent requirements for accuracy, availability, security, and regulatory compliance.

Core Responsibilities

• Architect and lead the development of high scale, low latency backend systems supporting custody, clearing, and wealth platforms
• Define and enforce engineering standards, architectural patterns, and system design principles across backend teams
• Drive the long-term technical vision and architecture for distributed systems and data platforms
• Partner with product, data, and business leaders to translate complex requirements into scalable technical solutions
• Mentor senior engineers and serve as a technical multiplier, raising the overall engineering bar across the organization
• Lead critical incident response, performance optimization, and system reliability initiatives for production platforms
• Evaluate, recommend, and introduce new technologies aligned with WC&C’s strategic and regulatory objectives
• Ensure systems meet enterprise expectations for resiliency, observability, auditability, and security

Required Experience

• 9+ years of backend software engineering experience, with a strong record of building and scaling distributed systems
• Demonstrated experience operating at a Staff or Principal Engineer level, influencing multiple teams or technical domains
• Proven expertise designing systems with high availability, fault tolerance, and strong data consistency guarantees
• Track record of ownership over largescale architecture decisions and long-term system evolution
• Experience working in production critical environments where reliability, accuracy, and operational excellence are paramount

Domain Expertise – Wealth & Financial Services

• Strong understanding of wealth management, brokerage, or financial services platforms
• Familiarity with core financial concepts, including:
• Portfolio management and rebalancing
• Trading systems and order lifecycle management
• Market data ingestion and processing
• Account structures, tax optimization, or retirement products
• Experience building systems requiring high precision (e.g., monetary calculations), full auditability, and regulatory compliance
• Working knowledge of financial regulations or standards (e.g., SEC, FINRA, GDPR) is a strong plus

Technical Skills

• Deep expertise in Java, Spring Boot, and microservices based architectures
• Strong experience with cloud platforms (AWS preferred) and container orchestration (Kubernetes)
• Proficiency with data storage technologies, including PostgreSQL, distributed data stores, and caching layers
• Handson experience with event driven architectures, messaging systems (e.g., Kafka), and API design
• Strong understanding of system design tradeoffs, including consistency, latency, scalability, and resiliency

Education

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in computer science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field
• Equivalent practical experience will be considered

Why State Street

• Work on institutional grade platforms that support global wealth and custody markets
• Influence architecture and engineering standards at enterprise scale
• Partner closely with senior technology, product, and business leaders
• Competitive compensation, benefits, and long-term career growth opportunities

Salary Range

$120,000 - $202,500 Annual

The range quoted above applies to the role in the primary location specified. If the candidate would ultimately work outside of the primary location above, the applicable range could differ.

Employees are eligible to participate in State Street’s comprehensive benefits program, which includes: our retirement savings plan (401K) with company match; insurance coverage including basic life, medical, dental, vision, long-term disability, and other optional additional coverages; paid-time off including vacation, sick leave, short term disability, and family care responsibilities; access to our Employee Assistance Program; incentive compensation including eligibility for annual performance-based awards (excluding certain sales roles subject to sales incentive plans); and, eligibility for certain tax advantaged savings plans.

For a full overview, visit https://hrportal.ehr.com/statestreet/Home.

About State Street

Across the globe, institutional investors rely on us to help them manage risk, respond to challenges, and drive performance and profitability. We keep our clients at the heart of everything we do, and smart, engaged employees are essential to our continued success.

We are committed to fostering an environment where every employee feels valued and empowered to reach their full potential. As an essential partner in our shared success, you’ll benefit from inclusive development opportunities, flexible work-life support, paid volunteer days, and vibrant employee networks that keep you connected to what matters most. Join us in shaping the future.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we consider all qualified applicants for all positions without regard to race, creed, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, age, disability, genetic information, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, citizenship, marital status, domestic partnership or civil union status, familial status, military and veteran status, and other characteristics protected by applicable law.

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Job Application Disclosure

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Job ID: R-796394