Software Engineer

Morningstar; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 131,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401k match

Stock ownership potential

Comprehensive health benefits

Paid sabbatical

Parental leave

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Morningstar is seeking an Editorial Automation Software Engineer in Chicago to design, build, and maintain scalable systems powering data-driven journalism. You will enable editors and reporters with reliable tooling, publish-ready outputs, and robust data pipelines.

You will work with data journalists, editors, product managers, and engineers to translate requirements into production-quality software, following best practices and CI/CD in a hybrid, on-site work environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering or related field.
• 3+ years of professional experience developing production-grade applications.
• Strong programming skills in Python, R, or SQL for data analysis and transformation.
• Familiarity with Git and collaborative development workflows (pull requests, code reviews).
• Experience with software engineering best practices including TDD, automated tests, and CI/CD.
• Ability to implement data/workflow tracking and develop reporting dashboards for reliability and health.
• Experience with AWS compute technologies (Lambda, ECS/ECR, EC2, API Gateway, IAM, S3).
• Knowledge of domain modeling and object-oriented design patterns (SOLID).
• Experience with data-heavy products or internal tools.
• Experience working in an Agile environment and with data visualization tools such as Datawrapper.

Responsibilities

• Design and build scalable software powering editorial workflows and data-driven content.
• Develop architecture enabling data journalists to produce timely content.
• Write clean, well-tested code following engineering standards.
• Build event-driven systems with AWS services like Lambda and EventBridge.
• Collaborate with journalists, editors and engineers to translate requirements into tools.
• Refactor and improve systems for performance and reliability as data needs evolve.
• Implement monitoring, logging, and alerts for production health.
• Ensure data quality through validation and testing.
• Participate in code reviews and architectural discussions.
• Assist in planning and estimation for editorial automation projects.

Skills

Python

R

SQL

Git

CI/CD

AWS

SOLID design

Data visualization

Agile

Data analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering or related field

Tools

Datawrapper

Job description

About The Role

The Editorial Automation Software Engineer will be responsible for designing, building, and maintaining scalable software systems that power Morningstar’s data-driven markets journalism. This role focuses on creating reliable, maintainable architecture and tooling that enable editors and data journalists to produce timely, accurate content using Morningstar data. You will work closely with data journalists, editors, product managers, and other engineers to translate editorial and business requirements into production-quality software. While the systems you build support editorial workflows, this is fundamentally a software engineering role, with a strong emphasis on scalable system design, code quality, and operational efficiency.

Location

Chicago, IL (Hybrid Policy- 4 days onsite)

Responsibilities

• Design and develop scalable, maintainable architecture that transforms structured financial data into editorial outputs such as full articles, charts, and tables.
• Build and maintain high-quality software that powers automated editorial workflows, including data-focused content creation and publishing integrations with internal Content Management Systems (CMS).
• Write clean, well-tested, and well-documented code following Morningstar engineering standards and best practices.
• Build and maintain event-driven architectures powered by Amazon Web Services such as AWS Lambda, EventBridge, and related services.
• Collaborate with data journalists and editors to understand requirements and deliver tools that are reliable, intuitive, and extensible.
• Improve and refactor existing systems to enhance performance, reliability, and adaptability as data sources and business needs evolve.
• Implement monitoring, logging, and alerting to proactively detect, diagnose, and prevent production issues.
• Ensure data quality and correctness through validation, error handling, and unit testing.
• Participate in code reviews, technical design discussions, and architecture decisions.
• Contribute to planning and estimation for projects supporting editorial automation and markets coverage.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related field
• 3+ years of professional experience developing production-grade applications.
• Strong programming skills in Python, R, or SQL for data analysis and transformation.
• Familiarity with version control (Git) and collaborative development workflows (pull requests, code reviews).
• Experience with software engineering best practices, including test-driven development, automated unit testing and functional testing, and DevOps practices such as continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD).
• Ability to implement workflows that track data/API usage and automation executions. Develop reporting and dashboards to assess the reliability, performance, and operational health of automation tools.
• Experience with AWS compute technologies (Lambda, ECS/ECR, EC2, API Gateway, IAM, S3) is a plus
• Knowledge and practical experience with domain modeling and object-oriented design patterns and principles, such as the SOLID principles.
• Experience supporting data-heavy products or internal tools.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple deliverables in a collaborative team environment.
• Familiarity with financial markets and reporting standards, with the ability to interpret complex data sets, preferred.
• Experience working within an agile environment, preferred.
• Experience with data visualization tools such as Datawrapper, preferred.

We’re not considering candidates who require sponsorship now or in the future

Total Cash Compensation Range

$89,625.00-131,441.66

Inclusive of annual base salary and target incentive

Compensation And Benefits

At Morningstar we believe people are at their best when they are at their healthiest. That’s why we champion your wellness through a wide range of programs that support all stages of your personal and professional life. Here are some examples of the offerings we provide:

• Financial Health
  • 100% 401k match up to 6% of salary
  • Stock Ownership Potential
  • Company provided life insurance - 1x salary + commission
• Physical Health
  • Comprehensive health benefits (medical/dental/vision) including potential premium discounts and company-provided HSA contributions (up to $500-$2,000 annually) for specific plans and coverages
  • Additional medical Wellness Incentives - up to $300-$600 annual
  • Company-provided long- and short-term disability insurance
• Emotional Health
  • Trust-Based Time Off
  • 6-week Paid Sabbatical Program
  • 6-Week Paid Family Caregiving Leave
  • Competitive 8-24 Week Paid Parental Leave
  • Adoption Assistance
  • Leadership Coaching & Formal Mentorship Opportunities
  • Annual Flex Stipend - $1000 annually to cover personal education & well-being expenses
  • Tuition Reimbursement
• Social Health
  • Charitable Matching Gifts program
  • Dollars for Doers volunteer program
  • Paid volunteering days
  • 15+ Employee Resource & Affinity Groups

Morningstar's hybrid work environment gives you the opportunity to collaborate in-person each week as we've found that we're at our best when we're purposely together on a regular basis. In most of our locations, our hybrid work model is four days in-office each week. A range of other benefits are also available to enhance flexibility as needs change. No matter where you are, you'll have tools and resources to engage meaningfully with your global colleagues.