Technical Lead

First Citizens Bank; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 150,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

First Citizens Bank is seeking a Senior Tech Lead to provide architecture oversight and hands-on leadership across multiple platforms. You will mentor engineers, drive project scope and timelines, and coordinate with cross-functional teams to align with business goals.

The role emphasizes strategic thinking, strong communication with executives, and a track record of delivering complex, scalable systems using modern software architecture and secure development practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering or equivalent practical experience.
• 8+ years of software engineering delivering enterprise-scale applications.
• 2+ years in technical leadership roles.
• Deep modern software architecture and distributed systems knowledge.
• Strong ability to influence engineering decisions across teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor teams; guide performance and strategy for complex projects.
• Direct architecture, design and implementation across platforms.
• Communicate with executives and stakeholders on technical decisions.
• Maintain engineering velocity and improve platform resilience.
• Drive modernization and manage tech debt across product pods.

Skills

Leadership & mentoring

Technical leadership

Prototyping & design

Systems development lifecycle

Strategic thinking

Executive communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science / Eng / IT or equivalent practical experience

Tools

Java

Spring Boot

REST APIs

OpenAPI

Apache Kafka

Microservices

Distributed systems

Secure development

Angular

React

TypeScript

Storybook

Swift

Kotlin

GitHub

Azure DevOps

Kubernetes

Terraform

SonarQube

Selenium

Playwright

Cypress

Appium

Karate

Job description

Overview

This position provides specialized technical leadership during the architecture, design, implementation, and support of assigned systems and applications. Directs decision-making within technical projects to facilitate project planning, scope, and time estimates. Trains less experienced associates and assists management in monitoring team performance. Collaborates with peers, managers, and cross-platform teams to align projects and tasks with wider organizational goals.

Responsibilities & Qualifications

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Team Leadership - Mentors and trains team members. Utilizes expertise to provide guidance, feedback, and direction on complex matters. Assists in the communication of performance results and expected behaviours for success.
• Project Management - Leads specialized technical projects to include development of time estimates, determining scope, and addressing potential impacts.
• Business Support - Provides insight to management allowing the strategic alignment of technologies with business needs. Facilitates system modifications or architectural changes. Effectively collaborates with others on technical issues and initiatives, acting as the primary escalation point for technology-related team concerns across the enterprise.
• Technical Expertise - Maintains a strong knowledge of Bank technologies, processes, procedures, and industry standards. Serves as a resource on one or more specialised technologies to management, associates, and cross-platform teams.

Position Specific Skills

• Advanced experience with modern technologies, prototyping, technical leadership, systems development lifecycle, communication and planning skills
• Advanced knowledge in working with leadership to define strategy and approach for solving complicated technical problems
• Proven ability to deliver solutions that solve complex problems, using thought leadership and independent thinking skills
• Ability to lead others in the successful execution and delivery of long term, multi-layered projects and initiatives.
• Ability to clearly articulate complex processes/situations to executive leadership

Qualifications

Minimum Required Education and Experience: Bachelor's Degree and 8 years' experience OR High School Diploma or GED/Equivalent and 12 years' experience in Technical work in Application Development, Server Administration, Information Security, or Engineering

Preferred Education: Bachelor Degree

Preferred Area of Study: Computer Science

Preferred Area of Experience: MS.NET; ASP.NET; SQL Scripting; Powershell Scripting; Windows Server Administration; Project Management

Required Licenses Or Certifications

Preferred Licenses or Certifications:

Additional Information

Bachelor's Degree and 8 years of experience in Technical work in Application Development, Server Administration, Information Security, or Engineering OR High School Diploma or GED and 12 years of experience in Technical work in Application Development, Server Administration, Information Security, or Engineering

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or equivalent practical experience.
• 8+ years of software engineering experience with a proven track record of delivering enterprise-scale applications.
• 2+ years of experience serving as a Technical Lead, Senior Engineer, Lead Developer, or equivalent technical leadership role.
• Deep understanding of modern software architecture and distributed systems.
• Strong experience leading technical discussions and influencing engineering decisions across teams.
• Demonstrated ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Technical Skills

Backend & Platform Engineering

Strong Experience With

• Java
• Spring Boot
• REST APIs and OpenAPI standards
• Event-Driven Architecture
• Apache Kafka
• Microservices architecture
• Distributed systems design
• Secure application development

Front-End Engineering

Experience With One Or More

• Angular
• React
• TypeScript
• Modern web application design
• Component-based UI architecture
• Storybook or similar UI development frameworks

Mobile Development (Preferred)

• Swift
• Kotlin
• Mobile application architecture
• Native mobile development practices

DevSecOps & Platform Engineering

Experience Working With

• GitHub
• Azure DevOps
• Kubernetes
• Terraform
• SonarQube
• CI/CD pipelines
• Infrastructure as Code
• Containerization technologies
• Cloud-native engineering practices

Quality Engineering

General Understanding Of Automated Testing Frameworks Such As

• Selenium
• Playwright
• Cypress
• Appium
• Karate

What Success Looks Like

• In this role, success will be measured not only by what you build, but by how you effectively participate and elevate the engineering teams around you, serving as a Trusted Tech Advisor for both, engineering teams and technology leadership.

You Will

• Maintain healthy engineering velocity; remove technical obstacles.
• Improve software quality and platform resilience; Enable better Tech decisions.
• Strengthen architecture consistency across product pods.
• Manage Tech debt through modernization efforts; Improve operational stability

The base pay for this position is generally between $150,000 and $180,000. Actual starting base pay will be determined based on skills, experience, location, and other non-discriminatory factors permitted by law. For some roles, total compensation may also include variable incentives, bonuses, benefits, and/or other awards as outlined in the offer of employment.

Benefits are an integral part of total rewards and First Citizens Bank is committed to providing a competitive, thoughtfully designed and quality benefits program to meet the needs of our associates. More information can be found at https://jobs.firstcitizens.com/benefits.