Senior Software Engineer - Backend

Fitch Group is currently seeking an Engineering & Quality – Associate Director based out of our New York office

As a leading, global financial information services provider, Fitch Group delivers vital credit and risk insights, robust data, and dynamic tools to champion more efficient, transparent financial markets. With over 100 years of experience and colleagues in over 30 countries, Fitch Group’s culture of credibility, independence, and transparency is embedded throughout its structure, which includes Fitch Ratings, one of the world’s top three credit ratings agencies, and Fitch Solutions, a leading provider of insights, data and analytics. With dual headquarters in London and New York, Fitch Group is owned by Hearst.

Fitch's Technology & Data Team is a dynamic department where innovation meets impact. Our team includes the Chief Data Office, Chief Software Office, Chief Technology Office, Emerging Technology, Shared Technology Services, Technology, Risk and the Executive Program Management Office (EPMO). Driven by our investment in cutting‑edge technologies like AI and cloud solutions, we’re home to a diverse range of roles and backgrounds united by a shared passion for leveraging modern technology to drive projects that matter to our organization and clients. We are also proud to be recognized by Built In as a Best Place to Work in Technology 3 years in a row. Whether you're an experienced professional or just starting your career, we offer an exciting and supportive environment where you can grow, innovate, and make a difference.

Want to learn more about a career in technology and data at Fitch?

Join the FDR Data Tech team—a highly visible group responsible for designing, building, and maintaining Fitch's core data repository and ratings platform. The team develops robust Java‑based applications and data solutions that power critical business operations across Fitch Ratings. We collaborate closely with stakeholders including Ratings, Business, and Operation teams to deliver scalable data infrastructure, APIs, and services with a focus on reliability, performance, data integrity, and innovation—including the integration of AI/ML capabilities to enhance data solutions and developer productivity.

How You’ll Make an Impact

• Lead and mentor a high‑performing software engineering team, fostering technical excellence, accountability, and career development while delivering scalable, secure, and business‑aligned solutions.
• Partner with Data Product, CDO, Architecture, and Business leaders to define and execute the technical strategy for cloud‑native platforms and data‑driven products.
• Provide hands‑on technical leadership for the design, development, and delivery of modern backend services, APIs, and distributed systems.
• Drive architecture decisions, establish engineering standards, and champion best practices for scalability, reliability, security, and maintainability.
• Guide engineering teams in building and integrating services that enable seamless access to enterprise data platforms and business capabilities.
• Collaborate closely with product owners and cross‑functional stakeholders to prioritize work, align technical investments, and achieve business outcomes.
• Ensure high‑quality software delivery through automated testing, code reviews, observability, and engineering governance.
• Lead resolution of complex technical and operational challenges while improving platform performance, resiliency, and operational excellence.
• Champion DevSecOps, CI/CD, and automation practices to accelerate delivery and improve engineering efficiency.
• Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies, including AI‑enabled engineering capabilities, to drive innovation and productivity across the organization.

You May be a Good Fit if

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 8+ years of software engineering experience with at least 3–5 years leading teams of highly technical engineers.
• Demonstrated experience delivering enterprise‑scale software platforms, APIs, and distributed systems.
• Strong proficiency in C++, Java (Spring Boot), and/or Python (FastAPI or similar), with the ability to guide engineering teams on architecture, design, and implementation.
• Experience designing, building, and supporting RESTful APIs and microservices‑based architectures.
• Strong understanding of cloud‑native architectures and hands‑on experience with AWS services.
• Experience working with relational databases and data access patterns, including SQL performance tuning and optimization.
• Solid understanding of software design principles, distributed systems, event‑driven architectures, scalability, reliability, and security.
• Experience implementing automated testing strategies and modern CI/CD pipelines.
• Proven ability to lead technical teams, influence architecture decisions, and drive delivery in Agile environments.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to translate technical concepts for business and executive stakeholders.
• Experience leveraging AI‑assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot, Amazon Q, or similar technologies to improve engineering productivity.

What Would Make You Stand Out

• Experience building cloud‑native solutions using Kubernetes/EKS, Docker, and Infrastructure‑as‑Code.
• Experience with event streaming and messaging platforms such as Kafka, MSK, or EventBridge.
• Experience with caching technologies including Redis or Valkey.
• Experience with NoSQL databases such as MongoDB or DynamoDB.
• Experience working with C#/.NET applications and services.
• Experience working in financial services, regulated environments, or data‑intensive platforms.
• Background in data engineering, data platforms, analytics ecosystems, or data lake/lakehouse architectures.
• Experience implementing CI/CD workflows using GitHub Actions, ArgoCD, Terraform, or similar tools.
• Experience evaluating and adopting emerging technologies, including build‑vs‑buy decisions.
• Hands‑on experience building AI agents using frameworks such as LangGraph, LangChain, or LlamaIndex.
• Experience implementing Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) solutions and governance controls for enterprise AI applications.
• Experience using agentic AI to automate engineering workflows such as testing, code reviews, documentation, operational support, and data quality monitoring.
• Familiarity with AI interoperability and orchestration protocols such as MCP, A2A, or similar frameworks.
• Experience influencing technical strategy across multiple teams and driving organization‑wide engineering improvements.

Why Choose Fitch

• Work‑Life Balance First: 40% in‑office monthly stay connected while keeping flexibility.
• A Culture of Learning & Mobility: Dedicated trainings, leadership development and mentorship programs designed to ensure that your time at Fitch will be a continuous learning opportunity.
• Investing in Your Future: Retirement planning and tuition reimbursement programs that empower you to achieve your short and long‑term goals.
• Promoting Health & Wellbeing: Comprehensive healthcare offerings that enable physical, mental, financial, social, and occupational wellbeing.
• Supportive Parenting Policies: Family‑friendly policies, including a generous global parental leave plan, designed to help you balance career and family life effectively.
• Inclusive Work Environment: A collaborative workplace where all voices are valued, with Employee Resource Groups that unite and empower our colleagues around the globe.
• Dedication to Giving Back: Paid volunteer days, matched funding for donations and ample opportunities to volunteer in your community.

Fitch is committed to providing global securities markets with objective, timely, independent and forward‑looking credit opinions. To protect Fitch’s credibility and reputation, our employees must take every precaution to avoid conflicts of interest or any appearance of a conflict of interest. Should you be successful in the recruitment process at Fitch Ratings you will be asked to declare any securities holdings and other potential conflicts prior to commencing employment. If you, or your immediate family, have any holdings that may conflict with your work responsibilities, you may be asked to divest yourself of them before beginning work.

Fitch is proud to be an Equal Opportunity and Affi­dictive Action Employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status, and other statuses protected by law.

FOR NEW YORK ROLES ONLY: Expected base pay rates for the role will be between $165,000 and $180,000 per year. Actual salaries will be determined on an individualized basis and may vary based on factors including but not limited to education, training, experience, past performance, and other job‑related factors. Base pay is one part of Fitch’s total compensation package, which, depending on the position, may also include commission earnings, discretionary bonuses, long‑term incentives, and other benefits sponsored by Fitch.