Lead Innovation Software Engineer

Role Description

The Lead Innovation Software Engineer partners across Technology, Product, Strategy, and line-of-business teams to help define and demonstrate the future of Fifth Third Bank’s products, services, and enterprise architecture. This is a hands-on innovation role for a builder, strategist, and collaborator who can connect human-centered design with strong technical depth.

• Helps teams evaluate and apply emerging technologies, modern engineering practices, and new ways of working to accelerate product innovation and improve delivery.
• May lead a major initiative or several smaller efforts while influencing stakeholders and development teams toward modern, practical solutions.
• Opportunity to work closely with production squads on meaningful, high-priority initiatives while gaining a deep understanding of the bank’s technology stack, products, and delivery environment.
• Pairs strategic thinking with real-world execution to turn ideas into practical demonstrations, prototypes, and capability visions that can influence enterprise direction.
• Responsible and accountable for risk by openly exchanging ideas and opinions, elevating concerns, and personally following policies and procedures as defined.
• Acts as the liaison between the Risk, Audit and Analytic teams.
• Accountable for always doing the right thing for customers and colleagues, ensuring actions and behaviors drive a positive customer experience.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• 5+ years of experience in roles closely aligned to the responsibilities of this position.
• Strong front-end development experience delivering commercial solutions using modern web standards and frameworks such as HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, Angular, React, Vue, or similar tools.
• Strong back-end development experience working with APIs, services, event-driven architectures using Kafka, databases, SQL, and modern data platforms such as Snowflake.
• Deep experience with at least one server-side language such as Python, Java, Node.js, or PHP.
• Infrastructure experience building, configuring, and supporting scalable web applications in cloud or hosted environments such as AWS or Azure.
• Experience with modern server-side tooling, deployment practices, and hosting models.
• Experience working in a mature DevOps environment using version control, CI/CD, and automated testing practices.
• Proficiency with generative AI for productivity and full-lifecycle software development.
• Strong working knowledge of SQL and modern data platforms (e.g., Snowflake).
• Familiarity with end-to-end data lifecycle—from ingestion through transformation to visualization.
• Strong understanding of agile product development and iterative delivery.
• Working knowledge of blockchain, digital assets, smart contracts, and web3 technologies.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to build trust with team members, business partners, and customers.
• Commitment to mentoring others and sharing knowledge, best practices, and lessons learned.
• Strong attention to detail.

Requirements

• Ability to make sound design decisions and clearly explain the rationale behind them.
• Ability to identify meaningful opportunities for change and translate them into effective design or technology responses.
• Comfort working iteratively, making informed decisions with incomplete information, and adapting based on feedback.

Benefits

• Total Base Pay Range: 82,100.00 - 172,500.00 USD Annual.
• Eligible to participate in an incentive compensation plan based on company, line of business, and/or individual performance.
• Extensive benefits programs designed to support the individual needs of employees and their families, encompassing physical, financial, emotional, and social well-being.