Director of Software Engineering

• Set and execute the engineering strategy and roadmap for Morningstar Plan Advantage and Fiduciary Services technology ensuring alignment with product and business goals
• Lead mentor and grow a global engineering organization spanning onshore and offshore teams with a focus on hiring retention and developing senior technical talent
• Partner with the Director of Product Management to define and prioritize the product and technology roadmap balancing near-term delivery with long-term platform investment
• Drive the adoption of AI across both product capabilities and internal engineering workflows - championing AI-assisted development practices (code review testing documentation) and delivering AI-powered product features to market
• Own technical architecture decisions for the platform ensuring systems are scalable secure reliable and built on modern cloud-first principles
• Establish and maintain engineering standards development practices and quality benchmarks across the organization
• Champion a security-first engineering culture ensuring secure development practices code quality standards and proactive vulnerability management are embedded into the development lifecycle
• Oversee the full development lifecycle - from design and architecture through deployment monitoring and operational excellence
• Collaborate cross-functionally with design research methodology client service sales and compliance to deliver integrated solutions
• Manage engineering capacity budgets and vendor relationships making tradeoff decisions that optimize for both velocity and sustainability
• Represent engineering in client-facing contexts as needed including product demonstrations technical due diligence and strategic conversations with prospects and partners

• 10+ years of progressive experience in technology/software engineering with at least 4 years in engineering leadership roles managing teams and managers
• Demonstrated ability to build and operate scalable enterprise-grade software systems - ideally in a cloud-first environment (AWS preferred)
• Deep technical foundation: fluency in modern backend technologies (Java Spring Boot or equivalent) RESTful API design distributed systems and relational databases
• Genuine curiosity about and experience with Artificial Intelligence - whether through shipping AI-powered product features adopting AI development tools or both. This is not a check-the-box requirement; we want someone who is actively learning and building with AI
• A passion for developing people - you've built teams grown engineers into leaders and created cultures of ownership and continuous improvement
• Strong understanding of Agile development practices and the judgment to adapt process to context rather than follow it rigidly
• Excellent communication skills - you can translate between technical depth and business strategy and you're comfortable presenting to executives clients and engineering teams alike
• A collaborative low-ego leadership style that earns trust across product design and engineering
• Previous experience in financial services retirement or regulated industries is a strong plus but not required
• A bachelor's degree in Computer Science Engineering Mathematics or a related experience / field is required

• 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-$2000 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

What We Do

At Morningstar we believe in building great products in-house in a highly collaborative agile environment where we focus on technical excellence the user experience and continuous improvement. Our technologists represent a range of skills and experience levels but they all view their work as a craft and push technology’s boundaries.

Why Work With Us

Imagining big things is in our blood -- it's transformed us from a company with just a few employees in 1984 to a leading independent investment research company with a worldwide presence today. As of April 2020 we acquired Sustainalytics to drive long-term meaningful outcomes for investors in the ESG space. Join us on this exciting journey!

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