Principal Software Engineer - Full Stack

Make banking a Fifth Third better®
We connect great people to great opportunities. Are you ready to take the next step? Discover a career in banking at Fifth Third Bank.

GENERAL FUNCTION:

The Principal Software Engineer is a senior technical leader responsible for designing, building, and evolving scalable, secure software systems while providing day-to-day technical leadership for a development team. This role blends hands-on engineering with architectural ownership, mentorship, and accountability for engineering excellence and delivery outcomes. The Principal Engineer acts as a trusted technical authority across the stack and a key partner to product, design, and leadership stakeholders.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
 

Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Lead the design and evolution of scalable, maintainable, and secure full-stack solutions across frontend, backend, APIs, data stores, and cloud infrastructure
• Serve as the primary technical authority for the team, driving architectural decisions, engineering standards, and best practices
• Review system designs and code to ensure performance, reliability, testability, security, and long-term maintainability
• Identify, prioritize, and proactively address technical debt and systemic risks
• Stay current with modern technologies and introduce new tools or patterns where they deliver clear value
   

Hands-On Engineering

• Contribute high-quality, production-ready code across the stack (Angular, Java/Kotlin, Spring Boot, RDBMS/PL-SQL, APIs)
• Lead complex feature development, critical initiatives, proof-of-concepts, and technical spikes
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex issues spanning multiple services and layers
• Champion strong automated testing practices, CI/CD pipelines, and operational reliability
   

Team Leadership & Mentorship

• Provide technical leadership for an agile development squad, setting clear expectations for quality, delivery, and engineering behavior
• Mentor and coach engineers through code reviews, design discussions, and ongoing technical guidance
• Foster a culture of collaboration, psychological safety, accountability, and continuous improvement
• Support hiring, onboarding, and development of engineering talent
   

Accountability & Execution

• Take ownership of technical outcomes, delivery commitments, and engineering excellence
• Align technical work with business priorities and product outcomes
• Identify risks early and clearly communicate tradeoffs, impacts, and mitigation strategies
• Participate fully in agile ceremonies, planning, estimation, and prioritization
   

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Partner closely with product managers, designers, architects, operations, and other engineering leaders
• Act as a trusted technical advisor to leadership and cross-functional teams
   

Engineering Excellence & Risk Management

• Influence and improve engineering processes, development practices, and team workflows
• Participate in and contribute to communities of practice and shared standards
• Ensure appropriate controls, documentation, and compliance with audit and risk requirements
• Operate within the organization’s risk appetite while consistently prioritizing customer and colleague outcomes

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: None

MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES REQUIRED:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/Information Systems or equivalent combination of education and work experience
• Six+ years of engineering or other IT work experience relevant to the position.
• Strong expertise in object-oriented and functional design principles
• Experience building and maintaining RESTful services and distributed systems
• Prior experience with knowledge of Git and GitHub
• Proficiency with modern frontend and backend technologies (Angular, Java/Kotlin, Spring Boot)
• Experience with relational databases and SQL/PL-SQL
• Understanding of Software Development Methodologies
• Understanding of security best practices
• Strong problem solving skills
• Strong collaboration skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Position not available for immigration sponsorship

#LI-MB1

Principal Software Engineer - Full Stack

At Fif