Application Engineer - IV

Vanguard•Malvern, PA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Join an elite team providing front‑line operational and production support to Vanguard’s U.S. Equity Trading Desk. You’ll work directly on the trade floor with traders and portfolio managers, supporting mission‑critical applications that power daily equity, ETF, and derivatives trading across more than $6T in assets and ~$160B in quarterly volume. This developer role sits on the GIFS Desk Development Team within the Run Organization, delivering rapid business value through custom solutions and hands‑on problem solving. You’ll build and maintain modern, high‑performance systems while partnering closely with Portfolio Managers, Traders, Product Owners, and Investment Management teams. You will also be troubleshooting and helping resolve problems that occur on our trading platforms. The Run Organization ensures trading systems “just work,” monitoring applications and resolving over half of the issues that occur independently. This role is primarily in‑person in Malvern, PA, with follow‑the‑sun handoffs to global teams. Supported technologies span custom builds, COTS, SaaS, AWS microservices, and legacy platforms including MS Office programming tools. Ideal candidates bring a strong blend of technical and business acumen, curiosity to learn the trading lifecycle, and the ability to troubleshoot complex systems. Experience in investment technology is preferred but not required. This is a rare opportunity to gain a front‑row view of Vanguard’s core investment engine, learn directly from industry leaders, and build skills that open doors across Vanguard and the broader financial services industry. Please note this role is required to be in office 5 days per week

Requirements

Minimum of eight years related work experience, with at least two years of development experience.
Undergraduate degree or equivalent combination of training and experience.
Adept programmer (cradle to grave) with deep troubleshooting skills and ability to repair software in various technologies - AWS, Python, Java and MS Office programming tools.
Be in-office Monday thru Friday.
Ability to deal with ambiguity & complexity with high energy and grit.
Be fast.

Nice To Haves

Graduate degree preferred.
Experience in investment technology is preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

High accountability & technical leadership with demonstrated ability to build strong technical teams across the US, UK and AUS.
Initiate and lead ideas to fruition.
Synthesizing concepts and findings into a narrative for communication to different audiences.
Establish and maintain strong working relationships with business partners.
Provide senior support of applications and databases; Coordinate and execute technical and procedures to resolve production or operational issues after evaluation.
Proactively monitor production systems for alerts, outages, and system issues.
Research issues, initiate and lead root cause analysis to minimize risk.
Implement solutions for issues and appropriate development initiatives.
Ensure that support requests get resolved within service level agreements.
Communicate status and resolutions.
Writes and updates production support documentation, policies, and procedures.
Build dashboards to convey trends.
Provides expert level system analysis, design, development, and implementation of applications and databases.
Integrates third party products.
Ensures that expected application performance levels are achieved.
Ensures the viability of IT deliverables.
Recommends development options, including design, build/buy, and vendor purchase.
Conducts testing, including functionality, technical limitations, and security.
Elevates code into the development, test, and production environments on schedule.
Provides follow up production support.
Submits change control requests and documents.
Provides subject matter expertise in software development methodology and development architecture standards.
Mentors and trains staff with less experience.
Resolves elevated issues and recommends enterprise-wide improvements.
Participates in design, code, and test inspections throughout the life cycle to identify issues.
Explains technical considerations at related meetings, including those with internal clients.
Performs systems analysis activities.
Thoroughly understands client business functions and technology needs.
Has a broad and deep understanding of Vanguard's technologies, tools, and applications, including those that interface with business area and systems.
Is well versed on the latest technologies and tools supporting software development in the industry.
Interfaces with cross functional team members and communicates systems issues at the appropriate technical level for each audience.
Thoroughly understands and complies with Information Technology and Information Security policies and procedures and verifies that deliverables meet requirements.
Participates in special projects and performs other duties as assigned