Assistant Director, Software Engineering - Public Investments (Public Investments Lead)

Northwestern Mutual•Milwaukee, WI

2d•$176,000 - $264,000

About The Position

The Assistant Director, Software Engineering (Tech Lead) owns end-to-end technical quality and delivery execution across UI, services, and data platforms. This hands-on technical leadership role has direct engineer reports and is accountable for technical direction, delivery excellence, and engineering leadership for the Public Investments engineering teams. The role works closely with engineers, Product Managers, Architects, and business stakeholders to deliver secure, scalable, supportable solutions aligned with team objectives. The Assistant Director sets technical direction and standards and develops engineering talent through coaching and influence. Informal leadership experience is welcome, and the role offers an opportunity to grow in leadership. Strong experience in the public investments or asset management domain is essential; hands-on experience with large-scale investment management system implementations is preferred. The role leads large-scale Investment Management System implementations from design through delivery; defines technical direction aligned with enterprise architecture, security, and delivery standards; and translates business and product outcomes into technical designs and implementation plans. It leads solution design across React front ends, Node.js services, REST APIs, dbt, and Snowflake, including interface contracts and data lineage. It also guides technical decomposition and sequencing, code quality, testing, CI/CD, observability, reliability, operational readiness, risk management, API and data integrations, warehouse model quality, data transformations, and performance optimization. The role supports production stability through incident response, root-cause analysis, and preventive engineering improvements. As a direct leader for engineers, the Assistant Director coaches and develops team members, manages performance and career growth, establishes accountability, and builds a culture of ownership, quality, learning, and constructive feedback. The role leads technical and delivery reviews and partners with Engineering Management on hiring, onboarding, and succession planning. It collaborates with Product Managers, Enterprise Architecture, other investment delivery teams, and technical leads to balance delivery and maintainability, coordinate dependencies and release readiness, and align standards, patterns, and roadmaps. It communicates clearly with technical and non-technical stakeholders, including under ambiguity.

Requirements

Strong experience in the public investments or asset management domain.
Prior experience with one or more Public Investment Management Systems, such as Aladdin Enterprise, Calypso, Bloomberg, or Charles River.
8+ years of software and data engineering experience, with strong full-stack and data platform expertise.
Strong hands-on technical skills, including designing solutions and guiding engineers through code.
Experience providing technical leadership, formal or informal, and a desire to grow in leadership.
Proven technical leadership across multiple teams or complex cross-functional initiatives.
Strong experience building modern web applications with React.
Strong experience building backend services and designing REST APIs.
Strong experience with data warehousing best practices.
Experience with database performance tuning, cost-aware design, and data governance controls.
Experience designing secure, scalable, and observable systems in enterprise environments.
Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers and elevate engineering maturity.
Strong communication skills with technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

Hands-on experience with large-scale Investment Management System implementations.
Experience modernizing legacy applications and data pipelines.
Experience with platform migration programs and phased cutover strategies.
Experience defining shared engineering standards across multiple teams.

Responsibilities

Lead large-scale Investment Management System implementations from design through delivery.
Define and communicate technical direction for the Public Investments team in alignment with enterprise architecture, security, and delivery standards.
Translate product and business outcomes into pragmatic technical designs and implementation plans.
Lead solution design across React front ends, Node.js backend services, REST APIs, dbt, and Snowflake, including interface contracts and data lineage.
Work through complex design problems, review code, and provide hands-on technical guidance.
Drive technical decomposition and sequencing for initiatives spanning applications, APIs, pipelines, and warehouse models.
Establish and enforce standards for code quality, testing, CI/CD, observability, reliability, and operational readiness.
Manage technical risks, including architecture, integration, performance, and security risks.
Ensure API and data integrations are resilient, documented, and reusable across teams.
Guide data warehouse model quality, transformation design, data reliability, and warehouse performance optimization.
Support production stability through incident response, root-cause analysis, and preventive engineering improvements.
Directly lead engineers, including coaching, growth, performance management, and career development.
Build engineering culture centered on ownership, quality, learning, and constructive feedback.
Lead regular technical and delivery reviews and foster review and mentorship practices.
Partner with Engineering Management on hiring, onboarding, and succession planning.
Set expectations and accountability for technical excellence, delivery outcomes, and operational readiness.
Partner with Product Managers to balance delivery speed, quality, and long-term maintainability.
Coordinate cross-team dependencies and release readiness for shared components, platforms, and data pipelines.
Collaborate with Enterprise Architecture and other investment delivery teams’ Technical Leads to align standards, patterns, and roadmaps.
Communicate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders and provide clarity under ambiguity.