Principal Backend Engineer Vice President

Citi • Mississauga, ON

1d • CA$120,800 - CA$170,800 • Hybrid

About The Position

Citi is looking for a Principal Backend Engineer to take strategic ownership of the backend systems powering a global digital experience platform that serves hundreds of thousands of clients and processes millions of web requests every day. In this role, you will set the technical direction for backend architecture, lead hands-on development of critical services, and shape the engineering standards that ensure the platform remains scalable, secure, and resilient at enterprise scale. You will work at the intersection of architecture, delivery, and technical leadership — influencing decisions that have direct impact on how Citi's clients and internal users connect with its digital ecosystem.

Requirements

• 6 to 10 years of backend software development experience, with demonstrated expertise architecting and delivering large-scale enterprise platforms.
• Expert-level proficiency in Java and its associated frameworks, applied to building high-performance, fault-tolerant services in production environments.
• Deep working knowledge of distributed systems, microservices architectures, and RESTful API design at scale.
• Hands-on experience implementing identity and access management solutions, including OAuth2 and OpenID Connect protocols and fine-grained authorization models.
• Solid experience with cloud-native development using Docker and Kubernetes, and hands-on exposure to GCP and AWS environments.
• Working knowledge of both relational and NoSQL database technologies, with the ability to select and apply the right solution to complex data challenges.
• A bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience, with a master's degree preferred.

Nice To Haves

• Familiarity with additional backend technologies including Unix environments, Oracle databases, and distributed caching solutions.
• Experience integrating AI capabilities into backend services or workflows.
• Working knowledge of frontend integration considerations including ReactJS, Content Security Policy, corporate design systems, and accessibility standards.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve the backend architecture for an enterprise-scale digital platform, ensuring systems are built for scalability, reliability, and long-term maintainability.
• Design and build high-performance backend services and APIs in Java, covering core capabilities including user authentication, authorization, content routing, and data integration.
• Implement security-first engineering practices across all backend components, including single sign-on, centralized access control, and alignment with cyber defense standards.
• Optimize platform performance through caching strategies, asynchronous processing, and efficient data access patterns to meet the demands of millions of daily transactions.
• Architect integration solutions that connect a broad range of content provider applications into the unified platform through secure HTTPS-based interfaces.
• Lead technical decision-making in collaboration with product management, front-end engineers, architects, and infrastructure teams to deliver features end-to-end.
• Mentor senior engineers through structured code reviews and hands-on guidance, raising engineering standards across design patterns, testing, and operational practices.
• Serve as the technical escalation point for complex production incidents, leading root cause analysis and driving resolution for critical backend services.

Benefits

• Access to continuous learning and development resources to deepen your technical expertise and grow your career at Citi.
• Competitive financial wellbeing offering, including compensation and benefits structured to reflect the seniority and impact of the role.
• Wellbeing support and work-life balance initiatives designed to sustain high performance over the long term.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal