Investment Systems Application Engineer - IV,- Vanguard Personalized Indexing

This role is expected to operate at a senior engineer level with hands on coding, influencing architecture, mentoring junior engineers, and driving system reliability for mission-critical investment platforms.

Core Responsibilities

Backend & Platform Engineering

• Design and build scalable backend services and APIs supporting portfolio construction, optimization, trading, and analytics workflows
• Develop high-performance, production-grade systems using Java and/or Python with strong focus on reliability and maintainability
• Architect and implement microservices and event-driven systems to support high-volume, latency-sensitive workloads
• Ensure application performance, scalability, resiliency, and cost efficiency across distributed systems
• Integrate internal and third-party systems, ensuring seamless interoperability and data consistency

• Provide senior-level system design, architecture guidance, and technical direction across backend and platform components
• Lead design and code reviews, ensuring alignment with engineering standards and architectural principles
• Evaluate and recommend technology solutions, design patterns, and implementation approaches
• Anticipate system and platform risks; proactively design solutions to prevent production issues
• Mentor engineers and elevate technical execution across the team

• Develop a deep understanding of investment management workflows, including portfolios, trading lifecycle, and data pipelines
• Design systems that support front, middle, and back office functions while maintaining strong controls and auditability
• Translate business requirements into scalable technical solutions aligned with investment processes
• Ensure systems meet accuracy, consistency, and regulatory expectations for financial applications

• Build and operate cloud-native services on AWS using containerized architectures and Kubernetes
• Drive adoption of CI/CD, automated testing, and infrastructure-as-code practices
• Improve observability, monitoring, and operational readiness across platform components
• Contribute to architectural evolution toward scalable, cloud-native systems

• Ensure the viability and quality of investment systems deliverables through rigorous testing and validation
• Lead and participate in design, code, and test inspections across the SDLC
• Support production systems, including incident response, root cause analysis, and remediation
• Ensure compliance with Information Technology and Information Security policies
• Promote continuous improvement in engineering practices, standards, and system reliability

• Develop and maintain deep knowledge of Vanguard's platform ecosystem and integration points
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and stakeholders to deliver high-impact capabilities
• Participate in special initiatives supporting the growth and scalability of the VPI platform

• Minimum of 8+ years of experience, including significant experience building investment, wealth management, or financial systems
• Strong backend engineering expertise in Java and/or Python
• Deep understanding of investment domain concepts including portfolios, trading workflows, market data, and investment analytics
• Proven experience designing and building scalable distributed systems and APIs
• Experience with microservices architectures, messaging systems, and asynchronous processing patterns
• Strong experience with cloud-native platforms, particularly AWS
• Experience with containerization and orchestration (Kubernetes preferred)
• Demonstrated ability to provide technical leadership and influence system design decisions
• Strong problem-solving and production support experience in high-availability environments