Director, Software Development/Engineering

Job description

About the Role: Grade Level (for internal use): 13The Role: Technical Lead, Microservices Transformation The Team: Establish FRA Prototype Team & Delivery Approach A full-scale microservices transformation of the S&P Global’s Financial Risk Analytics product, pre-AI, was expected to require a large pool of technology roles across architecture, engineering, platform, security, operations, and delivery. For the initial FRA prototype transformation, we want to stand up a lean, generative-AI enabled transformation squad with a focused team structure sized to deliver a validated microservices foundation. The objective is to establish an agile technology transformation group to design and deliver a commercially aligned, targeted microservices architecture for the FRA platform, prioritizing measurable business outcomes and rapid learnings. Responsibilities and Impact: • Spearhead the transformation of legacy platforms into a modern, scalable microservices architecture, shaping a critical technology evolution with direct business impact. • Own the technical vision for service decomposition, API strategy, domain boundaries, and integration patterns, ensuring alignment with target architecture principles. • Lead engineering squads through end-to-end delivery, driving high standards in solution design, code quality, technical decision-making, and execution discipline. • Champion API-first and event-driven architecture patterns to build resilient, high-performing services that meet demanding scalability, reliability, and operational needs. • Direct complex migration strategies using Strangler Fig approaches, anti-corruption layers, and phased service extraction to reduce risk while accelerating modernization. • Influence enterprise engineering maturity by embedding security, observability, and DevOps standards, while contributing to architecture governance and long-term technology roadmaps. What We’re Looking For: Key qualifications for the job • 16+ years software engineering experience inc. generative-AI development • Strong Java/.NET/Python/Node background • Cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP) • Microservices architecture and API design Key soft skills • Influencing and stakeholder alignment — this role sits between architecture, engineering, product, and legacy system owners. The individual must align competing priorities, build confidence in migration decisions, and bring both technical and non-technical stakeholders with them. • Leading through ambiguity — Microservices transformation is rarely linear. The role requires someone who can make sound decisions with incomplete information, balance short-term delivery with long-term architecture goals, and create clarity for teams in complex environments. • Coaching and technical leadership — Beyond being technically strong, this person must elevate others: mentoring engineers, guiding squads through difficult design choices, and creating a culture of engineering discipline, accountability, and continuous improvement. • Pragmatism and change resilience — Legacy modernisation involves trade-offs, setbacks, and organisational resistance. The right leader needs resilience, sound judgement, and the ability to adapt plans without losing momentum or compromising architectural integrity. Additional key qualifications for the job • AKS (Azure Kubernetes Service) • AWS Kinesis Data Streams • Layered Architecture • Monolithic transactional architecture Additional soft skills • Systems Thinking Across Distributed Architecture — Ability to understand and communicate how Kubernetes, Kafka, CQRS, and SAGA-based workflows interact across service boundaries, operational environments, and failure scenarios. This is essential for making sound design decisions in a highly distributed estate where local changes can create platform-wide impact. • Facilitation of Domain Alignment — Strong facilitation skills to bring engineers, architects, product, and business stakeholders to clear agreement on bounded contexts, domain ownership, event contracts, and service responsibilities. This is especially important in DDD-led transformation, where weak alignment creates duplication, coupling, and unclear accountability. • Pragmatic Decision-Making Under Ambiguity — Confidence to make balanced technical choices where there is no perfect answer—such as when to use choreography vs orchestration in SAGA patterns, where CQRS is justified, or how far to push platform standardisation in Kubernetes. The role requires judgement that balances architectural purity with delivery speed, operability, and business risk. • Cross-Team Influence and Operational Collaboration — Ability to build trust and drive alignment across engineering, platform, security, and operations teams, particularly where Kafka reliability, Kubernetes deployment models, observability, and resilience engineering must be shared responsibilities. Success in this role depends on influencing across teams, not just leading within one squad. About S&P Global Market IntelligenceAt S&P Global Market Intelligence, a division of S&P Global we understand the importance of accurate, deep and insightful information. Our team of experts delivers unrivaled insights and leading data and technology solutions, partnering with customers to expand their perspective, operate with confidence, and make decisions with con