Principal Software Engineer

Avant is seeking a driven Principal Software Engineer to help us build the future of consumer lending. We provide personal loans and credit cards to millions of customers across the US, empowering them to take control of their financial futures. If you're passionate about leveraging technology to drive innovation and make a real impact on people's lives, this is the perfect opportunity for you.
 

What you’ll do at Avant

• Architect, design, and develop scalable and robust solutions for Avant’s credit card and loan servicing products and services

• Partner with Engineering Managers and other engineering leadership teams and Principal Engineers to build the architectural vision and roadmap to improve system architecture and scale our systems

• Work with Product Manager and other stakeholders to design features to improve our customer experience and internal operations

• Work with engineering peers of various seniority to maintain and enhance Avant digital servicing platform and continuously improve the system performance and maintainability 

• Build and improve observability and monitoring to enhance operational efficiency of our platform

• Build and improve system CI/CD pipeline and test automation systems to reduce cycle time and increase feature delivery velocity

Why you’re a fit at Avant

• 8+ years of experience as a Software Engineer with a strong track record of delivering high-quality software solutions

• BS/MS in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent experience

• Strong experience with microservices and event-driven architecture design and best practices. 

• Excellent problem-solving abilities and a passion for performance optimization.

• Extensive experience with Kafka (producers, consumers, topics, partitions, and stream processing).

• Deep knowledge of asynchronous processing and message queuing patterns.

• Solid experience with back-end development using languages like Python or Ruby

• Strong understanding of database systems, both relational (e.g., PostgreSQL) and NoSQL (e.g., MongoDB, Cassandra)

• Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure, and containerization technologies like Docker and Kubernetes

• Strong background in designing and implementing distributed systems

• Strong experience with observability and monitoring and incident management processes

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with technical and non-technical stakeholders

• Familiarity with Agile/Scrum methodologies and experience working in collaborative, fast-paced environments

Nice to Haves

• Experience with GraphQL, gRPC, or WebSockets.

• Familiarity with Apache Flink, Spark, or other stream processing frameworks.

• Background in CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Ansible, Helm).

• Experience in highly regulated industries

This role is based on our downtown Chicago Office, located in the Merchandise Mart. We highly value collaboration and our hybrid schedule (M, T, Th in-office) enables flexibility to balance work and individual priorities.

Compensation Range:
The base salary range for this job is USD $150,000 - USD $210,000 / Year

Employees new to Avant typically come in below the midpoint of the pay range. The compensation range is based on the level outlined in the job posting, and compensation decisions are dependent on each applicant's experience, skills and abilities. 

[If an outstanding applicant's experience and skill level is above or below the qualifications outlined in the job posting, we reserve the right to make an offer at a different level than the one listed in this job posting, which may have a different compensation range.]

This role is eligible for additional incentives, including an annual bonus. These rewards are allocated based on level, impact and performance in the role.

Our benefits include:

• Choice of great Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance Plan options

• 401(k) match

• Flexible Time Off

• Flexible Work Environment - (i.e. Mon/Tues/Thurs in-person)

• Generous Paid Parental Leave, Adoption Assistance and Post-parental leave ramp-up program 

• Lunch Allowance (Fooda) and In-office Snacks

• Summer Fridays 

• Fun In-Office and Virtual Social Events

• And who doesn’t love the swag

Check out our Avant Blog!

We believe that a diverse set of backgrounds and experiences helps us create the most innovative solutions for our customers. We invite you to apply to our positions even if you do not meet 100% of the qualifications listed in the description. If you’re passionate about our mission and aligned to our values, we hope you’ll come contribute to our awesome culture.

Why Avant is the place for you:

At Avant, we believe our values make a difference:

Authenticity. We show up to work as our whole selves and make sure others can too.

Collaboration. We can only succeed when we do so as a team.

Problem-Solving. The harder the problem, the more satisfying the solution.

Customer. We are all owners of the customer experience.

Initiative. Plan. Adapt. Get Sh!t Done.

We believe that great ideas come from anyone and anywhere, that everyone is an owner who drives change, and that we have more fun when we work together. We're problem solvers who love collaborating with intelligent and highly-motivated people to reshape the face of digital banking. Avant offers terrific perks and benefits, fun social events with employees who actually like hanging out together, and a flexible growth environment where trying your hand at new projects and being the active owner of your career path is encouraged and supported.