Lead Software Engineer

Being a traditional bank just isn’t our thing. We are big believers in innovating the banking experience because we believe Canadians deserve better options, and we challenge ourselves and our teams to creatively transform what’s possible in banking. Our team is made up of inquisitive and agile minds that find smarter ways of doing things. If you’re not afraid of taking on big challenges and redefining the future, you belong with us. You’ll get to work with people who will encourage you to reach new heights. We like to keep things fun, ask questions and learn together.
We are a big (and growing!) family. Overall we serve more than 670,000 people across Canada through Equitable Bank, Canada's Challenger Bank™, and have been around for more than 50 years. Equitable Bank's wholly-owned subsidiary, Concentra Bank, supports credit unions across Canada that serve more than six million members. Together we have over $125 billion in combined assets under management and administration, with a clear mandate to drive change in Canadian banking to enrich people's lives. Our customers have named our EQ Bank digital platform (eqbank.ca) one of the top banks in Canada on the Forbes World's Best Banks list since 2021.

Equitable has transformed to a hybrid-agile delivery methodology with cross-functional Pods dedicated to launching new products, features, and ongoing business value for portfolios. The Software Developer Lead is an exciting role at Equitable which is accountable to lead and manage Pod delivery. Our vision is that the Lead and their Pod should be empowered and autonomous to drive production changes, with broader support from shared services teams such as Dev Ops & Release Management, Infrastructure, and Security.

The Software Developer Lead will be partnered with a Product Owner and Project Manager to drive the team to complete Discovery & Planning (initiation, scoping and planning), design & build Sprints, solution testing/hardening, releases to production, and ongoing build-measure-learn releases. As the Lead for the Pod, the Software Developer Lead will work with the team to set the approach for how the team will deliver code, including tailoring the Bank’s methodology and artefacts. The Lead will work with the core leads to provide status updates based on delivery progress, velocity/trends, quality, RAID, and impediments.

The incumbent will ensure that the solution being delivered is cohesive and meets intended business value across the collaborative team of BAs, Developers, QA / Automated QA and external Technology partners as required. In addition to project delivery, the Lead Software Developer and Pod team will also manage, plan and deliver backlog enhancements and fixes as ongoing releases for the aligned business portfolio.

While not a direct manager, using their experience, the Software Developer Lead will be required to train, guide, coach and/or mentor those in the Pod.
Main Activities:
Plan and design software solutions in accordance to business requirements; Participate in all relevant meetings, collaborate with Manager and Architect, and partner with Project Managers and Product Owners to technically lead the team
Identify, scope, communicate and develop code at all levels of technology stack, from DB backend to complete user experience front end
Follow SDLC guidelines and best practices (from planning to production troubleshooting)
Adhere to planned timelines, MVP/ Release plans, and delivery roadmap
Create design artifacts and provide your feedback to business stakeholders, producing architecture documents, technical specs, and feature documentation
Participate in group and peer code review sessions, providing your feedback
Co-facilitate Agile ceremonies (with Scrum Managers), including story-point estimation, story elaboration, sprint grooming, task assignment & management to completion, retrospectives, etc
Coordinate with shared service teams, such as Dev Ops, Infrastructure, & Security to release changes to production
Measure build progress, velocities, trends and quality to provide delivery status updates
Drive continuous improvements within the Pod delivery and support overarching improvements towards the technology delivery methodology, tools and processes
Let’s Talk About You
Minimum 7 years’ experience in complex software design in multi-tier environments, including:
o Java Spring
o Code analysis
o Cloud deployments
o Microservice oriented architectures
o DB design and performance (from code perspective)
o Remote debugging and troubleshooting
Minimum 5 years’ experience in the financial services industry
Experience with Services Oriented Architecture and RESTful Architecture, web services
Post-secondary degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical degree or equivalent experience is required
Familiar with Atlassian tools, including JIRA workflow
Excellent interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills
Ability to organize and coordinate senior resources with cross-functional skillsets as a holistic group with close collaboration and cooperation
Experience working in a highly collaborative and customer-centric environment

Additional desirable skills include:
Knowledge of Microsoft Azure and Data Factory services
Experience in Microsoft Power Platform – PowerApps, Power Automate, and Power BI
Experience working with SharePoint Online and utilizing Power Apps and Power Automate to extend SharePoint functionality
Experience working with data-intensive high-volume ETL applications
Experience with messaging services, such as Event Hub, Service Bus, Kafka, Spring Cloud Stream, RabbitMQ, JMS, or similar
Expertise with Confluence and JIRA
What we offer [For full-time permanent roles]
\uD83D\uDCB0 Competitive discretionary bonus
✨ Market leading RRSP match program
\uD83E\uDE7A Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability benefits
\uD83D\uDCDD Employee Share Purchase Plan
\uD83D\uDC76\uD83C\uDFFD Maternity/Parental top-up while you care for your little one
\uD83C\uDFDD Generous vacation policy and personal days
\uD83D\uDDA5 Virtual events to connect with your fellow colleagues
\uD83C\uDF+3 Annual professional development allowance and a comprehensive Career Development program
\uD83D\uDC+B A fulfilling opportunity to join one of the top FinTechs and help create a new kind of banking experience

The incumbent will be working hybrid and in office time will be spent working from Equitable Bank’s additional office space located at 351 King Street East, Toronto, ON.
Equitable Bank is deeply committed to inclusion. Our organization is stronger and our employees thrive when we honour and celebrate everyone’s diverse experiences and perspectives. In tandem with that commitment, we support and encourage our staff to grow not just in their career path, but personally as well.

We commit to providing a barrier-free recruitment process and work environment for all applicants. Please let us know of any accommodations needed so that you can bring your best self to the application process and beyond. All candidates considered for hire must successfully pass a criminal background check and credit check to qualify for hire. While we appreciate your interest in applying, an Equitable recruiter will only contact leading candidates whose skills and qualifications closely match the requirements of the position.
We can’t wait to get to know you!