Lead Full Stack Java Software Engineer – Digital Banking Platform

Location: Buffalo, NY

Remote Type: Hybrid Position

Time Type: Full time

Job Description

This role sits on a high‑visibility, agile engineering team building a next‑generation digital banking platform from the ground up. You’ll join a tight‑knit team of 5–7 engineers operating in a true product model—partnering closely with a product owner, scrum master, QA, and business systems analysts—where engineers have real ownership over design, delivery, and technical direction.

 

As a Lead Software Engineer, you’ll work hands‑on across mobile and full‑stack technologies while helping move digital banking customers onto a modern cloud platform. This is not a maintenance role. It’s an opportunity to influence architecture, shape engineering practices, and build new capabilities end‑to‑end on a program with strong leadership visibility and long‑term strategic impact.

 

At the expert level, you are responsible for writing high‑quality code while guiding the team’s technical approach—from requirements through deployment—ensuring solutions are resilient, secure, and aligned with banking technology standards across the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC).

 

Primary Responsibilities

• Serve as a hands‑on technical leader, spending the majority of your time (approximately 80%) designing and developing software while mentoring and coaching other engineers.
• Design, develop, and maintain applications in alignment with approved SDLC processes, emphasizing clean, resilient, and well‑tested code that minimizes risk to the Bank.
• Lead technical design discussions and architecture sessions, contributing ideas and recommendations to application architecture, engineering practices, and design patterns.
• Review, approve, and provide guidance on pull requests, technical designs, and proposed changes, ensuring quality, stability, and maintainability.
• Establish and coach best practices for code reviews, code quality, testing, and continuous improvement.
• Author organized, efficient, secure source code at an expert level in at least one programming language, with professional proficiency in at least one additional language.
• Guide team members on appropriate data structures, algorithms, and technical approaches to solve business problems.
• Oversee source control management activities, including reviewing merges and ensuring code is properly integrated into the production deployment path.
• Review testing strategies and code coverage to ensure comprehensive validation, and coach team members on opportunities to improve test quality.
• Drive adherence to engineering patterns and practices related to performance testing, resiliency, scalability, and optimization.
• Partner with delivery teams to review and approve technical requirements, ensuring completeness, accuracy, and feasibility.
• Collaborate across teams and domains, recommending process or architectural improvements where technical concerns warrant change.
• Communicate architecture, progress, risks, and challenges clearly to both technical and business stakeholders.
• Present team work at internal forums, architecture reviews, and peer group meetings; contribute to internal knowledge sharing through documentation or blog posts.
• Understand and comply with the Company’s risk, regulatory, and internal control standards, escalating risk‑related issues as appropriate.
• Promote a culture of belonging that reflects the M&T Bank brand.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

 

Technical Environment & Experience Highlights

Successful candidates will bring strong hands‑on experience and curiosity across modern technologies, including:

• Mobile development experience (strongly preferred), with exposure to:
• Full‑stack experience, including:
  • Front‑end frameworks such as Angular
  • Hands‑on API development
  • Java and Spring Boot exposure
• Modern engineering practices, including:
  • CI/CD pipelines
  • Git‑based source control (e.g., GitLab)
  • Performance, resiliency, and reliability engineering
• Working knowledge of databases and distributed systems
• Comfort working across multiple languages and value streams, with the ability to learn quickly and adapt

 

 

Education and Experience Required

• Associate’s degree and a minimum of 7 years’ systems analysis and/or application development work experience or Bachelor's degree and a minimum of 5 years' systems analysis and/or application development work experience. In lieu of a degree, a combined minimum of 9 year’s education and/or relevant work experience, including a minimum of 5 years’ system analysis and/or application development work experience.
• Full‑stack development experience, including front‑end frameworks such as Angular
• Hands‑on API development and integration experience
• Experience with Java and Spring Boot–based services
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and modern DevOps practices
• Experience using Git‑based source control (e.g., GitLab)
• Working knowledge of databases, performance optimization, and resilient system design

 

 

Education and Experience Preferred

• Hands‑on mobile development experience including Kotlin, Java, and/or Swift
• Expert analytical and problem‑solving skills specific to application development
• Experience working in agile, collaborative team environments
• Ability to work autonomously while balancing multiple complex initiatives
• Strong organizational and time‑management skills
• Advanced written and verbal communication skills
• Experience driving project milestones and delivery timelines
• Proven experience leading technical initiatives or projects
• Experience partnering with and presenting to both technology and business stakeholders

#LI-JB3

M&T Bank is committed to fair, competitive, and market-informed pay for our employees. The pay range for this position is $116,400.00 - $194,000.00 Annual (USD). The successful candidate’s particular combination of knowledge, skills, and experience will inform their specific compensation.

Location

Buffalo, New York, United States of America