Applications Developer - IV

Job Title: Applications Developer - IV Location: Des Moines, IA (preferred) or Boston, MA Pay: Competitive, based on experience Position Overview The Senior Developer role partners with the FP&A team and IT data team to design, build, and optimize the FP&A Forecasting and Reporting processes. This position will be accountable for developing and maintaining high-performance components, ensuring the processes scale effectively with complex calculations and large data volumes. You will be a key member of the FP&A Transformation, helping to build a calculation and forecast modeling platform to support a growing, high pace firm. You will act as a technical leader, bringing deep engineering expertise while working closely with FP&A, Investment, Actuarial and data specialists to ensure the processes deliver robust, efficient, and production-grade solutions. Key Responsibilities Platform Development & Optimization Lead the design, development, and optimization of core code base using Python and Python-based compute environments (e.g., Jupyter, VS Code, Databricks). Collaborate with FP&A and data teams to integrate FP&A forecasting models, analytics, and data pipelines. Ensure computational performance, scalability, and reliability across FP&A workloads. Drive technical innovation, including use of compute grids, data vectors, and AI-based methods where relevant. Collaboration & Support Partner with FP&A and external consultants to deliver performant model execution and tooling. Provide technical guidance on backlog items and requirements for IT Data and supporting teams. Serve as a senior escalation point for critical incidents, providing Tier-3 expertise when needed. Governance & Best Practices Establish and champion engineering standards, testing practices, and performance monitoring. Contribute to platform documentation, run books, and knowledge-sharing initiatives. Mentor junior developers and data engineers, raising engineering maturity across the team. Ensure ongoing maintenance, upgrades, and optimizations are delivered with minimal disruption. Education An undergraduate or advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent combination of education and experience). Skills Expert Python skills with proven experience in building high-performance, data-intensive systems. Strong understanding of Life & Annuity data, financial models, or large-scale computational engines. Deep knowledge of data management and integration in hybrid cloud ecosystems (AWS / Snowflake). Hands-on experience with compute parallelization and performance optimization techniques. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; ability to interface effectively with FP&A and program leadership stakeholders. Strong leadership qualities: mentoring, influencing, and guiding technical direction across teams. Experience 10 years in professional software engineering, with significant hands-on Python development. Demonstrated success building or maintaining financial modeling or large-scale computational systems. Experience working with investment banks and/or within life and annuity insurance domains is highly desirable. Proven track record in data-driven platforms, large-scale computation, or advanced analytics. Experience with DevOps practices and ability to explain them to business users. Desirable: Cloud ecosystem expertise (AWS, Azure, Redshift) Familiarity with AI/ML integration in computational systems Experience in data visualization and reporting