Lead Software Engineer - Java/AI, Vice President Software Engineering

Lead Software Engineer(Java/AI)_Vice President_Software Engineering

We are seeking an experienced Lead Software Engineer (Java/AI) to join the MS at Work Technology organization. This role will be responsible for leading the design, development, modernization, and delivery of scalable enterprise platforms supporting stock plan administration, participant experience, workplace intelligence, and related financial technology solutions.

In the Technology division, we leverage innovation to build the connections and capabilities that power our Firm, enabling our clients and colleagues to redefine markets and shape the future of our communities.

Since 1935, Morgan Stanley is known as a global leader in financial services, always evolving and innovating to better serve our clients and our communities in more than 40 countries around the world.

As a senior technology leader, you will combine strong hands-on engineering expertise with technical leadership, people management, architectural governance, and strategic delivery responsibilities. You will collaborate closely with business stakeholders, product managers, architects, and global engineering teams to drive innovation, operational excellence, and AI-first software development practices.

What You'll Do

• Lead the architecture, design, and modernization of critical MS at Work platforms and services.
• Drive the adoption of modern engineering practices, AI-assisted development, and platform engineering.
• Partner with product owners, business stakeholders, and senior leadership to define technology roadmaps and deliver strategic initiatives.
• Build and scale highly available, secure, and performant enterprise applications supporting millions of transactions and users.
• Lead, mentor, and grow teams of software engineers across multiple initiatives.
• Establish engineering standards, design principles, development guidelines, and operational excellence practices.
• Provide technical leadership during architecture reviews, design discussions, and critical production incidents.
• Drive modernization initiatives involving microservices, event-driven architecture, observability, and automation.
• Collaborate with global teams across India, North America, and other regions to ensure successful execution and delivery.
• Champion AI-first development practices including Copilot, Agentic AI, Spec-Driven Development, and engineering productivity initiatives.
• Influence hiring, talent development, succession planning, and engineering culture.
• Ensure compliance with security, risk, regulatory, and governance requirements.

What You'll Bring to the Role

• 12-15 years of software engineering experience.
• At least 6+ years in technical leadership roles
• Strong expertise in Core Java, Java EE, Spring Boot,  Spring Framework, Scala and enterprise application development.
• Deep understanding of microservices architecture, Domain-Driven Design (DDD), RESTful services, and distributed systems.
• Strong knowledge of Object-Oriented Design, design patterns, SOLID principles, and clean architecture.
• Experience building event-driven systems using technologies such as Kafka, JMS, or similar messaging platforms.
• Strong hands-on experience with relational databases including Oracle, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, or Snowflake.
• Expertise in database design, performance tuning, query optimization, indexing, data modelling, and data governance.
• Experience implementing observability solutions using Grafana, OpenTelemetry, Dynatrace, Splunk, or similar platforms.
• Strong experience with testing frameworks including JUnit, Mockito, BDD/TDD, integration testing, and automated quality engineering.

AI & Modern Engineering

• Experience with Generative AI, Agentic AI, LLM-based applications, and AI-powered engineering tools.
• Strong prompting skills and understanding of AI-assisted software development workflows.
• Experience with Spec-Driven Development, AI-enabled design reviews, automated code generation, and developer productivity tooling.
• Passion for adopting emerging technologies and driving continuous innovation.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM MORGAN STANLEY:

At Morgan Stanley, we raise, manage and allocate capital for our clients – helping them reach their goals. We do it in a way that’s differentiated – and we’ve done that for 90 years.  Our values - putting clients first, doing the right thing, leading with exceptional ideas, committing to diversity and inclusion, and giving back - aren’t just beliefs, they guide the decisions we make every day to do what's best for our clients, communities and more than 80,000 employees in 1,200 offices across 42 countries. At Morgan Stanley, you’ll find an opportunity to work alongside the best and the brightest, in an environment where you are supported and empowered. Our teams are relentless collaborators and creative thinkers, fueled by their diverse backgrounds and experiences. We are proud to support our employees and their families at every point along their work-life journey, offering some of the most attractive and comprehensive employee benefits and perks in the industry. There’s also ample opportunity to move about the business for those who show passion and grit in their work.

To learn more about our offices across the globe, please copy and paste https://www.morganstanley.com/about-us/global-offices​ into your browser.

Morgan Stanley is an equal opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining a workforce that is diverse in experience and background.  Our recruiting efforts reflect our strong commitment to a culture of inclusion, where individuals are hired, developed, and advanced based on their skills and talents.

Our workforce reflects a broad cross-section of the global communities in which we operate, bringing a variety of backgrounds, talents, perspectives, and experiences.

For more information, please visit: https://www.morganstanley.com/people-opportunities/eeo.