Job Description:
Role Title : AVP, Principal Software Engineer (L11)
Company Overview: Synchrony (NYSE: SYF) is a leading consumer financing company that has been at the heart of American commerce and opportunity for nearly a century. Synchrony delivers credit and banking products that empower tens of millions of consumers to improve their financial lives and access what matters most. Leveraging innovative solutions that are shaping the future of retail commerce, Synchrony supports the growth and success of some of the nation’s most respected brands, alongside hundreds of thousands of small and midsize businesses, including health and wellness providers. Committed to excellence in service and culture, Synchrony is proud to be named as #3 as a Great Place to Work® in India and is honored to be ranked the #1 Best Company to Work For® in the U.S. by Fortune magazine and Great Place to Work®. For more information, visit www.synchrony.com.
Organizational Overview
This role will be part of the Data Architecture & Analytics group in CTO organization.
The API Service team specializes in provisioning REST APIs for real time interactions with Enterprise Data Lake supporting business decision-making by designing and delivering resilient, scalable, secure and low latency solutions using cutting edge tools and cloud technologies.
The team leverages Java Spring Boot Microservice architecture with built-in advanced solutions to accomplish stability while maintaining performance across multiple platforms that provide actionable insights across various business functions. Through collaboration with cross-functional teams, the API team ensures seamless deployment and optimization of real time solutions in the Cloud Foundry.
Role Summary/Purpose
This is a people manager role. As an AVP, Principal Software Engineer, you will play a vital role leading the API Engineering team with design, architecture and implementing solutions for the products that help our clients/partners manage their finances on the go. You would be responsible for the technical success of the project while fostering a collaborative, efficient, and growth-oriented environment within the development team.
Key Responsibilities
Lead and mentor a team of data / analytics / cloud engineers, ensuring best practices in data development, testing and deployment.
Conduct in-depth data analysis to uncover insights, trends, and anomalies that support business decisions.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams including BI, data science, and business stakeholders to understand data needs and translate them into technical solutions.
Guide the team in architecting solutions involving AWS cloud components such as EMR, S3, Athena, and Lake Formation.
Support data lineage, cataloging, and metadata management efforts using tools like Apache Atlas; stay updated on emerging technologies and suggest improvements to the data platform architecture.
Required Skills/Knowledge
Minimum 6+ years of Expertise in Data Warehousing and Enterprise Data Lake architectures; strong understanding of API development in complex large-scale environments.
Minimum 4+ years of Strong SQL proficiency (complex and optimized queries for large-scale analysis/transformation) and hands-on experience with Python/PySpark; AWS EMR, S3, and Athena.
Proven people leadership: ability to lead and mentor a technical team, perform code reviews, and enforce engineering best practices.
Good understanding of AI/ML readiness for modern data/API platforms: ability to incorporate AI-assisted engineering practices (e.g., prompt-driven coding support, AI-based code review/testing assistance) and apply responsible AI principles (privacy, security, and bias awareness) while building/operating data services.
Desired Skills/Knowledge
Experience with metadata management and governance tooling such as Apache Atlas and cloud-native data engineering practices; familiarity with Lake Formation governance capabilities.
AI engineering exposure: experience integrating or supporting AI/ML workloads on data platforms (e.g., feature preparation pipelines, model inference enablement, or MLOps-style operationalization) and using AI-assisted developer tooling to improve engineering productivity and quality.
Experience with Agile project management methods and practices; AWS (or other cloud) certifications.
Eligibility Criteria
Minimum 6+ years of software development experience, with a strong understanding of various programming languages, frameworks, and technologies, and API development in complex large-scale environments.
Minimum 2+ years in a leadership role (e.g., team lead, senior developer, or architect), managing or mentoring a team of developers.
Work Timings: 3:00 PM to 12:00 AM IST
This role qualifies for Enhanced Flexibility offered in Synchrony India and will require the incumbent to be available between 06:00 AM Eastern Time – 11:30 AM Eastern Time (timings are anchored to US Eastern hours and will adjust twice a year locally). This window is for meetings with India and US teams. The remaining hours will be flexible for the employee to choose. Exceptions may apply periodically due to business needs) We are proud to offer flexibility at Synchrony. Our way of working allows you the option to work from home or workspaces in our Regional Engagement Hubs—Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata, or Delhi/NCR. Occasionally you may be required to commute or travel to Hyderabad or one of the Regional Engagement Hubs for in person engagement activities such as business or team meetings, trainings, and culture events
For Internal Applicants:
Understand the criteria or mandatory skills required for the role, before applying
Inform your manager or HRM before applying for the role on Workday
Ensure that your professional profile is updated (fields such as education, prior experience, skills) and it is mandatory to upload your updated resume (Word or PDF format)
Must not be any corrective action plan (First Formal/Final Formal, LPP)
L09 + Employees who have completed 18 months in the organization and 12 months in current role and level are only eligible
L09+ Employees can apply
Grade/Level: 11
Job Family Group:
Information TechnologySkills Required
- 6+ years expertise in Data Warehousing and Enterprise Data Lake architectures
- Strong understanding of API development in complex large-scale environments (REST APIs)
- 4+ years strong SQL proficiency (complex optimized queries) and hands-on experience with Python/PySpark
- Hands-on experience with AWS EMR, Amazon S3, and Amazon Athena
- Experience with Java Spring Boot microservice architectures and Cloud Foundry
- Proven people leadership: lead/mentor team, perform code reviews, enforce engineering best practices
- Good understanding of AI/ML readiness for data/API platforms and responsible AI principles (privacy, security, bias awareness)
- Minimum 6+ years software development experience
- Minimum 2+ years in a leadership role (team lead, senior developer, architect)
- Experience with metadata management and governance tooling such as Apache Atlas and familiarity with Lake Formation
- AI engineering exposure: integrate/support AI/ML workloads, feature pipelines, model inference enablement, or MLOps operationalization
- Experience with Agile project management methods and AWS (or other cloud) certifications
Synchrony Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Synchrony and has not been reviewed or approved by Synchrony.
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Parental & Family Support — Parental leave is described as extensive, with long paid leave for birthing parents and additional paid leave for all new parents. Backup childcare and eldercare options provide practical support for caregiving needs.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Well-being offerings are broad, spanning integrated wellness tools, dedicated well-being coaches, and an enhanced assistance program. Reimbursements for activities like fitness apps, swimming lessons, art classes, and meditation, along with pet telehealth and adult orthodontia, reinforce lifestyle support.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay practices emphasize pay equity across gender and race and a high wage floor for U.S. hourly roles. These signals aim to underpin fairness in base compensation across the organization.
Synchrony Insights
What We Do
At Synchrony (NYSE: SYF), we’re changing what’s possible for people and businesses every single day. From offering financing options to creating innovative tech, we help make shopping go smoothly across a variety of industries, like retail, auto, travel and home. Synchrony is one of the largest issuers of store credit cards in the United States. We help consumers pay over time for important expenses, issue co-branded cards for small- and medium-sized business credit products, as well as offer consumer savings products through Synchrony Bank. So, how can we change what’s possible for you?
