Director of Software Architecture

About the role:
Are you passionate about building the technology that shapes the future of investing? We are looking for a Director of Software Architecture to be the driving force behind Morningstar's Direct Advisory Suite, a key application on our flagship Direct Platform. This suite empowers thousands of financial advisors by streamlining their entire workflow, from deep investment research and portfolio analysis to personalized financial planning and client reporting. You will own the architectural roadmap, transforming our platform to deliver the modern, scalable, and high-performance foundation necessary to power the future of financial advice.
This role requires a hands-on technical leader with deep expertise in building enterprise-grade distributed SaaS systems, combined with a strong domain knowledge of financial services and wealth management. The ideal candidate is execution-driven, able to make architectural trade-offs, and experienced in guiding engineering teams to deliver software that meets the highest standards of performance, reliability, security, and privacy. Extensive exposure to AI solutions is a must have.
This role is based in our Chicago office and follows a hybrid schedule of at least 4 days onsite per week.
Responsibilities:

• Architecture Ownership
  • Define and maintain the architecture roadmap for Direct Advisory Suite, balancing immediate delivery with long-term scalability.
  • Closely collaborate with and guide the development of Platform Services so that all of the Direct suite of products are powered off a common architecture.
  • Establish and enforce architectural standards, design patterns, and best practices across engineering squads.
  • Drive adoption of cloud-native services, API-first design, event-driven workflows, and CI/CD practices.
  • Translate business strategy and product vision into a tangible technology roadmap, ensuring architectural decisions directly support revenue goals, market expansion, and customer satisfaction.
  • Define and govern the data architecture for the suite, ensuring efficient data flow, quality, and modeling in collaboration with enterprise data teams to maximize the value of Morningstar's proprietary data

• Execution and Delivery
  • Partner with product and engineering leaders to design solutions that support advisor workflows such as research, portfolio analysis, proposal generation, and reporting.
  • Ensure architectural decisions are practical and executable by engineering teams.
  • Conduct design and code reviews to ensure solutions are performant, secure, and maintainable.
  • Lead efforts to reduce technical debt and optimize system performance.

• Quality, Security, and Compliance
  • Embed privacy, data security, and regulatory compliance into platform design.
  • Ensure Direct Advisory Suite meets the highest standards for reliability, scalability, and performance.
  • Collaborate with enterprise security and infrastructure teams to proactively identify and mitigate risks.

• Technical Leadership
  • Mentor solution architects and senior engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence and accountability.
  • Lead technical investigations and proofs of concept for new features and technologies.
  • Provide hands-on technical guidance where needed to ensure delivery outcomes.
  • Directly manage and mentor a team of solution architects and technical leads while influencing the technical direction of an organization of dozens of engineers across multiple squads and goes.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Work with Morningstar's enterprise architecture, data, and security teams to align DAS with broader technology standards.
  • Collaborate with product leaders to ensure architectural solutions support both North American and global advisor needs.

Qualifications:

• 20+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years in architecture leadership roles.
• Proven experience delivering large-scale SaaS platforms with a focus on scalability and reliability.
• Strong expertise in cloud architectures (AWS preferred), microservices, APIs, containers, and event-driven systems.
• Hands-on experience with data security, privacy standards (e.g., GDPR, CCPA), and compliance in highly regulated industries.
• Experience with data-intensive and performance-sensitive applications.
• Strong knowledge of CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, and infrastructure-as-code.
• Exposure to financial services, wealth management, or other highly regulated domains a plus; genuine interest in learning the advisor/investment space is expected.
• Strong leadership and communication skills with the ability to guide teams through complex technical decisions.
• Master's or Bachelor's in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field; or equivalent professional experience.

Compensation and Benefits
At Morningstar we believe people are at their best when they are at their healthiest. That's why we champion your wellness through a wide-range of programs that support all stages of your personal and professional life. Here are some examples of the offerings we provide:

• Financial Health
  • 75% 401k match up to 7%
  • Stock Ownership Potential
  • Company provided life insurance - 1x salary + commission

• Physical Health
  • Comprehensive health benefits (medical/dental/vision) including potential premium discounts and company-provided HSA contributions (up to $500-$2,000 annually) for specific plans and coverages
  • Additional medical Wellness Incentives - up to $300-$600 annual
  • Company-provided long- and short-term disability insurance

• Emotional Health
  • Trust-Based Time Off
  • 6-week Paid Sabbatical Program
  • 6-Week Paid Family Caregiving Leave
  • Competitive 8-24 Week Paid Parental Bonding Leave
  • Adoption Assistance
  • Leadership Coaching & Formal Mentorship Opportunities
  • Annual Education Stipend
  • Tuition Reimbursement

• Social Health
  • Charitable Matching Gifts program
  • Dollars for Doers volunteer program
  • Paid volunteering days
  • 15+ Employee Resource & Affinity Groups

Total Cash Compensation Range
$189,900.00 - 341,825.00 USD Annual
Inclusive of annual base salary and target incentive
Morningstar's hybrid work environment gives you the opportunity to work remotely and collaborate in-person each week. While some positions are available as fully remote, we've found that we're at our best when we're purposely together on a regular basis, typically three days each week. A range of other benefits are also available to enhance flexibility as needs change. No matter where you are, you'll have tools and resources to engage meaningfully with your global colleagues.
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