Principal Engineer - Merchant Core

Company: Bank of America
Location: Charlotte
Posted on: April 2, 2026

Job Description:

Job Description: At Bank of America, we are guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better through the power of every connection. We do this by driving Responsible Growth and delivering for our clients, teammates, communities and shareholders every day. Being a Great Place to Work is core to how we drive Responsible Growth. This includes our commitment to being an inclusive workplace, attracting and developing exceptional talent, supporting our teammates’ physical, emotional, and financial wellness, recognizing and rewarding performance, and how we make an impact in the communities we serve. Bank of America is committed to an in-office culture with specific requirements for office-based attendance and which allows for an appropriate level of flexibility for our teammates and businesses based on role-specific considerations. At Bank of America, you can build a successful career with opportunities to learn, grow, and make an impact. Join us! Job Description: This job is responsible for defining and leading the engineering approach for solutions at the program or portfolio level, to deliver significant business outcomes. Key responsibilities include continuously improving the design, quality, and reuse of the solution and delivering technology enablers that improve development efficiencies for the solution. Job expectations include familiarity with at least one area of engineering, acting as a “go to” reference across the organization, and applying knowledge to improve technical competencies through recruitment and development activities. The Principal Engineer for MESH (Merchant Core) is a critical IC role responsible for owning domain expertise and low-level architecture across the MESH application portfolio. This role serves as the technical authority for a diverse technology landscape including Mulesoft, Java, Oracle PL/SQL, Pega, Tango, Kafka, reactive programming, and AI tools. The Principal Engineer provides broad influence across the organization, champions new technologies and proof-of-concepts (POCs), and ensures the entire technical stack meets enterprise standards while maximizing engineering quality and output. Responsibilities: Develops the engineering approach for the entire program/portfolio solution and works with Architecture, to develop/analyze/deliver the implementation of technical enablers Leads the planning, definition, and design of the complex features which span multiple teams and explore solution alternatives Creates ideas on designing complex technology and solution development approaches Leads the technical oversight for teams in solution development including design reviews and code within own domain Defines the technology tool stack for the solution within ranged of internally approved and supported technologies Explores state-of-the-art technologies to improve development efficiencies, quality of test/QA coverage, and release management Leads and is responsible for the end-to-end test strategy/creation/adherence, and the integration between teams for a program/portfolio solution Required Qualifications: Technical Expertise Deep expertise in Java and Spring Boot framework Strong experience with enterprise integration technologies (Mulesoft, Kafka) Proficiency in Oracle PL/SQL and database design Experience with reactive programming paradigms and event-driven architectures Knowledge of Pega, Tango, or similar enterprise platforms Understanding of design patterns, microservices architecture, and distributed systems Experience with CI/CD, DevOps practices, and cloud technologies Experience & Skills 10 years of software engineering experience with progressive technical leadership Proven track record of defining and implementing complex, enterprise-scale solutions Experience owning architecture and technical strategy across multiple technology stacks Demonstrated ability to drive POCs from concept to implementation Strong understanding of security standards, compliance requirements, and vendor management Experience working in Agile/SAFe environments and delivering across multiple PIs Excellent problem-solving skills and ability to navigate ambiguity Leadership & Communication Extreme ownership mindset with ability to drive results across teams Strong influence and collaboration skills without direct reporting authority Ability to mentor and elevate the technical capabilities of engineering teams Experience presenting technical recommendations to senior leadership Desired Qualifications: Experience with AI/ML tools and integration (Co-Pilot, ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) Background in financial services or payments domain Experience with merchant services or payment processing systems Familiarity with modern observability and monitoring tools Contributions to open-source projects or technical communities Skills: Automation Influence Result Orientation Stakeholder Management Technical Strategy Development Application Development Architecture Business Acumen Risk Management Solution Design Agile Practices Analytical Thinking Collaboration Data Management Solution Delivery Process Minimum Education Requirement: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience. Shift: 1st shift (United States of America) Hours Per Week: 40 Pay Transparency details US - CA - San Francisco - 315 Montgomery St - 315 Montgomery (CA5704) Pay and benefits information Pay range $156,500.00 - $230,000.00 annualized salary, offers to be determined based on experience, education and skill set. Discretionary incentive eligible This role is eligible to participate in the annual discretionary plan. Employees are eligible for an annual discretionary award based on their overall individual performance results and behaviors, the performance and contributions of their line of business and/or group; and the overall success of the Company. Benefits This role is currently benefits eligible. We provide industry-leading benefits, access to paid time off, resources and support to our employees so they can make a genuine impact and contribute to the sustainable growth of our business and the communities we serve.

Keywords: Bank of America, Rock Hill , Principal Engineer - Merchant Core, IT / Software / Systems , Charlotte, South Carolina