Software Engineer Senior- Kafka Expert & Microservices and Web UI Angular

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Software Engineer Senior - Kafka Expert & Microservices and Web UI Angular

Company: PNC

Location: Pittsburgh, PA (with potential for Strongsville, OH; Farmers Branch, TX)

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Software Engineering / Technology Operations

Date Posted: June 14, 2026

Experience Level: Mid-Level (3+ years)

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• This Senior Software Engineer role is critical for developing and maintaining robust, scalable software solutions within PNC's Technology organization, focusing on Kafka, microservices, and Angular web UI development.

• The position involves end-to-end software development lifecycle (SDLC) activities, from detailed technical design and coding to testing, deployment, and ongoing maintenance.

• A strong emphasis is placed on designing and implementing software solutions that effectively address complex business requirements, leveraging both established and emerging technologies.

• Successful candidates will contribute to a culture of continuous improvement, risk management, and customer focus, aligning with PNC's Enterprise Risk Management Framework.

📝 Enhancement Note: While titled "Software Engineer," the explicit mention of Kafka expertise and microservices architecture points to a role with significant backend and distributed systems responsibilities, often intersecting with data engineering and operational efficiency within a financial institution. The inclusion of Angular indicates a full-stack component or strong collaboration with front-end teams. The role is firmly embedded within a financial services context, requiring an understanding of risk management and customer-centric solutions.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Provide detailed technical design and development of software solutions, integrating expertise in Kafka, microservices architecture, and Angular for web UI components.

• Propose, design, and implement innovative software solutions to address complex business needs and challenges within the financial services domain.

• Write clean, efficient, and well-documented code, conduct thorough testing, and manage the deployment of software across various environments.

• Prepare and maintain comprehensive technical and procedural documentation for all developed software solutions, ensuring knowledge transfer and maintainability.

• Actively debug, troubleshoot, and resolve software defects and issues to ensure system stability, performance, and reliability.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product managers, architects, and other engineers, to define requirements and deliver high-quality software.

• Contribute to the continuous improvement of development processes, methodologies, and tooling to enhance team efficiency and software quality.

• Ensure all software solutions adhere to PNC's Enterprise Risk Management Framework, security standards, and regulatory compliance requirements.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of hands-on development and architectural thinking. The emphasis on Kafka suggests a need for experience in building event-driven architectures, data streaming pipelines, and ensuring high availability and fault tolerance in distributed systems. Microservices imply experience with designing, building, and deploying independent, scalable services. Angular expertise is crucial for building responsive and user-friendly front-end applications.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field is required.

• Equivalent combination of education, job-specific certification(s), and relevant experience (including military service) may be considered in lieu of a degree. Experience:

• A minimum of 3+ years of relevant direct industry experience in software engineering is required for this level.

• Experience with Kafka, microservices architecture, and Angular is essential. Required Skills:

• Kafka Expertise: Proven experience in designing, developing, and managing Kafka-based data streaming solutions, including producers, consumers, topics, partitions, and Kafka Connect. Understanding of Kafka ecosystem tools and best practices for high-throughput, low-latency data processing.

• Microservices Architecture: Strong understanding and practical experience in designing, building, and deploying microservices. Knowledge of RESTful APIs, containerization (e.g., Docker), and orchestration (e.g., Kubernetes) is highly beneficial.

• Web UI Development (Angular): Proficiency in front-end development using Angular, including component-based architecture, state management, and integration with backend APIs.

• Application Development: Demonstrated ability to write efficient, maintainable, and scalable code across multiple programming languages relevant to backend and frontend development.

• Software Design & Architecture: Ability to translate business requirements into robust technical designs and architectural patterns, particularly for distributed systems.

• System Development Life Cycle (SDLC): Comprehensive understanding and practical application of the full SDLC, including Agile methodologies.

• Technical Troubleshooting: Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to diagnose and resolve complex technical issues across distributed systems.

Preferred Skills:

• Cloud Platforms: Experience with cloud environments such as AWS, Azure, or GCP for deploying and managing applications.

• CI/CD Pipelines: Familiarity with Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) tools and practices for automated software delivery.

• Database Technologies: Experience with various database systems, both relational (e.g., SQL) and NoSQL, for data persistence.

• Monitoring & Logging: Proficiency with monitoring and logging tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack) for system performance analysis and issue detection.

• Enterprise Risk Management: Understanding of risk management principles within a financial institution.

• Customer Focused Solutions: Experience in developing solutions that prioritize customer needs and satisfaction.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Preferred Skills" and "Competencies" listed in the raw data can be integrated here to provide a more comprehensive view. The "Work Experience" section provides a clear baseline for the required experience level. The emphasis on Kafka, microservices, and Angular should be highlighted as core technical requirements.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Kafka Integration Projects: Showcase instances where Kafka was used for real-time data processing, event streaming, message queuing, or building event-driven architectures. Detail the scale, throughput, and reliability achieved.

• Microservices Design & Implementation: Provide examples of microservices developed, highlighting their independent deployability, scalability, and how they interacted with other services. Include diagrams or descriptions of API design.

• Angular Application Development: Present examples of complex web applications or modules built with Angular. Demonstrate proficiency in component architecture, state management, and user experience design.

• End-to-End Solution Delivery: Include projects that illustrate the full SDLC, from initial requirements gathering and technical design through coding, testing, deployment, and ongoing maintenance.

• Process Improvement Contributions: Document instances where you identified inefficiencies in development or deployment processes and implemented solutions that improved speed, quality, or reliability.

Process Documentation:

• Workflow Design & Optimization: Candidates should be prepared to discuss how they document and optimize software development workflows, including coding standards, branching strategies, and CI/CD integration.

• System Architecture Diagrams: Ability to create and interpret detailed system architecture diagrams for microservices, Kafka pipelines, and UI integrations.

• Code Review Processes: Experience in participating in and advocating for robust code review processes to ensure code quality, security, and adherence to best practices.

• Technical Design Documents: Proficiency in creating clear and concise technical design documents that outline the proposed solution, its components, dependencies, and expected outcomes.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a senior engineering role, a portfolio is crucial. This section provides specific guidance on what kinds of projects and documentation are most relevant, focusing on the core technologies and the full development lifecycle. Demonstrating an understanding of process and documentation is key for a senior role.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $86,250.00 – $172,500.00 per year

Explanation of Range:

This salary range is based on the provided information and industry benchmarks for Senior Software Engineers with expertise in Kafka and microservices in major US metropolitan areas. The specific salary within this range will be determined by factors such as:

• Geographic Location: While Pittsburgh is listed as a primary location, the range accommodates potential differences in cost of living and market rates for Strongsville, OH, and Farmers Branch, TX.

• Candidate Experience: The depth and breadth of a candidate's experience in Kafka, microservices, Angular, and other relevant technologies.

• Skills and Qualifications: Demonstrated proficiency in required and preferred skills, as well as educational background.

• Market Data: PNC's internal compensation philosophy and external market data for similar roles.

Benefits:

PNC offers a comprehensive benefits package for full-time employees, which may include:

• Health & Wellness: Medical, prescription drug coverage (with HSA option), dental, and vision insurance; robust wellness program with financial incentives.

• Life & Disability: Employee and spouse/child life insurance; short-term and long-term disability protection.

• Retirement & Investment: 401(k) with PNC match, pension plan, and stock purchase plans.

• Family Support: Dependent care reimbursement account; back-up child/elder care; adoption, surrogacy, and doula reimbursement.

• Professional Development: Educational assistance, including select fully paid programs.

• Paid Time Off:

  • Maternity and/or parental leave.

  • Up to 11 paid holidays annually.

  • 9 occasional absence days annually (unless otherwise required by law).

  • Vacation days: 15 to 25 days annually, depending on career level and years of service. Working Hours:

• Standard full-time workweek is expected to be 40 hours.

• While PNC is an in-office company, the exact daily schedule and flexibility will be discussed with the hiring manager to ensure alignment with team needs and individual goals.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is provided. The benefits listed are extensive and typical for a large financial institution. The working hours are standard, with a note about discussing specifics with the hiring manager. The "On-site" work arrangement is explicitly stated.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Financial Services (Banking)

Company Size: Large (PNC is a major financial institution with thousands of employees globally). This scale implies a structured environment with established processes, but also opportunities for impact within large-scale projects and significant technological investment.

Founded: 1852 (PNC has a long history, indicating stability and a deep understanding of the financial markets.)

Team Structure:

• Operations Focus: While this is an engineering role, it operates within a broader Technology organization that supports critical financial operations. The team is likely structured around specific product lines, platforms, or functional areas.

• Reporting: Senior Engineers typically report to an Engineering Manager or a Lead Engineer, who in turn reports to higher levels of management within Technology.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Expect to collaborate closely with other engineering teams (frontend, backend, QA), product management, enterprise architecture, risk management, and potentially business stakeholders to ensure solutions meet business objectives and operational requirements.

Methodology:

• Agile Development: PNC likely employs Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban) for software development, emphasizing iterative development, collaboration, and rapid feedback loops.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Expect decisions to be informed by data, metrics, and risk assessments, aligning with the "Customer Focused" and "Managing Risk" competencies.

• Process Optimization: A focus on improving development, deployment, and operational processes to enhance efficiency, reliability, and scalability, especially critical for financial systems.

Company Website: https://www.pnc.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: The company context is vital for operations-minded candidates. PNC's status as a large financial institution means a strong emphasis on stability, security, compliance, and risk management, which will heavily influence technology choices and development practices. The provided "Competencies" (Customer Focused, Managing Risk) are key cultural indicators.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: Senior Software Engineer. This level signifies a high degree of technical proficiency, independent problem-solving capabilities, and the ability to mentor junior engineers. The role is expected to contribute significantly to technical design and implementation of complex systems like Kafka-based event streams and microservices.

Reporting Structure: As a Senior Software Engineer, you will likely report to a Software Engineering Manager or a Technical Lead. You will be expected to work collaboratively within a team but also independently on assigned tasks and projects.

Operations Impact:

• System Reliability & Scalability: Your work on Kafka and microservices will directly impact the reliability, scalability, and performance of critical PNC systems, essential for seamless banking operations and customer transactions.

• Efficiency & Automation: By developing efficient code and leveraging automation, you will contribute to reducing operational overhead and improving the speed of service delivery.

• Innovation: Contributing to the adoption of modern technologies like Kafka and microservices helps PNC stay competitive and deliver innovative financial products and services.

Growth Opportunities:

• Technical Specialization: Deepen expertise in Kafka, microservices, cloud-native development, and other cutting-edge technologies.

• Architectural Leadership: Progress into roles such as Software Architect, where you will define technical strategies and design complex systems.

• Team Leadership: Move into Lead Engineer or Engineering Manager positions, focusing on team mentorship, project management, and people development.

• Cross-Functional Mobility: Opportunities to move into related roles in DevOps, SRE, or even product management within the technology domain.

• Formal Training & Certifications: Access to PNC's educational assistance programs and potential for industry certifications to enhance skills.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section translates the "Software Engineer Senior" title into tangible career progression and impact within a financial operations context. Highlighting how Kafka and microservices expertise contribute to core business functions like reliability and efficiency is key for operations professionals.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: PNC is an "in-office company" that fosters a supportive culture. This implies a traditional office environment where collaboration is expected to occur physically.

Office Location(s): Primary location is Two PNC Plaza (PA374) in Pittsburgh, PA. Alternative locations include Strongsville, OH, and Farmers Branch, TX. Candidates should confirm the specific office location for their role.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The office setting is designed to encourage face-to-face collaboration, team meetings, and spontaneous knowledge sharing, which is beneficial for complex problem-solving in distributed systems.

• Technology & Tools: Access to standard corporate IT infrastructure, development tools, and potentially specialized hardware or software for Kafka and microservices development.

• Team Interaction: Regular team stand-ups, planning sessions, and code reviews will be part of the daily routine, fostering a sense of team cohesion and shared responsibility.

Work Schedule:

• A standard 40-hour workweek is typical.

• While the role is on-site, the specific daily schedule and potential for minor flexibility will be a discussion point with the hiring manager, balancing business needs with employee well-being.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "in-office" requirement is a critical detail for potential candidates. This section clarifies what that means in terms of collaboration and daily work, while also acknowledging the potential for discussing specific schedules with the hiring manager.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: HR or recruiter will conduct an initial screening to assess basic qualifications, experience, and cultural fit.

• Technical Interviews: Expect multiple rounds of technical interviews, which may include:

  • Coding Challenges: Live coding exercises focusing on algorithms, data structures, and problem-solving, potentially involving Kafka concepts or microservice design patterns.
  • System Design Interview: A discussion-based interview where you'll be asked to design a system (e.g., a real-time data processing pipeline using Kafka, a scalable microservice).
  • Kafka Deep Dive: Questions specifically targeting your experience with Kafka, including architecture, implementation, performance tuning, and troubleshooting.
  • Microservices & Angular Discussions: Conversations about your experience with microservice principles, API design, and Angular development.

• Behavioral Interview: Questions assessing your fit with PNC's culture, focusing on competencies like Customer Focus, Managing Risk, teamwork, and problem-solving.

• Hiring Manager Interview: A final discussion to assess overall fit, career aspirations, and role expectations.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Select Examples: Choose 2-3 of your strongest projects that best showcase your Kafka, microservices, and Angular expertise.

• Focus on Impact & Metrics: For each project, clearly articulate the problem statement, your role, the technical solution (especially Kafka/microservices/Angular components), and the quantifiable results or business impact. Use metrics related to performance, throughput, cost savings, or user adoption.

• Prepare a Walkthrough: Be ready to walk through your portfolio items, explaining design decisions, challenges faced, and lessons learned. Diagrams for architecture and data flow are highly recommended.

• Highlight SDLC: Demonstrate your involvement across the entire software development lifecycle, from design to deployment and maintenance.

• Tailor to PNC: Briefly mention how your skills and experience align with PNC's focus on customer satisfaction and risk management.

Challenge Preparation:

• Kafka Use Cases: Practice designing solutions for common Kafka use cases in finance, such as transaction processing, fraud detection, real-time analytics, and log aggregation.

• Microservice Design Patterns: Review patterns like API Gateway, Service Discovery, Circuit Breaker, and Saga.

• Angular Best Practices: Refresh knowledge on component communication, performance optimization, and state management in Angular.

• Problem-Solving Scenarios: Prepare to tackle complex technical problems, articulating your thought process clearly and logically.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section provides actionable advice for preparing for the interview process, with a strong emphasis on showcasing expertise in the key technologies (Kafka, microservices, Angular) and demonstrating an understanding of the financial services context.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Kafka: Apache Kafka, Kafka Streams, Kafka Connect, potentially Confluent Platform or similar managed Kafka services.

• Microservices Frameworks: Spring Boot (Java), .NET Core (C#), or Node.js (JavaScript/TypeScript) are common choices. Experience with specific frameworks will be advantageous.

• Web UI Framework: Angular is explicitly required.

• Programming Languages: Java, C#, or JavaScript/TypeScript are highly probable.

• Containerization: Docker for packaging applications.

• Orchestration: Kubernetes (K8s) or similar for managing containerized applications.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Monitoring Tools: Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana), Splunk for system performance, health, and log analysis.

• APM Tools: Application Performance Monitoring tools for in-depth performance insights.

• Data Visualization: Tools like Tableau or Power BI might be used for broader business intelligence, though engineers might focus on dashboarding within monitoring tools.

CRM & Automation:

• While not directly stated, expect integration with enterprise CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce) and potentially workflow automation tools used within PNC.

• CI/CD Tools: Jenkins, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps, or similar for automated build, test, and deployment pipelines.

• Version Control: Git (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket).

📝 Enhancement Note: This section details the likely technology stack based on the job description's core requirements (Kafka, microservices, Angular) and common practices in large financial institutions for software engineering roles. Proficiency in these tools is critical.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Customer Focus: Designing and delivering solutions that meet customer needs, ensuring a positive and reliable user experience, especially critical in financial services where trust is paramount.

• Managing Risk: A fundamental value in banking. This translates to rigorous testing, secure coding practices, adherence to compliance, and proactive identification and mitigation of potential issues.

• Integrity: Upholding ethical standards in all aspects of work, from code quality to data handling.

• Teamwork & Collaboration: Working effectively with colleagues across different teams and disciplines to achieve common goals, sharing knowledge and supporting each other.

• Innovation: While risk-averse, financial institutions also value innovation that enhances services, improves efficiency, or provides a competitive edge, often through careful adoption of new technologies like Kafka.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Expect active collaboration with business units, product managers, and other engineering disciplines to ensure alignment on requirements and delivery.

• Process-Oriented: A structured approach to development and problem-solving, valuing clear documentation, defined processes, and adherence to standards.

• Feedback Exchange: A culture that encourages constructive feedback during code reviews, design discussions, and post-project retrospectives to drive continuous improvement.

• Knowledge Sharing: Emphasis on sharing technical expertise, best practices, and lessons learned, particularly important for complex distributed systems.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section elaborates on the core values and collaboration style expected at PNC, translating them into actionable behaviors for a Senior Software Engineer, especially within the context of financial services operations.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Innovation with Risk: Introducing new technologies like Kafka and microservices into a highly regulated financial environment requires careful planning, robust testing, and strong risk mitigation strategies.

• Complex System Integration: Integrating new event-driven architectures with existing legacy systems can be technically challenging and requires deep understanding of both old and new technologies.

• Scalability and Performance: Ensuring that Kafka-based systems and microservices can handle high transaction volumes and maintain low latency under peak loads is a constant challenge.

• Maintaining Consistency: Ensuring consistency in development practices, API design, and operational standards across multiple microservices and development teams.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced Kafka & Streaming Technologies: Opportunities to master advanced Kafka features, stream processing frameworks, and related data engineering tools.

• Cloud-Native Architectures: Deepen expertise in building and deploying applications on cloud platforms using microservices and containerization.

• Financial Services Domain Knowledge: Gain a deeper understanding of the financial industry, its regulations, and specific business challenges.

• Leadership Training: Development programs for aspiring technical leads and managers within PNC's Technology organization.

• Industry Conferences & Certifications: Support for attending relevant tech conferences and pursuing certifications in areas like cloud computing, Kafka, or cybersecurity.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section proactively addresses potential challenges and frames them as opportunities for growth, providing a realistic outlook for candidates while highlighting avenues for professional development within PNC.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• Kafka System Design: "Design a real-time fraud detection system for credit card transactions using Kafka. How would you handle high throughput, ensure fault tolerance, and integrate with existing backend systems?"

  • Preparation: Focus on Kafka producers, consumers, topics, partitions, stream processing (e.g., Kafka Streams, Flink), error handling, and monitoring.

• Microservices Architecture: "Describe how you would design a scalable microservice for processing loan applications. What are the key considerations for API design, data management, and inter-service communication?"

  • Preparation: Discuss RESTful APIs, data consistency (e.g., eventual consistency), service discovery, and potential use of event-driven patterns.

• Angular Performance Optimization: "A user reports that our Angular dashboard is slow to load. What steps would you take to diagnose and optimize its performance?"

  • Preparation: Think about lazy loading, code splitting, efficient data fetching, component optimization, and change detection strategies. Company & Culture Questions:

• "How do you approach managing risk in your software development process?"

  • Preparation: Provide specific examples of how you incorporate security, testing, and compliance into your workflow.

• "Describe a time you had to collaborate with a difficult stakeholder or team member to achieve a technical goal."

  • Preparation: Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to showcase communication and conflict-resolution skills.

• "How would you ensure your development practices align with PNC's customer-centric approach?"

  • Preparation: Discuss how user experience, reliability, and meeting customer needs influence your technical decisions. Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• The "Why": Clearly articulate the business problem or need your project addressed.

• The "How": Detail your technical approach, specifically highlighting your contributions to Kafka, microservices, or Angular components. Use diagrams and architectural explanations.

• The "Impact": Quantify the results. Use metrics for performance improvements, cost savings, user adoption, or system stability.

• The "Lessons Learned": Share challenges you encountered and how you overcame them, demonstrating continuous learning and problem-solving skills.

• Conciseness: Be prepared to present your key projects within a defined timeframe (e.g., 10-15 minutes per project).

📝 Enhancement Note: This section offers specific example questions and preparation strategies tailored to the role's technical requirements and PNC's company values, providing candidates with a clear roadmap for interview success.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior Software Engineer position:

• Submit Application: Complete and submit your application through the provided link on PNC's careers portal.

• Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly highlights your experience with Kafka, microservices architecture, and Angular. Use keywords from the job description and quantify your achievements with specific metrics where possible.

• Portfolio Preparation: Curate your portfolio to showcase 2-3 relevant projects that demonstrate your expertise in Kafka, microservices, and Angular. Be ready to present these during the interview process, focusing on technical details, challenges overcome, and business impact.

• Interview Practice: Prepare for technical and behavioral interviews by reviewing common questions related to Kafka, microservices, Angular, system design, and risk management. Practice articulating your thought process clearly.

• Company Research: Familiarize yourself with PNC's business, its values (Customer Focus, Managing Risk), and its position in the financial services industry. Understand the implications of working for a large, regulated financial institution.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.