Software Engineer

Our Team 
Morningstar believes in empowering investors through research, data, design, and technology. Morningstar Direct (https://www.morningstar.com/products/direct) is Morningstar’s flagship software product that helps Asset and Wealth Managers build and manage their portfolios and communicate with their clients. Our team is modernizing the core Direct product using web technologies, cloud-based infrastructure, and a refreshed product strategy. Our core offering is complemented by a variety of reporting, analytical, and artificial intelligence tools.  We aim to provide a first-class experience in accessing, analyzing, and reporting on Morningstar research and data. We are deeply inquisitive; we do not take “that’s just the way it’s always been done” or “that’s just best practice” as valid answers and instead seek to fine-tune our product development process for maximum impact. We are empowered professionals who are given problems to solve and not tickets to implement. We value team productivity over individual productivity and this culture of “giving” means we enjoy and highly value collaborating with our teammates. 
 
About the Role 
We are looking for a Software Engineer who specializes in full-stack development on modern cloud-based infrastructure to join our team, grow with us, introduce us to new ideas and develop products that empower our users. You will have technical product ownership and responsibility for ensuring process and quality adherence through code reviews, test coverage and overall governance. You will act as the software guardian, owning non-functional requirements, and the quality of the code while addressing technical debt. Every day, you’ll work with team members across disciplines developing products for our clients. You will partner with product owners and designers to understand our domain and create technical solutions that push us forward. You will be a co-owner of the product, responsible for its development and overall quality.

The position is based in our Chicago office. We follow a hybrid policy of 3 days onsite and 2 days remote work.

Job Responsibilities:

• Build well designed, well-engineered, stable, scalable features and solutions for Morningstar Direct 
• Technical product ownership and responsibility to adhere to established guidelines through peer reviews for design and code, unit test results and deployment process for improving development team productivity. 
• Mentoring and leading other members of the development team. 
• Manage development projects through the whole project life cycle. 
• Enforce good engineering practices like scalable and flexible architectures, modular software design, and good testing practices. 
• Build and maintain a scalable, robust build and deployment system that allows us to quickly, frequently, and safely push changes to production.
• Apply DevOps practices in area of continuous and automated deployment. 
• Analyze and remediate production issues and build instrumentation and operational readiness into the systems architecture. 
• Solve investors’ problems with technology, understanding market chaos at work and crafting technically appropriate interactive experiences to communicate effectively with individual investors. 
• Be constantly looking for opportunities for improvement, seizing them, and then sharing your findings with others. 
• Be hyper-focused on the stability and quality of the product.

Qualifications:

• Friendly and enjoys working in a collaborative team with excellent spoken and written communication skills. Humble, honest, and to the point. 
• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience. 
• Minimum 2 years of hands-on experience in building reactive Single-Page Web Applications.
• Experience with several of the following
• Javascript application frameworks like Nuxt and Vue
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like CloudFormation and Terraform
• CI/CD tools like Jenkins, Cloudbees, and Harness
• Building and deploying containerized applications
• Linux/Unix command line tools like Homebrew, AWS CLI, git, npm, yarn, etc.
• Solid understanding of computer science fundamentals: data structures, algorithms, design patterns. 

Nice to have:

• Experience scaling web-based software applications and services. 
• An understanding of how to protect web applications and services from common security vulnerabilities. 
• Experience with Amazon Web Services technologies like CloudFront, S3, API gateway, ECS, Elastic Search, and ElastiCache 
• Experience with other modern programming languages like C#, Java, Python, etc. 
• Experience building and maintaining automated continuous deployment pipelines
• Experience building and maintaining automated testing tools

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

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.

How to Apply for a Job at Morningstar

Step 1

When you find a position you're interested in, click the 'Apply' button. Please fill out this form completely, attaching your resume and cover letter in the approved format.  Read the job requirements carefully and make sure to attach writing or design samples as required. Applicants must submit their resume and other information through our corporate website to be considered for a job at Morningstar. No phone calls, please.

Step 2

You will receive an email notification to confirm that we've received your application.

Step 3

If you are called in for an interview, a representative from Morningstar will contact you to set up a date, time, and location. Be prepared for a rigorous interview process. To make sure you're a good fit for Morningstar and we're a good fit for you, we'll schedule time for you to meet with multiple staff members at all levels of the company. Expect to return for multiple interviews as part of the process. A representative from Morningstar will contact you with the results of your interview—either with a job offer or to let you know our plans for the position.

Applicants With Disabilities Who Need Accommodation

Morningstar is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please call +1 312 384-3900 or email AskHR@morningstar.com and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.

Please note:

• We only accept calls from applicants who need accommodation related to a disability. Please, no calls with unrelated questions or requests.
• Please be sure to include the title and location of the open position you’re interested in when you leave a message.

US Applicants: Morningstar is an E-Verify program participant.

Learn more:

• This Organization Participates in E-Verify (English) - https://e-verify.uscis.gov/web/media/resourcesContents/E-Verify_Participation_Poster.pdf
• This Organization Participates in E-Verify (Spanish) - https://e-verify.uscis.gov/web/media/resourcesContents/E-Verify_Participation_Poster_ES.pdf
• Right to Work (English) - https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Verification/E-Verify/E-Verify_Native_Documents/OSC_Right_to_Work_Poster.pdf
• Right to Work (Spanish) - https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Verification/E-Verify/E-Verify_Native_Documents/OSC_Right_to_Work_Poster_ES.pdf
• EEO is the Law: https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf
• Pay Transparency Notice: https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/pdf/pay-transp_%20English_formattedESQA508c.pdf

Morningstar is strongly committed to creating and preserving equal opportunity for all employees and applicants. We make all employment decisions—including recruitment, hiring, compensation, training, promotion, transfer, discipline, termination, and other personnel matters—without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information, citizenship, gender identity and expression, parental status, or other legally protected characteristics or conduct.