Investment Systems Application Engineer – IV

Vanguard Job Opportunity

Investment Systems Application Engineer – IV

Location(s) Oakland, CA, US . Charlotte, NC, US

Work model Hybrid

Date posted October 6, 2026

Job requisition 178486

Vanguard Personalized Indexing (VPI) is a rapidly growing business within Financial Advisor Services. We enable financial advisors to deliver tax‑efficient, customized direct indexing portfolios at scale. Our platform manages thousands of investor accounts and evaluates portfolios daily to support tax‑loss harvesting, customization, and investment research workflows. VPI operates at the intersection of investment management, cloud‑native platforms, and advanced analytics engineering. The technology we build directly supports investment research, portfolio construction, and data‑driven decision‑making that impacts client outcomes.

Job description

Benefits and rewards

We are seeking a full‑stack engineer with strong UI specialization to help build the next generation of user interfaces for VPI—supporting portfolio managers, operations teams, and investment workflows. The ideal candidate brings experience building user interfaces for investment or wealth management systems and has a strong understanding of investment workflows and user needs across front, middle, and back office functions.

Core Responsibilities

UI / Front‑End Engineering

Design and build modern, responsive user interfaces for investment workflows Develop rich, data‑driven applications supporting portfolio analysis and operations Create reusable UI components and design patterns

Full‑Stack Development

Develop end‑to‑end features spanning UI, APIs, and backend services Provides expert level system analysis, design, development, and implementation of investment applications and databases Integrates third party products. Ensures that expected application performance levels are achieved Ensure performance, scalability, and usability across applications

Product & User Experience

Partner with business stakeholders (PMs, Ops, Research) to translate requirements into user‑centric designs Thoroughly understands client investment business functions and technology needs Improve usability and efficiency of workflows replacing legacy/manual processes Support iterative development and continuous feedback loops

Cloud & Engineering Practices

Build applications deployed on AWS using modern CI/CD practices Ensure code quality, testing, and maintainability Contribute to architectural discussions and UI platform evolution Is well versed on the latest technologies and tools supporting software development in the industry

SDLC

Ensures the viability of investment systems IT deliverables. Conducts testing, including functionality, technical limitations, and security Elevates code into the development, test, and production environments on schedule. Provides follow up production support Participates in design, code, and test inspections throughout the life cycle to identify issues. Explains technical considerations at related meetings, including those with internal clients. Performs systems analysis activities Develops broad and deep understanding of Vanguard's technologies, tools, and applications, including those that interface with business area and systems Complies with Information Technology and Information Security policies and procedures, and verifies that deliverables meet requirements Participates in special projects and performs other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• Minimum of eight years related work experience, with at least 5+ years of software engineering experience building investment, wealth management, or financial applications

• Undergraduate degree in a related field

• Strong front‑end development experience (modern frameworks such as Angular or React)

• Experience building full‑stack applications (Java/Python backend)

• Solid understanding of investment workflows and user personas (portfolio managers, trading operations, research analysts)

• Understanding of API design and integration

• Experience working with cloud‑native systems (AWS preferred)

• Ability to contribute as a individual contributor while guiding design decisions

• Special Factors

• Sponsorship

• Vanguard is offering visa sponsorship for this position.

• About Vanguard

• At Vanguard, we don't just have a mission—we're on a mission.

• To work for the long-term financial wellbeing of our clients. To lead through product and services that transform our clients' lives. To learn and develop our skills as individuals and as a team. From Malvern to Melbourne, our mission drives us forward and inspires us to be our best.

• Future of Work

• During the pandemic, we transitioned to a work from home model for the majority of our crew and we continue to interview, hire, and on-board future crew remotely.

• As we have developed the path forward, we have taken a thoughtful approach that both maximizes the advantages of working remotely and the many benefits of coming together and collaborating in a shared workspace. We believe that in-person interactions among our crew are important for preserving our unique culture and advantageous for the personal development of our crew.

• When our Crew return to the office, many will work in our hybrid model. A smaller proportion of our crew will operate in the Work from Home work model (for example, field sales crew); or in the Work from Office model (for example, portfolio managers).

• The working model that your role falls into will be communicated to you in the interview process – please do ask if you are unsure. We encourage you to make the decision regarding your job interview and offer knowing which model your role will fall into. We will test and learn as our ways of working evolve and will continue to evaluate working models along the way.

Salary Range:

• $100,000.00 – $180,000.00

• Our commitment to you

• Vanguard takes the same long-term view of your success—at work and in life—with Benefits and Rewards packages that reflect what you care about, throughout all the phases and stages of your life.

Our Total Rewards programs provide you and your loved ones with wellness support for key areas in your life:

• Financial wellness

• Physical wellness

• Personal wellness

• Learn more about our complete benefits and rewards package

• Our commitment to equal employment opportunity

• Vanguard is an equal opportunity employer. Vanguard is committed to providing all crew members a working environment that is free from discrimination, prejudice and bias. Through this Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy, Vanguard reaffirms its commitment to equal employment opportunity for all applicants and crew members without regard to race, color, national origin or ancestry, religion, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital status, veteran or military status. In addition, Vanguard prohibits discrimination based on genetic information, as well as any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.

• Applicants with disabilities may be entitled to reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act and certain state or local laws. A reasonable accommodation is a change in the way things are normally done which will ensure an equal employment opportunity without imposing undue hardship on Vanguard. Please inform careers if you need assistance completing this application or to otherwise participate in the application process.

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