Role Title : AVP, Principal Software Engineer (L11)

Company Overview: Synchrony (NYSE: SYF) is a leading consumer financing company that has been at the heart of American commerce and opportunity for nearly a century. Synchrony delivers credit and banking products that empower tens of millions of consumers to improve their financial lives and access what matters most. Leveraging innovative solutions that are shaping the future of retail commerce, Synchrony supports the growth and success of some of the nation's most respected brands, alongside hundreds of thousands of small and midsize businesses, including health and wellness providers. Committed to excellence in service and culture, Synchrony is proud to be named as #3 as a Great Place to Work® in India and is honored to be ranked the #1 Best Company to Work For® in the U.S. by Fortune magazine and Great Place to Work®. For more information, visit www.synchrony.com.

Organizational Overview

This role will be part of the Data Architecture & Analytics group in CTO organization.

The API Service team specializes in provisioning REST APIs for real time interactions with Enterprise Data Lake supporting business decision-making by designing and delivering resilient, scalable, secure and low latency solutions using cutting edge tools and cloud technologies.

The team leverages Java Spring Boot Microservice architecture with built-in advanced solutions to accomplish stability while maintaining performance across multiple platforms that provide actionable insights across various business functions. Through collaboration with cross-functional teams, the API team ensures seamless deployment and optimization of real time solutions in the Cloud Foundry.

Role Summary/Purpose

This is a people manager role. As an AVP, Principal Software Engineer, you will play a vital role leading the API Engineering team with design, architecture and implementing solutions for the products that help our clients/partners manage their finances on the go. You would be responsible for the technical success of the project while fostering a collaborative, efficient, and growth-oriented environment within the development team.

Key Responsibilities

Lead and mentor a team of data / analytics / cloud engineers, ensuring best practices in data development, testing and deployment.
Conduct in-depth data analysis to uncover insights, trends, and anomalies that support business decisions.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams including BI, data science, and business stakeholders to understand data needs and translate them into technical solutions.
Guide the team in architecting solutions involving AWS cloud components such as EMR, S3, Athena, and Lake Formation.
Support data lineage, cataloging, and metadata management efforts using tools like Apache Atlas; stay updated on emerging technologies and suggest improvements to the data platform architecture.

Required Skills/Knowledge

Minimum 6+ years of Expertise in Data Warehousing and Enterprise Data Lake architectures; strong understanding of API development in complex large-scale environments.
Minimum 4+ years of Strong SQL proficiency (complex and optimized queries for large-scale analysis/transformation) and hands-on experience with Python/PySpark; AWS EMR, S3, and Athena.
Proven people leadership: ability to lead and mentor a technical team, perform code reviews, and enforce engineering best practices.
Good understanding of AI/ML readiness for modern data/API platforms: ability to incorporate AI-assisted engineering practices (e.g., prompt-driven coding support, AI-based code review/testing assistance) and apply responsible AI principles (privacy, security, and bias awareness) while building/operating data services.

Desired Skills/Knowledge

Experience with metadata management and governance tooling such as Apache Atlas and cloud-native data engineering practices; familiarity with Lake Formation governance capabilities.
AI engineering exposure: experience integrating or supporting AI/ML workloads on data platforms (e.g., feature preparation pipelines, model inference enablement, or MLOps-style operationalization) and using AI-assisted developer tooling to improve engineering productivity and quality.
Experience with Agile project management methods and practices; AWS (or other cloud) certifications.

Eligibility Criteria

Minimum 6+ years of software development experience, with a strong understanding of various programming languages, frameworks, and technologies, and API development in complex large-scale environments.
Minimum 2+ years in a leadership role (e.g., team lead, senior developer, or architect), managing or mentoring a team of developers.

Work Timings: 3:00 PM to 12:00 AM IST

This role qualifies for Enhanced Flexibility offered in Synchrony India and will require the incumbent to be available between 06:00 AM Eastern Time – 11:30 AM Eastern Time (timings are anchored to US Eastern hours and will adjust twice a year locally). This window is for meetings with India and US teams. The remaining hours will be flexible for the employee to choose. Exceptions may apply periodically due to business needs) We are proud to offer flexibility at Synchrony. Our way of working allows you the option to work from home or workspaces in our Regional Engagement Hubs—Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata, or Delhi/NCR. Occasionally you may be required to commute or travel to Hyderabad or one of the Regional Engagement Hubs for in person engagement activities such as business or team meetings, trainings, and culture events

For Internal Applicants

Understand the criteria or mandatory skills required for the role, before applying
Inform your manager or HRM before applying for the role on Workday
Ensure that your professional profile is updated (fields such as education, prior experience, skills) and it is mandatory to upload your updated resume (Word or PDF format)
Must not be any corrective action plan (First Formal/Final Formal, LPP)
L09 + Employees who have completed 18 months in the organization and 12 months in current role and level are only eligible
L09+ Employees can apply

Grade/Level: 11

Job Family Group

Information Technology