Principal Software Engineer

Questrade Financial Group (QFG), through its companies - Questrade, Questbank, Questrade Wealth Management, Community Trust Company, Zolo, and Flexiti, provides securities and foreign currency investment, professionally managed investment portfolios, mortgages, real estate services, financial services and more. We use cutting-edge technology to help Canadians become much more financially successful and secure.

At QFG, we combine human-centric collaboration with AI-driven innovation to redefine financial services. The ideal candidate will be a catalyst for change, using AI to transform and deliver unparalleled customer experiences and shaping a future where AI empowers our teams to do their best work.

Join our diverse, inclusive, and hybrid workplace to unleash your creativity and nurture your curiosity without limits. If you share this sense of infinite possibility, come shape your future at QFG.

What’s in it for you as an employee of QFG?

• Health & wellbeing resources and programs

• Paid vacation, personal, and sick days for work-life balance

• Competitive compensation and benefits packages

• Work-life balance in a hybrid environment with at least 3 days in office

• Career growth and development opportunities

• Opportunities to contribute to community causes

• Work with diverse team members in an inclusive and collaborative environment

This job posting is for an existing vacancy and the location can be Toronto, ON (5700 Yonge St/70 York St) OR Calgary, AB (Our Brand-New Office)

We’re looking for our next Principal Software Engineer. Could It Be You?

The Principal Software Engineer defines and evolves the target architecture for their domain across Questrade's products, spanning front-end applications (React Native, ReactJS) and back-end services (NodeJS, distributed systems). This high-impact role leads the design of complex, high-risk systems, identifies systemic technical risks, and establishes engineering standards that scale organizationally — whether the highest-leverage work sits in the client experience, the service layer, or both. The Principal Engineer acts as an escalation authority for major incidents, provides strategic technical leadership on modernization efforts, and coaches senior technical staff without formal authority.

Need more details? Keep reading…

In this role, responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Define and evolve target architecture for your domain in alignment with Enterprise Architecture and executive leadership, across front-end and back-end concerns as needed.

• Lead the design of high-risk, complex systems with strict requirements for availability, low latency, security, and regulatory compliance.

• Identify systemic technical risks across Pods, building business cases and technical roadmaps to address them.

• Translate business objectives into technical roadmaps and communicate architectural trade-offs to senior leadership.

• Establish engineering standards, patterns, and reference implementations that scale beyond a single Pod, across the stack.

• Own performance and scalability strategy at the platform level — profiling, identifying systemic bottlenecks, and setting the standard for optimization under production load (for example, high-frequency, real-time data streaming in trading features).

• Provide technical leadership on platform migrations, monolith-to-microservices modernization, and build-versus-buy decisions.

• Coach and grow senior developers and technical leads, driving architectural alignment without formal authority.

• Serve as an escalation authority for severe production incidents, leading systemic remediation efforts across platforms

So are YOU our next Principal Software Engineer ? You are if you…

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.

• 9+ years of professional software development experience with a sustained track record of technical leadership.

• Expert-level command of distributed systems design (consistency, resilience, scaling, failure modes), with deep, hands-on expertise in at least one of the following tracks:

• Front-end track: Expert-level JavaScript/TypeScript with React Native (mobile) and/or ReactJS (web), including architectural ownership of large-scale client applications.

• Back-end track: Expert-level Node.js/TypeScript, including architectural ownership of large-scale distributed services.

• Demonstrated architectural ownership for large, business-critical production platforms.

• Extensive cloud-native architecture experience (GCP preferred), including multi-region, high-availability, and cost-aware design.

• Proven ability to influence and align engineers, architects, and product leaders without relying on formal authority.

Preferred Qualifications

• Background in brokerage, capital markets, trading systems, payments, or highly regulated financial environments.

• Hands-on experience with high-frequency data streaming, real-time market data, or low-latency execution systems.

• For back-end-leaning candidates: front-end or mobile framework exposure (ReactJS, React Native, iOS/Android) is a strong asset.

• Angular experience is a nice-to-have.

• Track record leading large-scale cloud migrations or monolith-to-microservices modernization.

• Application security, threat modeling, or DevSecOps at an organizational level.

• Recognized technical presence through open-source contributions, patents, or industry speaking.

Compensation Information:

• Base salary range: $130,000- $175,000

• The final compensation package will be commensurate with the successful candidate's experience, skills, and geographic location (Canada). It includes a comprehensive benefits plan and a competitive incentive (bonus) program for Full-Time Permanent roles.

Sounds like you? Click below to apply!

At Questrade Financial Group of Companies, with multiple office locations around the world, we are committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive and accessible work environment. This is an environment where individuals are treated with dignity and respect. Here, the unique skills and experience you bring will be valued. You will be supported and motivated, so that you can harness your unlimited potential. Our team reflects the diversity of the communities we serve and operate in. Having a collaborative and diverse team helps us push boundaries to bring the future of fintech into existence—not only for the benefit of our customers, but for those who build their career with us.

Questrade Financial Group of companies Applicant Tracking System utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) for application screening. The AI system operates on predetermined criteria, with final decisions subject to human review.

Candidates selected for an interview will be contacted directly. If you require accommodation during the recruitment/selection process, please let us know and we will work with you to meet your needs.