Principal Software/Platform Engineer - Pune, India

The MetLife EMEA Technology organization is evolving to enable MetLife’s New Frontier strategy. With a strong vision in place, we are a function focused on driving digital technology strategies for key technology functions within MetLife including.  In partnership with our business leaders, we develop and deliver seamless technology experiences to our employees across the entire employee lifecycle. Our vision and mission is to create innovative, transformative and contemporary technology solutions to empower our leaders and employees so they can focus on what matters most, our customers. We are technologists with strong business acumen focused on developing our talent to continually transform and innovate.   

We are seeking a highly skilled Principal Software/Platform Engineer a senior technical lead position (Embedded Insurance) with hands-on in API designing, architecture and development, Microservices, and Azure Cloud Services aligned to insurance capability domains. This team will work in close integration with onshore, offshore, Digital Hub and strategic vendor partners in an Agile delivery model. The associate will work closely with data architects, analysts, and business stakeholders to deliver end-to-end solutions. The associate will have the opportunity to lead the technical aspect of Embedded Insurance spanning multiple countries and insurance products for these capabilities. He/she should be responsible for the architecture, design, development and maintenance of software development solutions within a defined system, platform or product, based on a set of standards and processes which establish consistency across the enterprise data, reduce risk and promote efficiencies in support of the organization’s goals and objectives. He/she will need to ensure alignment with enterprise strategies, roadmaps, and standards by building relationships across business, technology, and enterprise partners.

Key Relationships:

• Technology Leadership (EMEA)
• India EMEA Technology Leads
• Internal Stakeholder – EMEA ART Leaders 
• Agile Release Train (ART) Teams
• Business process Owners for EMEA Technology 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Strong experience on technical solution architecture and enterprise architecture
• Deliver fit for purpose, secure, scalable, solution architectures in an agile framework that evolves with the line of business by collaborating with AD, business, and engineering teams.
• Ensuring the system uptime and availability for Embedded Insurance technology solutions
• Design, develop, and maintain Microservices and REST APIs.
• Build scalable, secure, and high-performance backend services.
• Implement cloud-native solutions using Microsoft Azure, including deployment, configuration, and monitoring.
• Work with containerization platforms such as Docker and orchestration frameworks (Kubernetes preferred).
• Write well-structured SQL queries and optimize database performance across relational systems.
• Ensure adherence to RESTful architecture principles and API best practices.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Product Owners, QA, DevOps, UI/UX) in an Agile environment.
• Participate in code reviews, contribute to architecture discussions, and support continuous improvement.
• Maintain comprehensive technical documentation.

 Required Qualifications & Experience:

• Minimum Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent.
• Extensive hands-on experience in designing, developing, delivering, and architecting enterprise solutions.
• Experience on Agentic AI / AI-First SDLC Development in GitHub Enterprise, GitHub CoPilot, Spec Driven Development
• Strong hands-on experience in any language/framework below:

oJava SpringBoot, Microservices (preferred)

o.Net

oNode

• Proven experience in building highly secure REST APIs and integration with different platforms
• Experience with message brokers (Kafka, Azure Service Bus).
• Knowledge of microservices architecture and distributed systems.
• Understanding API security standards (OAuth2, JWT, OpenID Connect).
• Knowledge of automated testing frameworks
• Solid understanding of:
  • Application design and architecture
  • System integration and data flows

·Strong experience with Azure cloud services (App Services, Azure SQL, API Management, Key Vault, etc.).

·Hands-on experience with containerization technologies (Docker; Kubernetes is a plus).

·Knowledge on Data Pipeline development, Azure Synapse, Azure Data Factory, and Databricks

·Ability to integrate data from multiple sources (structured, semi-structured, unstructured) into Azure data services. 

• Experience architecting enterprise solutions around SaaS and PaaS technologies and services.
• Solid understanding of SQL, database schema design, optimization, and performance tuning.

·Working knowledge of CI/CD pipelines, ideally using Azure DevOps or similar tooling.

·Familiarity with Agile methodologies (Scrum/Kanban).

·Prior experience on Insurance domain

·Excellent problem-solving skills and ability to work in a fast-paced delivery environment.

Soft Skills:

• Strong problem-solving and analytical thinking
• Clear and effective communication skills
• High level of accountability and ownership
• Ability to work independently in a high-responsibility role
• Strong stakeholder management and collaboration skills
• Attention to detail and commitment to quality
• Proactive mindset with a focus on continuous improvement
• Communication: Ability to communicate effectively to ensure results are achieved
• Collaboration: Proven track record collaborating and working effectively in a global and multi-cultural environment
• Diverse environment: Can-do attitude and ability to work in a high paced environment.
• Self-Motivated and able to work independently. 
• Attention to detail 
• Collaborative 
• Team Player 
• Decisive 
• Supportive 
• Passionate 
• Professional 
• Accountable