Royal Bank of Canada are hiring a Lead Software Developer

What is the opportunity?

Global Functions Technology (GFT) is part of RBC's Technology and Operations division. GFT's reach is broad — we work with partners across Risk, Finance, HR, CAO, Audit, Legal, Compliance, Financial Crime, Capital Markets, Personal and Commercial Banking, and Wealth Management to deliver IT solutions that actually move the needle. We also build digital tools and platforms to improve how teams collaborate.

We're looking for a Frontend-focused Lead Full Stack Developer to design and scale data-driven systems that support advanced analytics, machine learning, and strategic decision-making. You'll be central to building our next-generation trading decisioning and risk management platform leading a small team while staying a strong individual contributor. This role blends hands-on Full Stack development, MLOps, and people leadership, with real influence over technical direction and team growth across the full Data and ML pipeline.

What will you do?

• Hands-On Development: Build, review, and own scalable React-based web applications and microservices backing analytics platforms and ML systems. You'll spend significant time writing code  architecting component hierarchies, building data visualization dashboards, and taking genuine end-to-end ownership of frontend delivery.
• React Architecture & Ownership: Drive architectural decisions for React applications: rendering strategies (CSR, SSR, RSC), routing (React Router / Next.js App Router), and state management patterns. Keep the codebase modular, testable, and performant as it scales.
• Team Leadership: Guide and mentor a team of developers through daily work, code reviews, and longer-term career conversations. Build a culture where good engineering and good collaboration go hand in hand.
• Set Technical Direction: Own the frontend standards  component patterns, accessibility, bundle optimization, and testing practices. Stay current on what's evolving in the React space (Server Components, Next.js 14+) and make informed calls on adoption.
• Partner Cross-Functionally: Work directly with ML engineers, data engineers, and business stakeholders to turn complex analytical and risk data into clear, performant React UIs.
• Deliver at Scale: Keep projects moving with quality on time and aligned with business priorities. Flag risks early and hold the bar on data governance and security.

What do you need to succeed?

Must Have:

• 7+ years of front-end experience with the skills highlighted below -
• Advanced React: Solid grasp of component lifecycle, reconciliation, hooks (built-in and custom), concurrent features (useTransition, useDeferredValue, Suspense), and error boundaries
• State Management: Hands-on experience with Zustand, Redux Toolkit, Jotai, or TanStack Query for server state and caching
• Performance: Comfortable with React.memo, useMemo, useCallback, code splitting, lazy loading, virtualized lists (TanStack Virtual / react-window), and profiling with React DevTools
• React Ecosystem: Next.js (App Router, Server Components, Streaming SSR), React Router v6+, and testing with Jest, React Testing Library, or Vitest
• Modern UI: Tailwind CSS and Shadcn/UI for scalable, accessible interfaces
• Component Design Systems: Track record building reusable UI libraries — solid prop API design, theming support, WCAG 2.1 compliance
• Storybook: Used for component development, interaction testing, and documentation
• 4+ years designing and building microservice architectures
• 3+ years in a lead or mentorship capacity  conducting code reviews, guiding junior/intermediate developers, and involvement in hiring or onboarding
• Strong command of HTML5, CSS3, TypeScript, and REST/GraphQL APIs
• Cloud experience on AWS or Azure (Lambda, ECS, Azure Functions, or equivalent)
• Docker with Kubernetes or OpenShift
• CI/CD using Jenkins and Git
• Bachelor's in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (Master's/PhD a plus)

Nice to Have:

• Real-time React dashboards using WebSockets, SSE, or charting libraries (Recharts, Victory, Apache ECharts)
• Micro-frontend experience - Module Federation, single-spa, or similar approaches
• React Native or other cross-platform UI work
• Data warehouses and lakehouses: Snowflake, Redshift, Azure Databricks; vector databases: PGVector, Opensearch
• Apache Airflow for data/ML workflow orchestration
• Familiarity with LLMs and RAG-based applications

What’s in it for you?

We thrive on the challenge to be our best, progressive thinking to keep growing, and working together to deliver trusted advice to help our clients thrive and communities prosper. We care about each other, reaching our potential, making a difference to our communities, and achieving success that is mutual.

• A comprehensive Total Rewards Program including bonuses and flexible benefits, competitive compensation, commissions, and stock where applicable
• Leaders who support your development through coaching and managing opportunities
• Ability to make a difference and lasting impact
• Work in a dynamic, collaborative, progressive, and high-performing team
• A world-class training program in financial services
• Flexible work/life balance options
• Opportunities to do challenging work

#LI-POST

#TechPJ

Job Skills

Additional Job Details

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the application deadline date above

Our Employment Opportunities

At RBC, we are guided by living shared values of Client First, Integrity, Collaboration, Respect and Excellence and winning together as One RBC. We believe an inclusive workplace that has diverse perspectives is core to our continued growth as one of the largest and most successful banks in the world. Maintaining a workplace where our employees feel supported to perform at their best, effectively collaborate, drive innovation, and grow professionally helps to bring our Purpose to life and create value for our clients and communities. RBC strives to deliver this through policies and programs intended to foster a workplace based on respect, belonging and opportunity for all.

RBC is presently inviting candidates to apply for this existing vacancy. Applying to this posting allows you to express your interest in this current career opportunity at RBC. Qualified applicants may be contacted to review their resume in more detail.