Associate Software Engineer, Credit Tech at Morningstar… · Chicago

Summary: Morningstar Sustainalytics is seeking an Associate Software Engineer for their Credit Tech team. The role involves leveraging AI engineering best practices to enhance credit ratings content accessibility, developing backend services, and collaborating with various teams to meet business needs. Responsibilities: - Leverage GEO engineering best practices to help ensure Morningstar DBRS Content is indexed by top AI assistants such that people use popular AI assistants like ChatGPT/Gemini etc. and search for credit ratings related content or data, these tools should surface Morningstar DBRS content and refer users to dbrs.morningstar.com website - The practice of designing, refining, and optimizing input prompts to guide AI models (such as large language models, e.g., GPT-4) toward generating high-quality, relevant, and accurate outputs - Use latest AI techniques and tools like computer use to drive to power accelerated Insights, Discovery and Action - Support the design and development of backend services to handle data processing, publication, and delivery to downstream applications. Assist in developing APIs and cloud-native components using AWS services - Help maintain, refactor, and migrate existing applications and services to modern, scalable AWS-based architectures - Work closely with senior engineers, product teams, data engineers, and DevOps/SRE partners to align backend and cloud solutions with business needs - Write clean, maintainable, and testable code. Participate in code reviews and adhere to modern engineering standards - Stay up to date on AWS cloud technologies and AI-assisted development tools. Demonstrate curiosity about applying AI and automation to improve engineering productivity and system efficiency Required Qualifications: - Ability to analyze technical challenges, propose solutions, and deliver reliable results with guidance - Familiarity with Agile/Scrum practices and modern software development methodologies - Basic understanding of secure service design, API security concepts, and AWS security best practices - Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field, or equivalent practical experience - 0–2 years of professional software development experience, with exposure to backend development and cloud-based systems - Experience building or consuming REST APIs; familiarity with event-driven patterns is a plus - Hands-on exposure to AWS services such as Bedrock, Lambda, SQS, SNS, API Gateway, S3, and RDS; basic understanding of serverless patterns is preferred - Experience with SQL/NoSQL databases and basic data workflows (plus) - Scripting experience with Python for automation, small data tasks, or AI experimentation (plus) - Frontend exposure to Vue.js or other modern JavaScript frameworks (plus) - Interest or basic experience with AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot), prompt engineering, or integrating simple AI APIs - Understanding how AI can support automation, testing, or data workflows is a strong plus - Analytical thinking to break down complex tasks into clear instructions - Understanding of AI model strengths, limitations, and context windows - Experimentation with prompt phrasing for improved results Required Skills: AWS services, REST APIs, Backend development Important Skills: Agile/Scrum, Python, SQL/NoSQL databases Nice-to-Have Skills: Analytical thinking, AI/ML Exposure, Security Awareness, Frontend exposure Benefits: 100% 401k match up to 6% of salary, Stock Ownership Potential, Company provided life insurance - 1x salary + commission, Comprehensive health benefits (medical/dental/vision) including potential premium discounts and company-provided HSA contributions (up to $500-$2,000 annually) for specific plans and coverages, Additional medical Wellness Incentives - up to $300-$600 annual, Company-provided long- and short-term disability insurance, Trust-Based Time Off, 6-week Paid Sabbatical Program, 6-Week Paid Family Caregiving Leave, Competitive 8-24 Week Paid Parental Leave, Adoption Assistance, Leadership Coaching & Formal Mentorship Opportunities, Annual Flex Stipend - $1000 annually to cover personal education & well-being expenses, Tuition Reimbursement, Charitable Matching Gifts program, Dollars for Doers volunteer program, Paid volunteering days, 15+ Employee Resource & Affinity Groups