Associate Director, Full-Stack Applications - Credit Module

As one of the world’s top three credit ratings agencies, Fitch Ratings plays a critical role in global capital markets by providing credit analysis, ratings, research, and commentary to financial market participants. For over 100 years, Fitch Ratings has been creating value for global markets through its rigorous analysis and deep expertise, which have resulted in a variety of market leading tools, methodologies, indices, research, and analytical products. Fitch Ratings is part of Fitch Group, a global leader in financial information services with operations in more than 30 countries, which also includes Fitch Solutions. With dual headquarters in London and New York, Fitch Group is owned by Hearst.

Join our fast-growing Toronto hub, where we’re using AI to reshape global credit decisions and the software development lifecycle. Here you’ll help us modernize and reinvent our applications on a modern tech stack with a focus on embedding AI into the fabric of our systems. Backed by full enterprise support, you’ll build reliable, explainable intelligence at real scale within a collaborative, outcome-driven community. If you’re looking for purposeful work, constant learning, and a place where your impact and growth accelerate-this is where you’ll thrive.

Want to learn more about our Toronto Innovation Hub? Visit: https://careers.fitch.group/go/Toronto-Innovation-Hub/9713801/

Associate Director, Full-Stack Applications - Credit Module

Fitch Ratings is seeking an Associate Director to join our global Ratings Technology team in Toronto. This is your opportunity to not just build mission-critical applications, but to shape the future direction of technology that powers how a world-leading credit ratings agency delivers insights. Your leadership, architectural decisions, and vision will directly impact analysts, executives, and decision-makers who shape global financial markets.

You'll work closely with our talented engineering teams supporting Ratings workflow and analytical applications, influencing both technical architecture and organizational direction. We're looking for a seasoned technologist who thrives on challenging assumptions, experimenting with emerging technologies (especially AI), and pushing boundaries -not an MLE or AI specialist, but a full-stack engineer who's curious, unafraid to question the status quo, and excited to explore how AI can transform analytical workflows, as well as delivering high quality user experiences in their applications. This is a critical role for an organization expanding rapidly and building for the future, offering mobility and upward potential for the right visionary.

The initial assignment will be to develop and maintain Credit Module -our strategic analytical platform that empowers Credit analysts to rate issuers and financial instruments with unprecedented efficiency. Already supporting hundreds of analysts in production for over a year, this application is rapidly scaling to revolutionize how Fitch delivers insights across all business lines, replacing legacy tactical tools.

What We Offer:

• Strategic leadership with organizational impact - Shape technical architecture and product direction for applications used by analysts worldwide, with high visibility to senior leadership and the ability to influence technology strategy across Ratings Technology
• Innovation-first culture and experimentation - Permission to challenge established patterns, explore emerging technologies including AI, and drive proof-of-concepts with access to cutting-edge tools and a community that celebrates curiosity and bold thinking
• Continuous learning and career growth - Training, certifications, conferences, mentorship opportunities, and clear paths to principal/architect/leadership tracks as you establish yourself as a thought leader
• Flexibility and world-class environment - Work from premier offices in London, Manchester, or Toronto with hybrid flexibility, competitive compensation reflecting your seniority, comprehensive benefits, and a culture that values both innovation and work-life harmony

We'll Count on You To:

• Deliver technical excellence and build game-changing solutions - Design robust, scalable full-stack applications using Java, Spring Boot, and React, drive architectural decisions, establish technical standards, and lead exploration of AI/ML integration opportunities that transform workflows
• Offer influence and mentorship - Partner with product managers, analysts, and senior stakeholders as a trusted technical advisor, mentor engineers, facilitate technical discussions, and foster a culture of experimentation, learning, and psychological safety
• Challenge the status quo and drive innovation - Question existing approaches, champion better solutions even when uncomfortable, experiment with emerging technologies, create proofs-of-concept, and push the organization toward what's possible rather than what's comfortable
• Champion engineering excellence and quality - Implement CI/CD pipelines, conduct architecture reviews, solve complex performance and scalability challenges, establish best practices that scale across teams, and balance innovation with pragmatic delivery
• Shape organizational and team direction - Influence team processes, lead strategic technical initiatives spanning multiple teams, bring fresh perspectives while respecting institutional knowledge, and model the curiosity, humility, and boldness needed across the organization
• Own reliability and navigate complexity - Provide expert troubleshooting for sophisticated issues, maintain system performance at scale, balance multiple strategic priorities, and deliver excellence in fast-paced Agile environments

What You Need to Have:

• Deep full-stack engineering expertise - 15+ years of hands-on experience building enterprise applications, with expert-level proficiency in Java, Spring Boot, and React, and modern web technologies in production environments
• Architectural mastery and technical depth - Proven track record of designing maintainable, scalable systems; excellent understanding of software architecture, design patterns, data structures, algorithms, and the ability to make architectural decisions and live with their consequences
• AI Fluency - Experience or familiarity with integrating AI-powered capabilities into software applications, including LLM APIs such as OpenAI, AWS Bedrock, Anthropic, or similar platforms. Understanding of concepts such as prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), AI agents, and responsible AI practices, with the ability to evaluate and apply AI technologies to solve real business problems.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• Leadership and influence - History of mentoring engineers, driving technical decisions through influence, leading complex initiatives, and elevating team capabilities
• Visionary problem-solving and growth mindset - Exceptional analytical abilities, demonstrated curiosity about emerging technologies, track record of experimentation and learning from failures, comfort with ambiguity, and ability to bring your whole self while remaining open to others' perspectives
• Outstanding collaboration and communication skills - Proven success with cross-functional teams, ability to articulate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences, and emotional intelligence to navigate organizational dynamics

What Would Make You Stand Out:

• Modern engineering practices and DevOps prowess - Deep experience with Docker, Kubernetes/EKS, GitHub, CI/CD pipelines, and hands-on cloud expertise with microservices and cloud-native architecture
• Hands-on experience building AI solutions - Exposure to applying ML, generative AI, or intelligent automation towards transforming software delivery, business processes, systems and applications; experience experimenting with new technologies and evaluating practical applications; comfortable with emerging technology ambiguity
• Leadership trajectory - Experience in Principal Engineer, Tech Lead, or Architect roles; history of contributing to technical strategy or organizational direction; thought leadership through talks, writing, or community involvement
• Financial services domain expertise - Experience with analytical workflows, regulatory processes, financial products, credit ratings, or understanding of how technology enables better decision-making
• Agile mastery and change agent experience - Track record of establishing practices, challenging established patterns constructively, and creating space for teams to innovate and take calculated risks

If you are a seasoned technologist with a passion for innovation, a desire to shape organizational direction, and the courage to question the status quo, we would love to hear from you!

Why Choose Fitch:

• Hybrid Work Environment: 2 to 3 days a week in office required based on your line of business and location
• A Culture of Learning & Mobility: Dedicated trainings, leadership development and mentorship programs designed to ensure that your time at Fitch will be a continuous learning opportunity
• Investing in Your Future: Retirement planning, financial wellness and tuition reimbursement programs that empower you to achieve your short and long-term goals
• Promoting Health & Wellness: Comprehensive healthcare offerings that prioritize a healthy body & mind
• Supportive Parenting Policies: Family-first policies, including a generous global parental leave plan, designed to help you balance career and family life effectively
• Dedication to Giving Back: Paid volunteer days and support for community engagement initiatives

At Fitch, AI is embedded in how we work every day-supporting smarter decision-making, streamlining workflows, and enabling new ways to create value for our business and clients. Intelligent solutions are increasingly part of our day-to-day operations, helping teams work more efficiently and think differently as we continue to evolve. We’re looking for colleagues who are comfortable operating in an AI-enabled environment-or who are curious, adaptable, and eager to build their AI literacy over time. We value professionals who embrace technology as part of continuous learning and who are committed to using it thoughtfully to enhance how work gets done.

Fitch is committed to providing global securities markets with objective, timely, independent and forward-looking credit opinions. To protect Fitch’s credibility and reputation, our employees must take every precaution to avoid conflicts of interests or any appearance of a conflict of interest. Should you be successful in the recruitment process at Fitch Ratings you will be asked to declare any securities holdings and other potential conflicts prior to commencing employment. If you, or your immediate family, have any holdings that may conflict with your work responsibilities, you may be asked to divest yourself of them before beginning work.

Fitch is proud to be an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status, and other statuses protected by law.

FOR TORONTO ROLES ONLY

Expected base pay rates for the role will be between CAD 150,000 and CAD 170,000 per year. Actual salaries will be determined on an individualized basis and may vary based on factors including but not limited to education, training, experience, past performance, and other job-related factors. Base pay is one part of Fitch’s total compensation package, which, depending on the position, may also include commission earnings, discretionary bonuses, long-term incentives, and other benefits sponsored by Fitch.

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