Software Engineer - Payments & Settlements

About The Role

This position requires the successful candidate to work on a W2 directly with FDM. We cannot accept C2C, 1099 or employment sponsorship (e.g. H1-B) for this position.

FDM is a global business and technology consultancy delivering client and industry driven solutions through our 5 core specialist Practices; Software Engineering, Data & Analytics, IT Operations, Change & Transformation, and Risk, Regulation & Compliance.

FDM is seeking a Software Engineer located in Riverwoods, Chicago, IL to support a project in the financial sector. Involvement in this project is anticipated to last initially 12 months but may be extended.

This role will be hybrid with requirements to be in office 3 days per week.

The Software Engineer – Payments & Settlements will design, build, and maintain critical systems that enable the transit, reconciliation, and settlement of payments and card‑transactions. You’ll work on high‑volume, low‑latency, mission‑critical payment flows (authorizations, clearing, settlement, reporting) while ensuring accuracy, reliability, scalability and regulatory compliance.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, deploy and maintain backend services (batch and real‑time) for payment clearing, settlement, reconciliation, and related interfaces.
• Ensure end‑to‑end flow of payments: from posting/clearing through settlement, revenue allocation, inter‑change, and reconciliation.
• Collaborate with product, operations, risk/compliance, and other engineering teams to translate payment business requirements into technical designs.
• Ensure high availability, scalability, operational excellence of payment/settlement systems: monitor, tune performance, handle failures, create proactive alerts.

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• Develop and maintain data models, workflows and interfaces (APIs, messaging, file flows) between payment networks (card networks, ACH, wires), internal systems, and external partners.
• Ensure adherence to regulatory, audit, compliance requirements (for example card scheme rules, PCI, SOX controls, settlement timeliness).
• Contribute to system architecture, code reviews, best practices, technical debt reduction and continuous improvement.
• Build automation around reconciliation, reporting, exception handling, and resolution workflows.
• Mentoring more junior engineers, working with operations/support teams to ensure smooth production run‑rates and incident handling.

About You

Required Skills & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• Proven software engineering experience (e.g., 3+ years) working on backend systems in payments, financial services or transaction‑heavy domains.
• Strong programming skills (commonly Java, Python, C# or equivalent).
• Solid experience with relational databases (SQL) and data modelling; understanding of large volumes of transactional data, settlement logic, throughput, latency.
• Familiarity with messaging/middleware systems (Kafka, JMS, queues), batch processing and real‑time flows.
• Experience with APIs/web services: designing, building and integrating with third‑party payment networks or internal microservices.

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• Knowledge or exposure to payments domain: clearing/settlement flows, card networks, ACH, wires, interchange/fee processing, reconciliation.
• Good understanding of software development lifecycle (SDLC), agile methodologies, DevOps practices, CI/CD, monitoring/alerting.
• Strong problem‑solving skills, ability to troubleshoot production issues, work across cross‑functional teams (engineering, product, ops).
• Excellent communication skills, ability to explain complex technical issues to non‑engineering stakeholders.

About Us

About FDM

FDM is an award-winning global business and technology consultancy powering the people behind tech and innovation for over 30 years. We collaborate with world-leading companies to identify the expertise they need, exactly when they need it. We have helped successfully launch nearly 25,000 careers globally to date and are a trusted partner to over 300 companies worldwide.

FDM has 2500+ employees worldwide, with over 80 nationalities working together as a team. From our origins in Brighton, UK, FDM now has 19 centers located across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific and is now on the FTSE4Good Index.

Dedicated to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

FDM Group’s mission is to make tech and business careers accessible for everyone. Our diverse team of 80+ nationalities thrive on differences, fuels innovation through varied experiences, and celebrates shared successes. As an Equal Opportunity Employer that is listed on the FTSE4Good Index, FDM ensures every qualified applicant, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability or any other status protected by federal or provincial law, gets the chance they deserve.

FDM Group, Inc. is registered to operate and hire employees in select states within the US. We will consider employment applications exclusively from candidates who are either residing in one of the following states or willing to relocate to them: Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.