Lead Software Engineer

M&T Bank

Buffalo, NY, United States · Hybrid: four days onsite and one day working from homeFull-time$116,400–$194,000Posted Oct 27, 2026

About the role

This role is four days onsite at our Seneca One Buffalo, NY location, with the flexibility to work from home one day per week

Position Summary

The Lead Developer provides day-to-day technical leadership to the development team while remaining actively involved in engineering. The role leads complex development efforts, translates solution designs into high-quality implementations, establishes development standards, performs technical and code reviews, troubleshoots challenging production issues, and mentors developers.

Key Responsibilities

Design and develop enterprise applications and backend services using Python.

Build and maintain web services and application components using Flask and related Python frameworks.

Design, develop, integrate, and support RESTful APIs and applications based on microservices and service-oriented architectures.

Mentor developers across Python, Flask, APIs, microservices, SQL, databases, DevOps, CI/CD, testing, AI-assisted engineering, and troubleshooting.

Lead the design and implementation of complex applications, services, integrations, APIs, and data-driven solutions.

Translate business and architectural requirements into detailed technical designs and implementation approaches.

Provide technical direction to developers throughout design, development, testing, implementation, and production support.

Lead technical-design and code-review sessions and ensure solutions follow established engineering standards.

Develop complex SQL queries, stored procedures, data-access components, and database integrations. Expertise in Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle Database or PostgreSQL.

Review and diagnose query-performance problems and perform SQL performance tuning and optimization for scalability, supportability, and maintainability.

Develop reusable components, frameworks, utilities, and engineering patterns where they can improve consistency and development efficiency.

Troubleshoot end-to-end application performance issues across the API, application, data-access, and database layers.

Use GitLab for source-code management and team development workflows.

Develop, maintain, and continuously improve CI/CD pipelines supporting application build, testing, validation, and deployment processes.

Integrate automated unit testing, code-quality checks, and applicable security scanning into development workflows.

Demonstrate proficiency with AI-assisted development tools and effectively incorporate them into day-to-day software engineering.

Review and validate AI-generated code and recommendations through appropriate engineering review, testing, security evaluation, and established controls.

Perform peer code reviews and ensure critical changes receive appropriate technical review.

Drive resolution of defects and recurring technical issues through root-cause analysis rather than short-term fixes. Participate in troubleshooting of complex production incidents and drive sustainable corrective actions.

Work collaboratively with Product Owners and Agile team members to assess technical feasibility, complexity, dependencies, and risks.

Education and Experience Required:

Associate’s degree and a minimum of 7 years’ systems analysis and/or application development work experience or Bachelor's degree and a minimum of 5 years' systems analysis and/or application development work experience. In lieu of a degree, a combined minimum of 9 year’s education and/or relevant work experience, including a minimum of 5 years’ system analysis and/or application development work experience.

Python

Flask

RESTful API design and development

Microservices

Object-oriented and modular application design

Application integration

Automated/unit testing

Debugging and troubleshooting

Microsoft SQL Server/Oracle/PostgreSQL

Advanced SQL

SQL query optimization and performance tuning

Application/database integration

GitLab

CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices

Build and deployment automation

Automated testing

Code-quality and security integration

Education and Experience Preferred:

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.

Significant hands-on software-development experience with demonstrated ownership of complex application components or solutions.

Experience serving as a Senior Developer, Lead Developer, or comparable technical leadership role.

Strong understanding of the software-development lifecycle and Agile development practices.

Demonstrated ability to independently diagnose and resolve complex technical issues.

Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to developers, architects, product partners, and management.

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

Experience working in enterprise environments with established technology, security, risk, and change-management controls.

Financial-services or banking technology experience.

Experience developing or supporting business-critical enterprise applications.

Experience with high-volume or data-intensive systems.

Experience with application modernization and legacy-platform transformation.

Knowledge of secure software-development practices.

Experience with production incident resolution, performance optimization, and root-cause analysis.

Experience operating across development, database, middleware/integration, and infrastructure boundaries.

Exposure to cloud-native development, containerization, or orchestration platforms would be beneficial where relevant to the team.

Experience with AI-assisted development tools productively while maintaining strong engineering judgment and review.

M&T Bank is committed to fair, competitive, and market-informed pay for our employees. The pay range for this position is $116,400.00 - $194,000.00 Annual (USD). The successful candidate’s particular combination of knowledge, skills, and experience will inform their specific compensation.

Location

Buffalo, New York, United States of America

Responsibilities

  • Lead complex application and backend service development using Python and Flask.
  • Design and support RESTful APIs, microservices, integrations, and data-driven solutions.
  • Provide technical direction, mentorship, design reviews, and code reviews.
  • Develop and optimize SQL queries, database integrations, and data-access components.
  • Build and improve CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and code-quality and security checks.
  • Troubleshoot production incidents, resolve root causes, and improve application performance.
  • Collaborate with product owners and Agile teams to assess technical feasibility, dependencies, and risks.

Qualifications

  • Associate degree and at least 7 years of systems analysis or application development experience, or bachelor's degree and at least 5 years; alternative experience paths are accepted.
  • Experience with Python, Flask, RESTful APIs, microservices, object-oriented design, and application integration.
  • Advanced SQL skills, including database integration, query optimization, and performance tuning with SQL Server, Oracle, or PostgreSQL.
  • Experience with GitLab, CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, automated testing, and build and deployment automation.
  • Demonstrated technical leadership, mentoring, and ability to diagnose complex technical issues.
  • Strong communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills.

Skills mentioned

PythonFlaskREST APIsMicroservicesSQLMicrosoft SQL ServerQuery OptimizationGitCI/CDUnit Testing

About M&T Bank

Great companies have an enduring sense of purpose. At M&T Bank, our purpose is a simple one: make a difference in people’s lives and uplift the communities we serve. Founded in 1856 in Buffalo, NY we are now a top 11 full-service US-based commercial bank with a retail footprint across the east coast and wealth services available nationwide and abroad. As a bank, we offer advice, guidance, expertise, and solutions across the entire financial spectrum that combines M&T’s traditional banking services with the wealth management and institutional capabilities offered by Wilmington Trust. We are a community-minded organization with more than 170 years of experience. We serve customers, community, and colleagues whether they be across the street, across the state or across the country. As an employer of choice, we are proud to offer competitive benefits ranging from medical and retirement to forty hours of paid volunteer time, each year. Our core values drive the work we do – integrity, ownership, collaboration, curiosity, candor and we seek to further build upon our record of success by bringing in top talent and fresh skill sets while continuing to support the growth and development of all our team members. M&T Bank is unwavering when it comes to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, age, disability, citizenship, pregnancy, veteran status, military status, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state or local laws.

Financial Services10,001+ employeesBuffalo, New York

H-1B sponsorship history

Historical employer filing data was found for M&T Bank. The employer record includes 532 historical certified applications. This is employer-level history, not a guarantee that this role currently offers sponsorship.