Consultant, Software Engineer (Emerging Technology Development Lab)

If you’re passionate about innovation and love working in an environment where you can constantly improve and adopt new technologies to drive business results, then Nationwide’s Information Technology team could be the place for you! At Nationwide®, “on your side” goes beyond just words. Our customers are at the center of everything we do and we’re looking for associates who are passionate about delivering extraordinary care.

This role will work a hybrid schedule coming into the Columbus, Ohio office 2 days per week on Tuesdays & Wednesdays.

About the Role

We’re launching the Emerging Technology Development Lab - a small, high-impact group within Nationwide’s Emerging Technology team — built to explore, prototype, and validate the technologies that will shape our next 3–5 years.

As a Consultant, Software Engineering, you’ll be a hands-on technical leader, working across a broad spectrum of emerging technologies — from Quantum Computing and Neuromorphic Hardware to Physical AI, Immersive Experiences, Ambient Intelligence, and Conversational AI.

You will partner closely with other engineers, designers, and researchers (both on-site and offshore) to experiment, build, and demonstrate what’s possible, guiding the organization toward meaningful adoption of next-generation platforms and paradigms.

What You’ll Do

Explore & Prototype: Rapidly evaluate emerging technologies through proof-of-concept builds, prototypes, and technical demonstrations.
Engineer the Future: Design and develop software solutions that blend classical and next-generation computing models (e.g., AI/ML, quantum simulation, spatial computing, edge intelligence).
Experiment & Learn: Continuously research, tinker, and learn — bringing new tools, platforms, and methodologies into the lab to test their applicability in an enterprise context.
Collaborate Across Boundaries: Partner with on-site engineers, offshore development teams, researchers, and business partners to co-develop experiments and share learnings.
Tell the Story: Translate complex technical findings into clear narratives that inspire action and help business and technology leaders understand potential impacts.
Champion Adoption: Help design playbooks, frameworks, and developer enablement tools that accelerate company-wide adoption of proven emerging technologies.

About You

You’re not just a builder — you’re an explorer. You see technology as a creative medium and experimentation as a core part of learning. You thrive in uncertainty, move fast to test ideas, and find satisfaction in both breakthroughs and lessons learned.

You’re likely to describe yourself as

Curious – You love learning how things work and are always exploring what’s next.
Versatile – You have experience across multiple technology domains (AI, cloud, data, web, hardware, or emerging computing paradigms).
Hands-on – You’re comfortable diving into code, wiring up devices, or experimenting with new SDKs or APIs.
Creative Problem Solver – You approach challenges with a “how might we?” mindset.
Collaborative – You thrive in diverse teams and can translate between technical and non-technical audiences.
Adaptive – You’re energized by change and uncertainty — and find opportunity in both.

Desired Skills & Experience

Demonstrated understanding of Emerging Technology & Innovation frameworks, experimentation models, and governance processes, with the ability to apply these approaches to advance current and future emerging technology initiatives
Strong software engineering background with experience in one or more programming languages (Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Java, C#, Go, Rust, etc.)
Demonstrated experience with modern development practices (cloud-native architectures, DevOps pipelines, REST APIs, microservices, containerization, CI/CD, serverless architectures)
Exposure to or deep interest in one or more emerging domains:
AI/ML, Generative AI, and Autonomous Systems – experience with or interest in:
Developing, training, and fine-tuning machine learning and large language models (LLMs)
Applying prompt engineering and context engineering strategies to optimize model outputs, reduce hallucinations, and improve grounding and task accuracy
Leveraging retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), vector databases, and embeddings for domain-specific intelligence
Experimenting with few-shot learning, adapter tuning, LoRA, and other fine-tuning approaches for efficiency and customization
Building intelligent agents or autonomous workflows integrating perception, reasoning, and action loops
Quantum computing or quantum-inspired algorithms – understanding of quantum principles, hybrid algorithms, or quantum simulation techniques
Building AI-driven robotics pipelines that connect perception (vision/voice), reasoning (LLMs), and actuation (robot control APIs)
Spatial or immersive computing (AR/VR/XR) – familiarity with 3D engines, spatial UX, and mixed-reality interfaces
Edge/IoT and ambient intelligence systems – integrating sensing, connectivity, and AI inference at the edge
Natural language or multimodal interfaces (Conversational AI) – experience designing, training, or integrating NLP/NLU systems, voice agents, or multimodal assistants
Neuromorphic or bio-inspired computing models – awareness of next-gen architectures that mimic biological computation and perception
Experience building quick-turn prototypes and proof-of-concepts, with a focus on experimentation, iteration, and demonstration of emerging capabilities
Comfort with ambiguity, exploration, and iterative learning; able to operate effectively in uncharted or rapidly evolving technology spaces
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into compelling narratives and articulate the story behind the technology

Job Description Summary

If you’re enthusiastic about delivering secure technology solutions to support a company providing extraordinary care to its customers, then Nationwide Technology is the place for you. Nationwide's industry-leading technology workforce embraces an agile work environment and a collaborative culture to deliver outstanding solutions and results. If that sounds like something you aspire to, we want to hear from you!

As a Software Engineer, you will focus on mentoring and leading others to deliver high quality, cost-effective technology solutions to business partners by crafting new software applications or modifying and/or supporting existing packaged or custom-built applications.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities

Responsible for applying secure software and systems engineering practices throughout the delivery lifecycle to ensure our data and technology solutions are protected from threats and vulnerabilities.
Mentors and trains other team members on design techniques, tools and coding standards.
Provides strategic advice on using technology to achieve goals.
Drives cross-collaboration and execution of projects across multiple teams.
Analyzes, solutions, develops, tests, debugs, documents and deploys software according to standards and optimal practices.
Champions the use of DevSecOps practices, tooling and techniques.
Ensures continuous learning and improvement through ongoing training, practice and innovation.
Manages individual project priorities, deadlines and deliverables.

May perform other responsibilities as assigned.

Reporting Relationships: Reports to a Technology Manager/Director.

Typical Skills and Experiences

Education: Undergraduate studies in computer science, management information systems, mathematics or related field is strongly preferred.

Experience: Six years of experience in programming and systems analysis. Three years of experience in project management is preferred.

Knowledge, Abilities and Skills: Hands-on technical leadership experience leading project teams and setting technical direction. Proficiency in one programming language such as Java, C++, Python, JavaScript. Knowledge of software development lifecycle. Proven ability to tackle sophisticated business and development problems. Ability to thrive in a team environment. Insurance/financial services industry knowledge a plus.

Other criteria, including leadership skills, competencies and experiences may take precedence.

Staffing exceptions to the above must be approved by the hiring manager’s leader and Human Resources Business Partner.

Values: Regularly and consistently demonstrates Nationwide Values.

Job Conditions

Overtime Eligibility: Not Eligible (Exempt)

Working Conditions: Normal office environment. Associates may have on-call responsibility after normal working hours and/or on weekends.

ADA: The above statements cover what are generally believed to be principal and essential functions of this job. Specific circumstances may allow or require some people assigned to the job to perform a somewhat different combination of duties.

We currently anticipate accepting applications until 12/19/2025. However, we encourage early submissions, as the posting may close sooner if a strong candidate slate is identified before the deadline.

Benefits

We have an array of benefits to fit your needs, including: medical/dental/vision, life insurance, short and long term disability coverage, paid time off with newly hired associates receiving a minimum of 18 days paid time off each full calendar year pro-rated quarterly based on hire date, nine paid holidays, 8 hours of Lifetime paid time off, 8 hours of Unity Day paid time off, 401(k) with company match, company-paid pension plan, business casual attire, and more. To learn more about the benefits we offer, click here.

Nationwide is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone feels challenged, appreciated, respected and engaged. Nationwide prohibits discrimination and harassment and affords equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to any characteristic (or classification) protected by applicable law.

This position could be filled within any of the lower 48 U.S. states.

Smoke-Free Iowa Statement: Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, its affiliates and subsidiaries comply with the Iowa Smokefree Air Act. Smoking is prohibited in all enclosed areas on or around company premises as well as company issued vehicles. The company offers designated smoking areas in which smoking is permitted at each individual location. The Act prohibits retaliation for reporting complaints or violations. For more information on the Iowa Smokefree Air Act, individuals may contact the Smokefree Air Act Helpline at 888-944-2247.

For NY residents please review the following state law information: Notice of Employee Rights, Protections, and Obligations LS740 (ny.gov) https://dol.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2022/02/ls740_1.pdf

NOTE TO EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES

We value the partnerships we have built with our preferred vendors. Nationwide does not accept unsolicited resumes from employment agencies. All resumes submitted by employment agencies directly to any Nationwide employee or hiring manager in any form without a signed Nationwide Client Services Agreement on file and search engagement for that position will be deemed unsolicited in nature. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is subsequently hired as a result of the referral or through other means.

Nationwide pays on a geographic-specific salary structure and placement within the actual starting salary range for this position will be determined by a number of factors including the skills, education, training, credentials and experience of the candidate; the scope, complexity and location of the role as well as the cost of labor in the market; and other conditions of employment. If a Sales job, Sales Incentives, based on performance goals are possible in addition to this range. Note on Compensation for Part-Time Roles: Please be aware that the salary ranges listed below reflect full-time compensation. Actual compensation may be prorated based on the number of hours worked relative to a full-time schedule.

The national salary range for Consultant, Software Engineer : $118,000.00-$222,000.00

The expected starting salary range for Consultant, Software Engineer : $118,000.00 - $178,000.00