Northwestern Mutual (NM) is a financial services and life insurance company headquartered in Milwaukee, WI. In the summer of 2023, I interned on a Client Communications team within NM's Engineering Solutions Delivery division. Our team was responsible for building and maintaining the communication pipelines used by over 10,000 financial representatives, supporting the delivery of contracts, statements, billing notices, and digital messages (such as email and SMS) to clients nationwide.

During the internship, I contributed to the development and testing of dynamic, data-driven communication templates used for client-facing emails and documents. I worked closely with other engineers on my team to simulate full delivery workflows and ensure each message was accurate, accessible, and properly formatted before reaching viewers.

Each communication involved working through the following process:

• Developing the template: Built reusable JavaScript-based modules for digital communications (email or PDF) according to stakeholder requirements


• Payload simulation and testing: Used Postman to simulate API calls for communication jobs, and populated data payloads with client-specific data from MySQL Workbench.


• Rendering and output generation: Rendered outputs via Quadient Inspire, uploaded outputs to Amazon S3, and tested delivery through Microsoft Outlook to review layout, content accuracy, and formatting.


• Iteration and debugging: Used DynamoDB to trace message delivery events across pipeline and fixed layout or logic issues in template code

Working on the Client Communications team opened my eyes to the complexity of large-scale communication systems and the importance of data accuracy, accessibility, and thoughtful content design in financial messaging. It was an awesome opportunity to work with and learn from a team of talented engineers in the fintech sector, and also experience my first Midwestern summer!