Lead Software Engineer

Lead Software Engineer

Job Description:

The Lead Software Engineer is a hands-on technical leader responsible for driving the full-stack design, development, and delivery of software solutions across one or more small, high-velocity engineering teams. This role operates above the Senior Software Engineer level and blends deep engineering excellence with a modern AI-first mindset – including the ability to rapidly prototype with tools like Claude, Amazon Bedrock, and other GenAI platforms.

Company: Cox Automotive - USA

Job Family Group: Engineering / Product Development

Job Profile: Lead Software Engineer

Management Level: Manager
- Non People Leader

Work Arrangement: Hybrid
- Ability to work remotely part of the week

Travel: 5% of the time

Shift: Day

Compensation: Base salary range $122,600 - $204,400. May be eligible for additional incentive program.

• Lead architectural and technical design decisions for features, services, or platforms.
• Decompose epics and features into technical implementation plans with clear ownership.
• Review and approve technical designs, code changes, and pull requests.
• Identify technical risks, dependencies, and trade-offs; propose mitigation strategies.
• Drive root-cause analysis and resolution of complex production issues.

• Design, develop, test, and deploy full-stack applications across the core stack:
  React / Type Script (web), Flutter / Dart (mobile & cross-platform), and Python / Node.js (backend).
• Build and maintain scalable REST and GraphQL APIs using AWS API Gateway + Lambda.
• Implement CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code (AWS CDK / SAM), and blue/green deployment strategies.
• Ensure production readiness through observability, automated testing, and monitoring.

• Lead design and delivery of event-driven, serverless-first architectures on AWS.
• Compute:
  Lambda, Step Functions
• Data:
  DynamoDB (primary), S3, Aurora Serverless
• Messaging & Events: SQS, SNS, Event Bridge
• API & Auth: API Gateway, Cognito, App Sync
• Observability:
  Cloud Watch, X-Ray
• Infrastructure as Code: CDK, SAM, Cloud Formation

• Rapidly prototype new product concepts using Claude, Amazon Bedrock, and other LLM/GenAI platforms.
• Apply AI-assisted development tools to accelerate code generation, testing, documentation, and code review.
• Evaluate AI-generated outputs for correctness, security, and production readiness.
• Define team-level standards and best practices for AI tool adoption.
• Demonstrate ability to ideate, prototype, validate, and ship in tight cycles.

• Serve as the technical anchor for a small, high-velocity scrum team – guiding direction, coaching engineers, and driving accountability.
• Partner with Product Managers, Architects, and QA to align technical direction with organizational goals.
• Mentor senior, mid-level, and junior engineers on design, cloud practices, and AI tool usage.
• Promote a culture of quality, continuous improvement, and learning.

Bachelor’s degree (list any requirements of discipline here) and 6 years’ experience in a related field. The right candidate could also have a different combination, such as a master’s degree and 4 years’ experience; a Ph.D. and 1 year of experience; or 18 years of experience in a related field.

Across web (React/Type Script), mobile/cross-platform (Flutter/Dart), and backend (Python or Node.js): true full-stack fluency.

Lambda, DynamoDB, API Gateway, SQS/SNS, Event Bridge: minimum 2 years of hands-on AWS serverless experience.

Demonstrated experience with CI/CD, infrastructure-as-code, and serverless deployment patterns.

Proven track record of rapid prototyping with AI/GenAI tools in a professional setting.

Experience leading technical initiatives and mentoring small engineering teams.

Understanding of prompt engineering, context management, and AI tool limitations.

Availability for rotational on-call duties outside of standard business hours may be required.

To be employed in this role, you must clear a pre-employment drug test. Cox Automotive does not currently administer a pre-employment drug test for marijuana for this position. However, we are a drug-free workplace, so possession, use or being under the influence of drugs illegal under federal or state law during work hours, on company property and/or in company vehicles is prohibited.

The Company offers eligible employees the flexibility to take as much vacation with pay as they deem appropriate.