Lead Software Engineer

Career Area

Technology, Digital and Data

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.

When you join Caterpillar, you’re joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don’t just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live.

Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.

eCommerce is a key digital enabler to Caterpillar’s aftermarket parts and services growth strategy. Delivering on the Caterpillar brand promise of premium, high-quality solutions is an important element in accelerating the development and deployment of Caterpillar’s expanded capabilities in eCommerce.

The Lead Software Engineer – Ecommerce Search is responsible for setting the technical direction and overseeing the execution of advanced search solutions. This role combines strategic vision, hands‑on technical expertise, and leadership to build scalable, high‑performance search platforms that deliver exceptional user experiences.

• Define and implement a long‑term technical vision for the search platform to ensure scalability and adaptability to growing data volumes and query complexity.
• Mentor and guide a team of search engineers through technical reviews, best practices, and collaborative problem‑solving.
• Introduce advanced capabilities such as NLP, vector search, and personalization to enhance relevance and accuracy.
• Build search capabilities with measurable KPIs (e.g., CTR, Query Distribution, Zero Search) and leverage analytics to continuously improve search performance.
• Partner with product managers, data scientists, and engineering teams to align search initiatives with business objectives.

Decision Making and Critical Thinking:
Knowledge of the decision‑making process and associated tools and techniques; ability to accurately analyze situations and reach productive decisions based on informed judgment.

Software Development:
Knowledge of software development tools and activities; ability to produce software products or systems in line with product requirements.

Software Development Life Cycle:
Knowledge of software development life cycle; ability to use a structured methodology for delivering and managing new or enhanced software products to the marketplace.

Software Integration Engineering:
Knowledge of software integration processes and functions; ability to design, develop and maintain interfaces and linkage to alternative platforms and software packages.

Software Product Design/Architecture:
Knowledge of software product design; ability to convert market requirements into the software product design.

Software Product Technical Knowledge:
Knowledge of technical aspects of a software product; ability to design, configure and integrate technical aspects of software products.

• Progressively complex professional experience.
• Experience as a lead software engineer, architect, engineering manager.
• Experience leading technical teams and managing multiple projects simultaneously.
• Experience working within ITSM processes (incident, change, problem).
• Strong communication, organization, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to handle sensitive, complex, or high‑visibility issues.
• Excellent written and verbal communication abilities.

• Experience in eCommerce Search deployments.
• Previous experience with Search products such as Open Search, Elastic Search, SOLR, Lucene, Coveo, and Lucid Works Fusion.
• Strong expertise in building head‑less frameworks to integrate with eCommerce applications.
• Distributed Systems:
  Proven experience building large‑scale, highly available systems.
• Programming:
  • Proficiency in Java, Python, or Scala, including source control tools and practices for managing code and changes to it.
  • Proficiency in software debugging and problem‑solving techniques.
  • Proficiency in AI code generation tools such as Claude Code, ChatGPT, or Git Hub Copilot.
  • Familiarity…