Lead Software Engineer
Lead Software EngineerLocation: Northbrook, ILWe're looking for a highly skilled and motivated Lead Software Engineer with 8+ years of experience to drive the delivery of complex, high-impact software solutions. In this role, you'll support the Digital Workplace team's mission to remove technology friction for every employee, with a focus on applying AI and automation. You'll help build and maintain generative AI capabilities within enterprise platforms and design automated workflows that connect internal tools to engineering systems, playing a key role in shaping technical direction and ensuring the delivery of high-quality, scalable, maintainable software aligned with product goals.ResponsibilitiesProvide strong technical leadership and guidance to the engineering team, setting technical vision and ensuring alignment with product goalsLead the design, development, and deployment of complex software solutions, owning technical deliverables from conception to launch within an iterative development processDefine and own the technical strategy and architecture for generative AI capabilities across the platform, in alignment with governance and risk guidelinesDrive the roadmap and technical direction for AI-assisted tooling that improves how employees find information and get work done, partnering with product and engineering leads to prioritize impactOwn the design, build, and ongoing maintenance of a knowledge graph connecting fragmented knowledge sources (Drive, intranet, Slack) into a structured, AI-queryable data layer powering enterprise-wide semantic search and retrievalActively participate in and champion team ceremonies, contributing to sprint goals and continuous process improvementCollaborate with product managers and stakeholders to define requirements, provide technical insights, author user and technical stories, and ensure seamless integration of solutionsEstablish and enforce agile development best practices, coding standards, and architectural patterns for code quality, maintainability, and scalabilityMentor and guide junior and mid-level engineers, fostering technical growth and a collaborative team environmentTackle complex technical challenges, troubleshoot issues, and provide innovative solutionsDrive technical design discussions, contributing to overall system architecture and robustnessConduct thorough, constructive code reviews to ensure code quality and knowledge sharingChampion high standards for knowledge management, ensuring clear, accessible documentation for all features and solutionsStay current with emerging technologies and trends, proactively identifying opportunities for improvementIdentify and mitigate technical risks to ensure timely, successful deliveryWhat You'll BringStrong technical leadership skills with the ability to set vision and guide a teamDeep understanding of agile methodologies and the software development lifecycleExperience building LLM/GenAI applications (prompt engineering, RAG, agentic workflows), ideally within GCP Vertex AIExperience with Slack app development or workflow automation (Slack API, Bolt SDK, Workflow Builder) and API/webhook integrationExperience building and maintaining knowledge graphs or structured data layers supporting AI/ML retrieval systems (RAG pipelines, semantic search)Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and debugging skillsStrong communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skillsDemonstrated ability to mentor other engineersSolid understanding of software architecture principles, design patterns, and system scalabilityProficiency designing and developing scalable, maintainable software iterativelyKnowledge of agile best practices, coding standards, and testing methodologiesFamiliarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and related technologiesAbility to work effectively in cross-functional teamsUnderstanding of CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practicesQualificationsBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience)Minimum 8 years of professional software development experienceProven experience leading delivery of complex software solutions in an agile environmentStrong proficiency in one or more relevant programming languages (Java, Python, JavaScript, Go)Experience with AI/ML or LLM-based application developmentExperience with workflow-automation platformsExperience with testing frameworks and methodologies