Lead Software Engineer

Software Engineering Team Lead

StoneAge Holdings is the global leader in designing and manufacturing high-pressure waterblast tooling and automated, IoT-enabled/robotic equipment, based in Durango, CO, with five subsidiaries in four countries. StoneAge Holdings includes StoneAge Tools and Warthog Nozzles, trusted brands known worldwide for their durability, performance, and innovation in industrial cleaning applications. We are an innovative, employee-owned company that aims to change our industry and the world through advancing technical products and services – and with our unique, people-centric culture.

Why This Role Exists

StoneAge automation only works if the software works. Reliability, diagnostics, controls logic, and user interface clarity determine whether our tools are trusted in the field or sidelined.

This role exists to ensure the software inside our automated systems is predictable, maintainable, and ready for real-world deployment in demanding environments.

Software at StoneAge is not an isolated layer. It is embedded within mechanical and electrical systems. It must integrate tightly, perform consistently, and support the StoneAge Assurance Promise in harsh industrial conditions.

One Sentence Outcome

Lead a disciplined software engineering team that consistently delivers reliable, maintainable embedded and controls software that enables safe, scalable automation adoption.

What You Will Be Responsible For

• Leading day to day execution of the software engineering team across embedded, controls, and application layers.
• Translating product and system requirements into clear technical plans, sprint commitments, and measurable outcomes.
• Designing and enforcing software development standards including architecture patterns, code review discipline, testing strategy, and release readiness gates.
• Ensuring robust diagnostics, fault handling, logging, and serviceability are built into every release.
• Driving integration across mechanical, electrical, and firmware teams to ensure system level performance and stability.
• Owning software quality metrics including defect rates, field issues, regression trends, and release stability.
• Managing technical debt deliberately, making clear tradeoffs between speed and long-term maintainability.
• Supporting field deployments and root cause analysis when issues arise, ensuring lessons are captured, and systems improve.
• Developing software engineers through clear standards, direct feedback, and capability building.
• Contributing to IP through invention disclosures and technical documentation in partnership with engineering leadership.

Who You Are

• A strong technical lead with deep experience in embedded systems, controls software, or industrial automation environments.
• Comfortable working close to hardware. You understand timing constraints, safety considerations, and real-world system behavior.
• Structured in your thinking. You break complex system problems into manageable components.
• Disciplined engineering hygiene including version control, testing, documentation, and traceability.
• Direct communicator who can push back when requirements create risk.
• Calm under production pressure and able to lead root cause analysis without blame.
• Focused on shipping reliable software, not chasing technical novelty.
• Proven experience leading software engineers delivering embedded or industrial systems.
• Strong orientation toward reliability, fault tolerance, and diagnostics.
• Comfortable making tradeoffs that protect delivery commitments.
• Does not tolerate sloppy standards or undefined ownership.
• Owns outcomes, not just code.

What Success Looks Like in the First 6 Months

• Clear visibility into current software architecture, technical debt, and risk areas.
• Established coding standards, review discipline, and release criteria.
• Improved predictability of sprint commitments and delivery timelines.
• Reduction in escaped defects and field software issues.
• Stronger integration rhythm with mechanical and electrical engineering.
• Defined hiring or skill development plan based on capability gaps.
• Documented and prioritized technical debt with an explicit plan to address it.
• Established ownership of diagnostics and logging strategies across products.

This Role Is Not for You If

• You prefer experimenting over finishing.
• You avoid integration challenges with hardware teams.
• You rely on heroic effort instead of disciplined process.
• You resist accountability for missed commitments or quality failures.

Team Culture

• Customer-Focused: Passionate about delivering outstanding customer service.
• Dedicated: Hardworking, trustworthy, and committed to giving 100% daily. "It's not my job" doesn't exist here.
• Adaptable and Creative: Agile in the face of change, striving for excellence, and thinking creatively to solve problems.
• Positive and Fun: Bring joy, humor, and a contagious positive attitude to the workplace.
• Respectful and Collaborative: Listen to understand, respect others, and foster a spirit of teamwork.

We are an employee-owned company with profit-sharing and an Employee Stock Ownership Plan ("ESOP"), in which shares of company stock are allocated to eligible employees each year.

Our "Own It" mindset captures what many of us consider the biggest benefit of all: a highly engaged, collaborative workplace where everyone matters and every employee makes a significant impact.