Lead Software Engineer (McLean)

Lead Software Engineer (Core Platform)

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are partnering with a leading enterprise software company to place a Lead Software Engineer on their core platform engineering team. In this role, your mission will be to ensure a high-scale, enterprise-grade platform is always fast, scalable, and up to whatever tasks customers configure it to do. You will be solving problems of scale and flexibility that most engineers never encounter, building a product capable of serving customers in ways that push the limits of modern software engineering.

Your scope extends from the high-performance data layer to the cross-platform user interface to the design tools used to build on top of the platform, a rare opportunity to have deep, full-stack impact on a product used by enterprise customers worldwide.

This position is based on-site in McLean, VA (5 days per week). Our client is committed to a culture of in-person collaboration as a key driver of innovation and team excellence.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Leverage knowledge of data structures, algorithms, and design patterns to write software in a full-stack web and mobile environment
• Radiate best practices and accelerate development across the team through hands-on mentorship and technical leadership
• Manage availability, latency, scalability, and efficiency of the platform by engineering reliability into software and systems
• Contribute to software performance analysis and system tuning
• Serve as a key contributor to team feature breakdowns, sizing, and design of new feature implementations
• Take a moderate degree of personal responsibility for overall team performance, including quality, stability, and velocity
• Perform code reviews that provide feedback on code quality, design, and implementation
• Build automation to prevent problem recurrence
• Identify opportunities for code refactoring and performance optimization, and champion these efforts within the team
• Mentor junior software engineers by sharing best practices and providing guidance on professional growth
• Share advanced expertise with others across the department, both on and off your immediate team
• Lead technological changes to keep the platform current and competitive
• Communicate technical designs clearly — verbally, visually, and in writing — for small to medium-sized technical audiences
• Contribute to long-term technical documentation by publishing high-quality content to the engineering documentation site

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO SUCCEED

• Strong command of data structures, algorithms, and software design patterns
• Experience in a high-volume or critical production service environment
• Fluency in Java; additional language experience is a plus
• Ability to review architectures and designs, identify problems, and recommend better practices
• Experience conducting thorough code reviews focused on quality, performance, and maintainability
• A track record of mentoring junior engineers and elevating team capability
• Comfort operating across a full-stack web and mobile environment
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with both technical and non-technical audiences
• Ability to identify cross-team dependencies, communicate blockers, and escalate as needed

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

• MS in Computer Science or related field with 5+ years of relevant experience, OR BS in Computer Science or related field with 7+ years of relevant experience
• Experience in a high-volume or critical production service environment
• Fluency in Java
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent experience

TOOLS & ENVIRONMENT

• A modern, full-stack engineering environment spanning data layer, UI, and developer tooling
• An engineering culture that values innovation, autonomy, and continuous learning
• Dedicated time for personal projects and annual hackathons to fuel creative thinking
• A large engineering org with an agile business group model that fosters community and ownership

BENEFITS

Our client offers a comprehensive benefits package, which may include:

• Medical, dental, and vision health coverage
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with free mental health support
• Life and disability insurance
• Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP)
• Retirement / pension plan
• Wellness stipend
• Tuition reimbursement
• Family-forming benefits

The details

BASE SALARY: $190k - $210k

LOCATION: McLean, VA

IN-OFFICE: 5 days/week