Senior Software Engineer

Senior Software Engineer

Steelhead Technologies is on a mission to build the ERP that powers manufacturing. Our cloud-based platform is purpose-built for job shops — the powder coaters, platers, anodizers, heat treaters, and fabricators at the heartbeat of manufacturing. We give shops real-time visibility into their operations, eliminate paper-based inefficiencies, and bring AI to the shop floor through features like automated order entry and intelligent reporting.

Our vision is simple: move manufacturing forward. Everything we build is in service of our north star — shops using Steelhead.

Our Values

• Customer Obsession - Create dream outcomes for customers.
• Relentless Curiosity - Understand from first principles.
• Integrity - Everything we do is built on trust.
• Ownership - Success is not an accident
• Conviction - Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.

About the role

Steelhead Technologies is hiring a Senior Software Engineer.

You'll be working on the ERP that runs metal finishing and fabrication shops across the country. Our customers depend on Steelhead to run every part of their business — quoting, work orders, part tracking, inventory, job costing, invoicing. It isn't one tool among many for them; it's the system their entire operation runs on. That raises the stakes and it shortens the feedback loop considerably. Ship something good and you hear about it from the people using it. If something is off you'll hear about it even faster. Few engineering roles offer that kind of directness.

As a senior engineer here, the scope is wider than a single feature. You'll take on the problems that cut across the product — the data model decisions that are expensive to get wrong, the parts of the system that need to be rebuilt rather than patched, the work that nobody has fully scoped yet. You'll set technical direction alongside our tech leads and be accountable for whether it holds up in production.

You'll also be a multiplier for the engineers around you. Our developers sit in the same room, which means questions get answered face-to-face and your judgment shows up in other people's work as much as your own. You'll review code, mentor engineers earlier in their careers, and raise the standard for how we build. You'll own outcomes rather than tickets, and you won't wait for permission to take on hard problems.

You act as the product manager for what you build. You'll get requirements from shops using the software through deployment specialists, support, and sales — and you'll go directly to customers when the requirements aren't clear enough. From there you have a big say in how the feature will work and will direct AI across the whole cycle to get it done.

The stack is React, Node.js, TypeScript, Postgres, and GraphQL. We're based in Calumet, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and delivery of large, cross-cutting features from ambiguous requirements through production
• Own architecture and data model decisions for major areas of the product, in partnership with tech leads
• AI-native development using Claude Code or Cursor — directing large efforts through loops and multiple agents
• Set the bar for engineering quality through code review, technical design review, and mentorship of other engineers
• Identify and drive the technical work nobody asked for but the product needs — performance, reliability, and paying down architectural debt
• Develop test plans for your work and thoroughly test different workflows
• Collaborate with QA to work through testing feedback
• Own your features in production: instrument them, watch operational logs and product metrics, and act on what you find

What We're Looking For

• B.S. in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field
• 5+ years of professional software development experience
• Track record of leading large features or systems end to end, including the design decisions
• Strong SQL and data model design — you've lived with the consequences of schemas you designed
• AI-native development experience
• Experience mentoring engineers and improving how a team builds, not just what it ships
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Action-oriented and self-directed
• Focused on making great product experiences
• Deep experience with React.js or a similar web app framework

Nice to have:

• GraphQL experience
• Experience with AI looping
• ERP, manufacturing, or other complex operational software
• AWS
• Docker
• DataDog