Lead Software Engineer - Azure, .Net, React (Chicago)

***We are unable to sponsor as this is a permanent full-time role***

***Hybrid, 3 days onsite, 2 days remote***

Responsibilities:

• Lead the design and delivery of full-stack applications using .NET, React/Next.js, and Azure, with ownership from architecture through production support.
• Set engineering standards for code quality, testing, performance, and security, and hold the team to them through active code authorship and thorough code review.
• Make architectural decisions for new features and systems, weighing trade-offs and ensuring solutions are maintainable, observable, and built to scale.
• Lead the integration of AI and GenAI capabilities into Firm applications, including LLM-powered features, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines, semantic search, and agentic workflows.
• Mentor engineers through pairing, design reviews, and ongoing feedback.
• Work with product managers, designers, and architects to turn business requirements into clear technical plans and realistic delivery milestones.
• Own the reliability of production systems: set observability standards, lead incident response, and see issues through to root cause.
• Apply security best practices across the stack, including authentication, authorization, and data protection, with particular care given the sensitivity of legal data.
• Partner with DevOps and Infrastructure on CI/CD pipelines, container platforms (Azure Kubernetes Service, Azure Container Apps), and cloud deployment patterns.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field; or equivalent professional experience.
• A minimum of 8 years of professional software engineering experience, with a track record of progression into a lead, staff, or principal-level role.
• Strong full-stack development skills, including .NET (C#), React, Next.js, and REST/GraphQL API design.
• Ability to architect and deliver production-grade applications with attention to reliability, performance, and security.
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure services used in application development (e.g., Azure App Service, Azure Container Apps/AKS, Azure SQL, Azure Service Bus, Azure OpenAI Service).
• Experience with relational and/or NoSQL databases (e.g., SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Cosmos DB).
• Strong understanding of software engineering fundamentals: system design, design patterns, testing strategy, and distributed systems.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions), version control (Git), and Agile development practices.
• Experience leading engineers, including setting technical direction, running design and code reviews, and helping team members grow.