Lead Software Engineer

Job Summary

The Lead Software Engineer collaborates closely with partner teams to solve user and business challenges. The role upholds software engineering excellence in civic technology operating within the specific constraints of the MBTA. The Lead Software Engineer provides technical guidance for other members of the team, leads work on complex or ambiguous components, and helps simplify complexity across team-owned systems. This role elevates team productivity, mentors engineers, and takes ownership of team-level architecture, system reliability, and software engineering best practices.

Duties & Responsibilities

Lead technical design for subsystem-level components and services for the team.

Architect complex systems and guide team members through implementation.

Reduce systemic reliability risks within team boundaries.

Mentor junior engineers and drive technical decisions for team-owned systems.

Collaborate with applicable User Experience (UX), Product Managers (PM) and other team members to contribute toward shaping the team roadmap and team processes as well as contribute to technical strategy decisions.

Participate in team and incident retrospectives to improve how the team delivers.

Ensure implementation of software engineering best practices and adherence to organizational policies, compliance requirements, and cross-functional standards impacting team operations.

Debug cloud-hosted production systems using observability tools.

Collaborate with team members to review code for correctness, performance, and reliability.

Participate in on-call rotation of technology systems and services as needed.

Contribute to organization-wide infrastructure (e.g. continuous integration pipelines, shared applications) and ways of work (e.g. hiring, cross-team collaboration).

Perform all other duties and projects that may be assigned.

Additional responsibilities may include focus on one or more departments or locations. Supervision No direct reports.

Minimum Requirements & Qualifications

Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution.

Six (6) years of relevant professional experience in modern software engineering practices, including technical leadership, system architecture, and designing subsystem-level components and services.

Experience leading end-to-end delivery of complex projects requiring ingenuity and creativity, often requiring multiple team members to execute.

Demonstrated proficiency in at least two (2) programming languages from the TIOBE top 20.

Experience resolving production incidents and monitoring system health, including on-call, incident response.

Experience with CI/CD and code review processes.

Experience with logging, monitoring, observability, and cloud-hosted production systems.

Ability to participate in on-call rotation of technology systems and services as needed.

As part of the selection process, candidates will be asked to complete and pass job-related technical assessments, which may include a software design diagramming exercise and/or a timed coding exercise.

Substitutions A high school diploma or GED with an additional seven (7) years of directly related experience substitutes for the bachelor's degree requirement. An associate's degree from an accredited institution and an additional three (3) years of directly related experience substitutes for the bachelor's degree requirement. A master's degree in a related subject substitutes for two (2) years of general experience. A nationally recognized certification, or statewide/professional certification in a related field substitutes for one (1) year of experience.

Preferred Experience & Skills

Strong understanding of distributed systems or high-reliability systems.

Experience with Elixir.

Experience with AWS.

Experience with Application Programming Interfaces (API) / microservices / Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA).

Experience developing code as part of an open-source project.

Experience in public sector, transportation agency, and/or civic technology team.

Familiarity with MBTA transit data standards (GTFS, GTFS-RT, TODS, TIDES).

Job Conditions

Ability to effectively read, comprehend, communicate, and respond to instructions, orders, signs, notices, inquiries, etc. in English.

Be at least eighteen (18) years of age, except if participating in an approved high school internship / co-op program.

Ability to commute to assigned work locations in the Boston, MA metro area, as required by the role.

Ability to provide internal and external customers with courteous and professional experiences.

Ability to work effectively, independently, and as part of a diverse workforce team (or supervise, if required).

Ability to uphold the rights and interests of the MBTA while building and maintaining effective relationships with employees and co-workers.

Ability to adhere to rules, regulations, collective bargaining agreements (if applicable), and policies of the MBTA, including the EEO, anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and anti-retaliation policies.

Have a satisfactory work record for the two (2) years immediately prior to the closing date of this posting (unless if current student or recent graduate), including overall employment, job performance, discipline, and safety records (infractions and/or offenses occurring after the closing of the posting and before the filling of a vacancy may preclude a candidate from consideration for selection).

Ability to pass a Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check, comprehensive background screening, and / or medical Clinic screening, potentially including physical examination and drug and alcohol screenings.

Ability to work all shifts and / or locations assigned, directed, or necessary for this position, including (for some transit / operations roles) up to twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week as necessary to accommodate severe weather conditions, emergencies, or any other circumstances that may potentially impact service or the safety of service.

Intern / co-op staff must be enrolled full or part-time in an accredited educational program and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 for the entire duration of the internship / co-op. Additionally, interns / co-ops must have valid work authorization and U.S. Social Security Number prior to starting pre-employment screenings / pre-boarding, working in their positions, and throughout the duration of their program.

Disclaimers and Definitions

General Disclaimer: The statements contained in this job description are intended to describe a summary, general nature, and complexity of typical job functions and do not represent an exhaustive list of all duties, tasks, and responsibilities required of staff assigned to this position.

Application Completion: It is each applicant's responsibility to ensure application details are entered completely and correctly, including updated work and education histories (past and current). Incomplete applications may not be considered. Attachments do not substitute for application fields. The recruitment team does not have access to existing employee data / history.

Application Deadlines: Applicants should apply as soon as possible, as the MBTA may stop considering applicants after a sufficiently large applicant pool is established.

Work Environment: The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here-in are representative of those an employee may encounter while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations can be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. See job description for role-specific requirements.

Work Eligibility: All employees must be legally authorized to work in the United States and on an unrestricted basis. The MBTA does not have an employer work sponsorship program. However, if you have unrestricted work authorization, or are sponsored by a separate entity, you are welcome to apply. Further, all persons hired will require a U.S. Social Security Number prior to starting the position and employees will be required to complete a Form I-9 to verify their identity and eligibility to work in the U.S.

Interviews: Candidates should ensure they arrive on time, are prepared, can remain for the duration, and if remote, are in a quiet place without distraction, for the interview. Candidates who do not attend their interview without advance authorization, including an email confirmation of a rescheduled time/date from Human Resources, will be considered a no-show and disqualified from consideration for the position. Related to rescheduling, on a one-time basis, and due to something emergent, you may be allowed to reschedule the interview. In addition, Human Resources may require documentation supporting the request. However, should you need to reschedule, you will need to contact your Recruiter directly by email.

Safety Sensitive Positions: Employees working in this classification will be subject to periodic physical examinations plus random drug and alcohol testing.

On-call or 24/7 Positions: Employees working in this classification must be available to respond to page / text / call and report to work as determined by assigned department or the Authority.

Essential / Emergency Staff: During declared "states of emergency," employees working in this classification are required to report to work for their