Senior/Lead Software Enigneer (AI-assisted development)

12+ month contract This Jobot Consulting Job is hosted by: Adrionna Roy Are you a fit? Easy Apply now by clicking the "Quick Apply" button and sending us your resume. Salary: $45 - $65 per hour A bit about us: Public education across the state by providing leadership, resources, technology, and services that help schools, educators, and students succeed. Why join us? Make an impact by helping modernize critical technology that supports education across South Carolina. You’ll work on meaningful projects involving application modernization, cloud technology, and AI while helping shape the future of the Department’s technology environment. Job Details Lead Full Stack Software Engineer Location: West Columbia, SC 29172 Work Arrangement: 100% Onsite Rate: $45/hr- $65/hr Position Summary We are seeking an accomplished **Lead Full Stack Software Engineer** to serve as a senior hands-on technical contributor and technical leader within a modern application development team. This role has two primary areas of focus: 1. **Application Modernization:** Assess and modernize a portfolio of approximately **40 existing applications**, determining the appropriate future-state architecture, technology stack, migration strategy, and Azure hosting model for each. 2. **New Application & AI Development:** Design and build new applications, features, and AI-enabled solutions that support future business initiatives. The ideal candidate brings deep hands-on development experience, strong application architecture expertise, and advanced proficiency with **React, Python, SQL, and Microsoft Azure**. This individual should be comfortable evaluating existing systems, determining modernization strategies, selecting appropriate technologies and Azure services, and actively contributing to solution delivery. The development team is also embracing **AI-assisted software development tools, including Claude Code and Claude CI**, as part of its engineering workflows. Experience leveraging AI tools for development, testing, modernization, code review, and delivery is highly desirable. This is not a purely architectural or management-focused position. The Lead Full Stack Software Engineer will remain actively involved in **design, coding, troubleshooting, deployment, and technical decision-making** while providing technical leadership and mentorship to other developers. Key Responsibilities Full Stack Software Development * Design, build, test, deploy, and maintain production applications using **React and React Native on the frontend, Python on the backend, SQL/Azure SQL for data management, and Microsoft Azure for cloud services and hosting**. * Remain hands-on with development and deliver production-quality code and complex technical solutions. * Own solutions end-to-end, from requirements gathering and technical design through implementation, deployment, and ongoing support. * Develop new applications and capabilities aligned with evolving business needs. * Write clean, scalable, secure, maintainable, and well-tested code. * Troubleshoot and resolve complex issues involving performance, reliability, integrations, security, and scalability. Legacy Application Modernization & Cloud Architecture * Lead modernization efforts across a portfolio of approximately **40 legacy and existing applications**. * Evaluate applications and recommend whether they should be **refactored, re-platformed, rebuilt, consolidated, or retired**. * Define appropriate **technology stacks, architectures, Azure services, and hosting models**. * Lead migrations from legacy technologies, including **ColdFusion**, to modern cloud-native solutions. * Design solutions that fully leverage Azure capabilities rather than simply relocating legacy systems to the cloud. * Assess dependencies, integrations, databases, security requirements, scalability needs, performance considerations, and technical debt. * Partner with infrastructure and cloud teams to establish scalable, secure, and maintainable Azure environments. Technical Design & Microsoft Azure * Lead architecture and technical design efforts for new applications, modernization initiatives, and major enhancements. * Design and deploy solutions using technologies such as **Azure Container Apps, App Service, Azure SQL, Entra ID**, and related Azure services. * Evaluate hosting strategies based on scalability, security, maintainability, performance, and cost. * Develop and maintain architecture, design, integration, and deployment documentation. * Implement and support **Infrastructure as Code using Bicep** where appropriate. * Evaluate emerging technologies, frameworks, and cloud services. AI & AI-Assisted Software Development * Contribute to the design and development of **AI-enabled applications, features, and proof-of-concept initiatives**. * Identify opportunities to integrate AI into existing and future solutions. * Utilize **Claude Code and Claude CI** as part of modern engineering workflows. * Apply AI tools for **code generation, refactoring, modernization, testing, debugging, documentation, and code review**. * Help establish best practices for responsible and effective AI adoption. * Evaluate emerging AI technologies and recommend high-value use cases. Engineering Standards, DevOps & CI/CD * Promote strong engineering practices, including code reviews, automated testing, reusable components, and architectural standards. * Build and maintain modern **CI/CD pipelines using GitLab, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, and related tools**. * Drive technical debt reduction, vulnerability remediation, performance improvements, and production stability. * Champion secure software development practices. * Improve development efficiency through automation and AI-assisted tooling. Technical Leadership & Mentorship * Provide technical leadership while remaining an active hands-on contributor. * Mentor developers through design reviews, architecture discussions, pairing sessions, and code reviews. * Help remove technical roadblocks and guide teams through complex challenges. * Participate in sprint planning, backlog refinement, estimation, and workload planning. * Partner with leadership on application strategy, technology selection, technical hiring, and onboarding. * Clearly communicate technical recommendations and tradeoffs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Minimum Qualifications * Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience. * **5+ years of professional full-stack software development experience**, including recent senior-level or lead-level hands-on development. * Strong experience with **React, Python, SQL, and modern web application development**. * Experience designing, deploying, and supporting applications within **Microsoft Azure**. * Proven ability to make architecture and technology decisions. * Experience across the full software development lifecycle. Preferred Qualifications * Deep expertise with **React, React Native, TypeScript, Python, C#, SQL, and Azure SQL**. * Strong knowledge of Azure services, including **Azure Container Apps, App Service, Azure SQL, and Entra ID**. * Experience developing modernization and cloud migration strategies. * Experience migrating applications from legacy platforms such as **ColdFusion**. * Experience selecting appropriate architectures, technology stacks, and hosting models. * Experience building applications from concept through production deployment. * Experience developing or integrating **AI-enabled applications**. * Hands-on experience with **Claude Code, Claude CI, or similar AI-assisted engineering tools**. * Understanding of generative AI use cases across software development workflows. * Experience with **Bicep** and Infrastructure as Code. * Proficiency with **GitLab, GitHub Actions, and Azure DevOps**. * Experience establishing engineering standards, testing frameworks, and development best practices. * Strong understanding of application security, scalability, reliability, performance, and cloud architecture. * Product-focused mindset with an emphasis on maintainable and scalable solutions. * Proven ability to provide technical leadership while remaining hands-on. * Ability to thrive in fast-paced environments, navigate ambiguity, and make sound technical decisions. * Experience within **regulated, enterprise, or similarly complex environments** is a plus. * Strong written and verbal communication skills. Interested in hearing more? Easy Apply now by clicking the "Quick Apply" button. Jobot is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We provide an inclusive work environment that celebrates diversity and all qualified candidates receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, age (40 and over), disability, military status, genetic information or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. Jobot also prohibits harassment of applicants or employees based on any of these protected categories. It is Jobot’s policy to comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws respecting consideration of unemployment status in making hiring decisions. Sometimes Jobot is required to perform background checks with your authorization. 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