Founding Lead Engineer, People Technology (HR Systems)

Socket.dev; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental & vision insurance

401(k) matching

Life and AD&D

Job summary

DRW in Chicago is seeking a Lead / Senior Engineer to become the founding technical leader for the People Technology team. You will own the eight HR-adjacent applications, write production code, and shape the roadmap while partnering with HR stakeholders across Talent Acquisition, Development, and Management.

This role combines hands-on coding with strategic staffing decisions. As the first hire, you will validate staffing assumptions, define processes, and help build the team culture from

Qualifications

• Must have strong full-stack engineering background with Python, TypeScript/React, and PostgreSQL.
• Experience owning and delivering multiple applications end-to-end.
• Ability to translate business needs into technical solutions with non-technical stakeholders.
• Autonomy to define processes and culture as a founding team member.
• Strong communication and collaboration with HR partners.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical direction and roadmap for a suite of eight HR-adjacent applications, balancing maintenance and stability with new feature development driven by HR partner priorities.
• Serve as the primary engineering point of contact for HR stakeholders — embedding in their planning sessions, understanding their pain points, and translating business needs into technical solutions.
• Conduct a comprehensive assessment across all applications — evaluating tech debt, modernization opportunities, support burden, and alignment with engineering standards.
• Validate the team's initial staffing model and partner with leadership to define and fill the second engineering role.
• Write and ship production code across a diverse stack (Python, TypeScript/React, Ruby, FastAPI, Flask, Next.js, PostgreSQL) while maintaining high quality standards.
• Formalize support processes, stakeholder communication channels, and operational workflows as the team matures.

Skills

Python

TypeScript/React

PostgreSQL

Tools

Ruby

Sinatra

FastAPI

Flask

Next.js

Job description

DRW in Chicago is seeking a Lead / Senior Engineer to become the founding technical leader for the People Technology team. You will own the eight HR-adjacent applications, write production code, and shape the roadmap while partnering with HR stakeholders across Talent Acquisition, Development, and Management.

This role combines hands-on coding with strategic staffing decisions. As the first hire, you will validate staffing assumptions, define processes, and help build the team culture from