Full-Stack Tech Lead: AI & Cloud (React/.NET/Azure)

Sidley Austin LLP; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 112,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Sidley Austin LLP is seeking a Lead Software Engineer to own full-stack applications built on .NET, React/Next.js, and Azure, including AI-powered features to assist lawyers and staff. This hands-on leadership role involves coding, setting standards, architecture decisions, and mentoring engineers.

You will work with product managers, architects, and business stakeholders to deliver reliable software, ensure security, and maintain production systems with strong observability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS/Software Engineering or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 8+ years of professional software engineering with lead/ principal-level progression.
• Strong full-stack skills: .NET (C#), React, Next.js, and REST/GraphQL API design.
• Architect and deliver production-grade, reliable, secure applications.
• Hands-on Azure services used in development (App Service, AKS, SQL, Service Bus, OpenAI).
• Experience with relational and/or NoSQL databases (SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Cosmos DB).
• CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions), Git, and Agile practices.
• Experience leading engineers, setting direction and conducting reviews.
• Clear communicator with technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and delivery of full-stack apps using .NET, React/Next.js, Azure; ownership from architecture to production support.
• Set engineering standards for code quality, testing, performance, and security; enforce via code reviews.
• Make architectural decisions for new features and systems for maintainability and scalability.
• Integrate AI/GenAI features into firm apps, including LLMs, RAG, semantic search, and workflows.
• Mentor engineers through pairing, design reviews, and ongoing feedback.
• Collaborate with product managers, designers, and architects to translate requirements into technical plans.
• Own production reliability: observability, incident response, root cause follow-up.
• Apply security best practices across the stack, with sensitive legal data in mind.
• Partner with DevOps on CI/CD, container platforms (AKS, AC Apps), and cloud patterns.
• Stay current on technologies and provide reasoned recommendations.
• Participate in hiring, including technical interviews and onboarding.

Skills

.NET (C#)

React/Next.js

Full-stack development

REST/GraphQL APIs

Azure services

CI/CD pipelines

Leadership

Communication

Security & reliability

Design patterns

Kubernetes

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Software Engineering or related field

Tools

Azure DevOps

GitHub Actions

Docker

Kubernetes

LangGraph

Semantic Kernel

Job description

Sidley Austin LLP is seeking a Lead Software Engineer to own full-stack applications built on .NET, React/Next.js, and Azure, including AI-powered features to assist lawyers and staff. This hands-on leadership role involves coding, setting standards, architecture decisions, and mentoring engineers.

You will work with product managers, architects, and business stakeholders to deliver reliable software, ensure security, and maintain production systems with strong observability.