Lead Software Engineer

Aptonet; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Aptonet is seeking a Lead Software Engineer with 8+ years of experience to drive delivery of complex software in the Digital Workplace team. Focus areas include AI and automation, generative AI capabilities, and enterprise platform integration.

You will design architecture, mentor engineers, and own critical technical decisions to ensure scalable, high-quality software aligned with product goals.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software development experience.
• Experience leading delivery of complex software solutions in agile environments.
• Experience with AI/ML or LLM-based application development.
• Experience with workflow-automation platforms.
• Experience with testing frameworks and methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Provide strong technical leadership and guidance to the engineering team, setting technical vision.
• Lead the design, development, and deployment of complex software solutions, owning deliverables from conception to launch.
• Define and own the technical strategy and architecture for generative AI capabilities across the platform.
• Drive the roadmap and technical direction for AI-assisted tooling that improves information retrieval for employees.
• Own the knowledge graph connecting fragmented sources into a structured, AI-queryable data layer.
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers and contribute to process improvements.
• Collaborate with product managers to define requirements and ensure integration of solutions.
• Establish and enforce agile development best practices, coding standards, and architectural patterns.

Skills

Technical leadership

Agile methodologies

GenAI/LLM experience

Slack integration

Knowledge graphs

Problem solving

Mentoring

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

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

Tools

Slack API

Bolt SDK

Workflow Builder

GCP Vertex AI

RAG pipelines

Job description

We're looking for a highly skilled and motivated Lead Software Engineer with 8+ years of experience to drive the delivery of complex, high-impact software solutions. In this role, you'll support the Digital Workplace team's mission to remove technology friction for every employee, with a focus on applying AI and automation. You'll help build and maintain generative AI capabilities within enterprise platforms and design automated workflows that connect internal tools to engineering systems, playing a key role in shaping technical direction and ensuring the delivery of high-quality, scalable, maintainable software aligned with product goals.

Responsibilities

• Provide strong technical leadership and guidance to the engineering team, setting technical vision and ensuring alignment with product goals
• Lead the design, development, and deployment of complex software solutions, owning technical deliverables from conception to launch within an iterative development process
• Define and own the technical strategy and architecture for generative AI capabilities across the platform, in alignment with governance and risk guidelines
• Drive the roadmap and technical direction for AI-assisted tooling that improves how employees find information and get work done, partnering with product and engineering leads to prioritize impact
• Own the design, build, and ongoing maintenance of a knowledge graph connecting fragmented knowledge sources (Drive, intranet, Slack) into a structured, AI-queryable data layer powering enterprise-wide semantic search and retrieval
• Actively participate in and champion team ceremonies, contributing to sprint goals and continuous process improvement
• Collaborate with product managers and stakeholders to define requirements, provide technical insights, author user and technical stories, and ensure seamless integration of solutions
• Establish and enforce agile development best practices, coding standards, and architectural patterns for code quality, maintainability, and scalability
• Mentor and guide junior and mid-level engineers, fostering technical growth and a collaborative team environment
• Tackle complex technical challenges, troubleshoot issues, and provide innovative solutions
• Drive technical design discussions, contributing to overall system architecture and robustness
• Conduct thorough, constructive code reviews to ensure code quality and knowledge sharing
• Champion high standards for knowledge management, ensuring clear, accessible documentation for all features and solutions
• Stay current with emerging technologies and trends, proactively identifying opportunities for improvement
• Identify and mitigate technical risks to ensure timely, successful delivery

What You'll Bring

• Strong technical leadership skills with the ability to set vision and guide a team
• Deep understanding of agile methodologies and the software development lifecycle
• Experience building LLM/GenAI applications (prompt engineering, RAG, agentic workflows), ideally within GCP Vertex AI
• Experience with Slack app development or workflow automation (Slack API, Bolt SDK, Workflow Builder) and API/webhook integration
• Experience building and maintaining knowledge graphs or structured data layers supporting AI/ML retrieval systems (RAG pipelines, semantic search)
• Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and debugging skills
• Strong communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated ability to mentor other engineers
• Solid understanding of software architecture principles, design patterns, and system scalability
• Proficiency designing and developing scalable, maintainable software iteratively
• Knowledge of agile best practices, coding standards, and testing methodologies
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and related technologies
• Ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams
• Understanding of CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience)
• Minimum 8 years of professional software development experience
• Proven experience leading delivery of complex software solutions in an agile environment
• Experience with AI/ML or LLM-based application development
• Experience with workflow-automation platforms
• Experience with testing frameworks and methodologies