Lead Software Engineer

Cullerton Group; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 118,000 - 168,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Vision and dental insurance

401k plan

Holiday pay

Job summary

Cullerton Group seeks a Lead Software Engineer to architect AI-driven software platforms, focusing on Java backend systems, distributed architectures, and hands-on AI integration. You will lead multi-agent AI initiatives, establish standards, and mentor teams while advancing AI-powered development tools.

The role is hybrid in Chicago or Peoria, IL (Chicago preferred), with 2 onsite days/week, a 12-month contract with extension potential, and compensation up to $104/hr plus full benefits.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a related field with substantial experience.
• Deep hands-on Java backend development including microservices and API design.
• Strong software architecture and experience in large-scale distributed systems.
• Extensive AWS, Docker, and Kubernetes experience.
• Hands-on experience building production-level AI agents and agentic development patterns.
• Experience with vector databases (e.g., Pinecone, Milvus, Chroma, pgvector).
• Experience with Generative AI and LLM-powered applications, AI agents, or intelligent automation platforms.
• Familiarity with Model Context Protocol (MCP) and AI coding assistants.
• Experience leading architectural initiatives and mentoring multiple teams.

Responsibilities

• Architect and develop multi-agent and stateful AI systems using modern frameworks.
• Integrate foundation models through secure APIs while managing costs and rate limits.
• Design RAG and semantic-search architectures combining relational data with vectors.
• Lead architecture for Java backend systems, APIs, microservices, and cloud-native apps.
• Establish engineering standards and governance across multiple teams.
• Integrate AI development tools into workflows and promote responsible AI development.
• Mentor engineers and drive architecture reviews, RFCs, automation, and modernization.

Skills

Java backend development

Distributed systems architecture

Architecture leadership

AI/LLM integration

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Master’s degree

Tools

LangChain

LangGraph

AutoGen

CrewAI

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

Pinecone

Milvus

Chroma

pgvector

Claude

GPT

Windsurf

Job description

Cullerton Group has a new opportunity for a Lead Software Engineer – AI Systems, Architecture & Developer Experience. The work will be done hybrid in Chicago or Peoria, IL, with Chicago preferred, requiring 2 days per week onsite. This is a 12-month position with the possibility of extension that can lead to permanent employment with our client. Compensation is up to $104/hr + full benefits (vision, dental, health insurance, 401k, and holiday pay).

Job Summary

We are seeking a senior Lead Software Engineer to architect and deliver next-generation software platforms powered by Artificial Intelligence, Large Language Models (LLMs), and agentic workflows. This role combines deep Java backend and distributed-systems architecture with hands-on AI/LLM integration, cloud-native development, and technical leadership. The engineer will design production-grade AI systems, establish engineering standards, mentor teams, and help integrate AI-assisted development tools into the software development lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect and develop multi-agent and stateful AI systems using frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, AutoGen, or CrewAI.
• Integrate foundation models such as Claude, GPT, and Gemini through secure APIs while managing token usage, costs, and rate limits.
• Design RAG and semantic-search architectures, integrating relational data with vector databases.
• Lead architecture for Java backend systems, APIs, microservices, distributed systems, and cloud-native applications.
• Establish engineering standards and architectural governance across multiple development teams.
• Integrate AI development tools such as Cursor, Claude Code, and Windsurf into engineering workflows and establish responsible AI-development practices.
• Mentor engineers and technical leads while driving architecture reviews, RFCs, automation, modernization, and engineering excellence.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field with 10+ years of experience, OR Master’s degree with 8+ years of experience.
• Deep hands-on Java backend development, including microservices and API design.
• Strong software architecture and experience designing large-scale distributed systems.
• Extensive AWS, Docker, and Kubernetes experience.
• Hands-on experience building production-level AI agents, prompt engineering, and agentic development patterns.
• Practical experience with vector databases such as Pinecone, Milvus, Chroma, or pgvector.
• Experience with Generative AI, LLM-powered applications, AI agents, or intelligent automation platforms.
• Strong familiarity with AI coding assistants and an understanding of Model Context Protocol (MCP).
• Experience leading architectural initiatives, mentoring engineers, and influencing multiple engineering teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with LangChain, LangGraph, AutoGen, or CrewAI.
• Experience designing RAG systems and semantic-search solutions.
• Knowledge of application, cloud, and security architecture best practices.
• Experience establishing technical governance and engineering standards across multiple teams.
• Experience implementing evaluation and testing strategies for AI outputs, including factual accuracy, hallucination monitoring, and safety.

Why This Role?

This position offers an opportunity to work at the intersection of enterprise software architecture and production Generative AI. You’ll influence multiple engineering teams while designing AI agents, LLM integrations, RAG systems, cloud-native applications, and developer-productivity solutions. The role also provides significant technical leadership responsibility, including mentoring engineers and shaping architecture and AI-development standards.

Cullerton Group provides a professional environment with growth potential and the opportunity to contribute to meaningful technology initiatives with a global leader in manufacturing.