Lead Software Engineer — R&D Productivity Tools

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.; Pullman (WA); On-site; USD 108,000 - 162,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

ESOP

Competitive pay

Top-tier benefits

Career development programs

Job summary

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. in Pullman, WA, seeks a Lead Software Engineer to join a new productivity tools team. You will improve existing tools, shape the roadmap for new ones, train users, and help set the team's software development culture.

Within 6–12 months, you will exceed internal expectations and measurably boost productivity. Required: a BS in Computer Science and six years of full‑stack development; experience delivering full lifecycle applications and collaborating

Qualifications

• Six years of full-stack software development experience.
• Leading technical decisions across a team or project.
• Working directly with users to define requirements and validate solutions.
• Designing, building, and supporting applications through the full lifecycle.
• Code reviews and maintaining documentation artifacts.
• Experience mentoring engineers, associates, and interns.

Responsibilities

• Lead the specification, design, and delivery of custom software tools that raise R&D quality and productivity.
• Define, collect, and report measures tying tool adoption to productivity outcomes.
• Lead the full application lifecycle of assigned tools and maintain their documentation artifacts.
• Lead the strategy for automated testing, release readiness, and post-release support.
• Define, adopt, and improve development processes across the team.
• Train internal customers on new tools and workflows, and gather feedback for the roadmap.
• Mentor Engineers, Associate Engineers, and Interns.

Skills

Full-stack development

Leadership

Requirements gathering

Code review

Mentoring

User collaboration

Education

B.S. in Computer Science

Tools

GitHub Copilot

GitHub Actions

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

SEL has ambitious goals for developing products that make electric power safer, more reliable, and more economical. When open-source or off-the-shelf development tools don't meet the unique needs of our engineering domains, we'll call on you to rapidly create and scale high-quality, custom solutions. As a Lead Software Engineer joining a new productivity tools team, you'll improve existing tools, shape the roadmap for new ones, train users, and set the team's software development culture. Within 6–12 months, you'll be exceeding the expectations of internal customers and measurably improving their productivity.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead the specification, design, and delivery of custom software tools that raise Research and Development (R&D) quality and productivity.
• Define, collect, and report measures that tie tool adoption to productivity outcomes.
• Lead the full application lifecycle of assigned tools and maintain their documentation artifacts.
• Lead the strategy for automated testing, release readiness, and post-release support.
• Define, adopt, and continuously improve development processes across the team.
• Train internal customers on new tools and workflows, and gather feedback that informs the roadmap.
• Mentor Engineers, Associate Engineers, and Interns.
• Model, teach, and apply SEL Values, Principles of Operations, and World Class Manufacturing Principles.
• Understand.
• Create.
• Simplify.
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• B.S. in Computer Science, or equivalent
• Six years of full-stack software development experience
• Designing, building, and supporting applications through the full lifecycle
• Working directly with users to define requirements and validate solutions
• Leading technical decisions across a team or project
• Code review

Preferred Qualifications

• User experience (UX) design, including user research, interaction design, and usability testing
• Design systems, accessibility standards, and rapid prototyping tools
• Artificial intelligence (AI) assistants, such as GitHub Copilot AI-powered tool and workflow integration
• Enterprise systems and data pipelines
• Continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) automation tools, such as GitHub Actions
• Application programming interface (API) development
• Python or other scripting languages
• Database design and administration
• Open-source software development
• Ontologies and knowledge graphs

Location

Pullman, WA

Competitive pay. Superior benefits. Inspiring work. People are at the core of our company and we hire employee-owners. We welcome you to learn more about how we support employees. We’re 100% employee owned. Retirement benefits include an employer funded stock ownership plan (ESOP) and personal 401(k) options. We offer top tier medical, prescription, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance. We recognize the importance of a healthy life balance and offer: 10 paid holidays, annual vacation accrual starting at 12 days, 9 paid sick days, and paid family and medical leave that covers 90% of your pay. We foster growth and development of our employees through avenues such as STEM courses, apprenticeships, tuition assistance, and engineering development programs. Ask our team about other benefits including wellness, fertility, adoption, and flexible spending benefits.

Pay Range Data: Lead Software Engineer - $107,600 - $161,500

We are open to reviewing additional candidates with more or less experience and the pay range may differ if filled at a different level. Our pay ranges are determined by job and responsibility. We base our starting pay offer and title on job-related factors such as candidate experience, training, knowledge, and skills.

Communication with Applicants We communicate with all applicants. If you do not receive a response about your application, please check your SPAM filter or reach out to us at [e-mail].

SEL is an Equal Opportunity Employer: Vets/Disabled.

SEL invents, designs, and builds digital products and systems that protect power grids around the world. This technology prevents blackouts and enables customers to improve power system reliability and safety at a reduced cost. A 100 percent employee‑owned company headquartered in Pullman, Washington, SEL has manufactured products in the United States since 1984 and now serves customers worldwide. Our mission is simple: to make electric power safer, more reliable, and more economical.