Open Source Engineer

Lucentive; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote-first with CET overlap

Portugal hub occasional sessions

Public-facing writing in English

Job summary

Lucentive is seeking a role to build and steward a portfolio of public software packages and command-line tools, guiding projects from initial commit to stable releases.

You will maintain public project catalogs, write READMEs and changelogs, review external contributions, and communicate technical decisions openly to users and contributors.

Qualifications

• Experience building developer-facing software such as tools, CLIs, SDKs, or libraries.
• Ability to take projects from initial commit to reliable releases that can handle real users and unclear inputs.
• Experience maintaining repositories, handling external pull requests, and deciding what is ready to ship.
• Strong written communication and a habit of explaining technical decisions publicly.
• Ability to maintain multiple small projects with consistent upkeep.
• Work samples or a track record of publishing software or technical writing.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain public packages and command-line tools through their release lifecycle.
• Keep the public project catalogue accurate, including project status, purpose, and what can be shared as evidence.
• Maintain repositories by managing issues, reviewing outside contributions, and keeping releases and project information organized.
• Write and update READMEs, design notes, changelogs, and other public explanations of how the software works and why decisions were made.
• Assess when experiments are ready for public release and communicate their limitations honestly.
• Support external users and contributors as projects gain a community.

Skills

Developer tools

CLI tools

SDKs / libraries

Open-source maintenance

Technical writing

Tools

GitHub / Git workflows

CI/CD

Job description

Role overview

Build and steward a portfolio of public software packages and command-line tools, taking projects from early implementation through stable releases. The work combines engineering with open-source maintenance and clear public communication, so users can understand, adopt, and contribute to the software without needing private guidance.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain public packages and command-line tools through their release lifecycle.
• Keep the public project catalogue accurate, including project status, purpose, and what can be shared as evidence.
• Maintain repositories by managing issues, reviewing outside contributions, and keeping releases and project information organized.
• Write and update READMEs, design notes, changelogs, and other public explanations of how the software works and why decisions were made.
• Assess when experiments are ready for public release and communicate their limitations honestly.
• Support external users and contributors as projects gain a community.

Requirements

• Experience building developer-facing software such as tools, command-line interfaces, SDKs, or libraries.
• Ability to take projects from an initial commit to reliable releases that can handle real users and unclear inputs.
• Experience maintaining repositories, handling external pull requests, and deciding what is ready to ship.
• Strong written communication and a habit of explaining technical decisions publicly.
• Ability to maintain multiple small projects with consistent upkeep.
• Work samples or a track record of publishing software or technical writing.

Nice to have

• Experience with tools for AI agents, agent frameworks, protocol libraries, or developer command-line tools.
• Experience growing a user base or contributor community around a project.
• A sustained practice of publishing through a blog, newsletter, changelog, or talks.
• Portuguese for internal coordination.

Benefits and work setup

• Remote-first, with at least four hours of Central European Time overlap on working days.
• Contract or full-time engagement, with a rolling start coordinated after fit is confirmed.
• Occasional in-person sessions at a Portugal hub.
• Public-facing writing is in English.