Staff Engineer

Automatic Data Processing, Inc.; Asheville (NC); Remote; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working hours

Remote work environments

Medical

Dental

Vision

Life insurance

Disability insurance

401k matching

Job summary

Artisan Studios in Asheville, NC seeks a Staff Engineer to lead through technical direction across client engagements, setting standards for AI-assisted development and cloud-native architectures. You will mentor engineers, own the Spec-Driven Development playbook, and grow into organizational leadership, balancing delivery health with engineering strategy while working hands-on when needed.

This senior individual contributor role requires clear communication with executives and clients, a

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software engineering, with 3+ years as a senior engineer, tech lead, or architect across several teams.
• Experience setting technical direction for several teams without direct authority.
• Experience in a consulting or professional services company: solution architecture, estimates, statements of work, and client delivery.
• Strong hands-on background in cloud-native systems on AWS, in both architecture and code.
• Daily, hands-on use of AI coding agents (Cursor, Claude Code, or similar), and experience leading AI adoption in an engineering team.
• Experience mentoring senior engineers and team leads. People management experience is a plus.
• Clear written and verbal communication with executives, clients, and engineers.
• Experience delivering generative AI solutions for clients (for example Amazon Bedrock, RAG, or agent frameworks).
• SOC 2 or similar compliance experience in an engineering organization.
• Platform engineering background: Kubernetes, infrastructure as code (Terraform), and automation platforms such as Spacelift.
• Experience with mobile or IoT delivery.
• AWS Professional certification.

Responsibilities

• Set technical direction across client engagements: review architectures, solution designs, and key technical decisions.
• Act as technical lead on the highest-risk engagements, and work hands-on when a project needs it.
• Own the Spec-Driven Development playbook and AI-assisted development standards. Show them in your own work, measure adoption, and improve them with the teams.
• Own engineering standards: code quality, testing, security, and architecture decision records.
• Find delivery and technical risk early across all engagements, and work with team leads to fix it.
• Lead the technical side of presales: scoping, solution architecture, estimates, statements of work, and client workshops.
• Act as the senior technical escalation point for clients.
• Mentor team leads and senior engineers, and raise the technical bar of the full organization.
• Define the technical hiring bar and run senior technical interviews.
• Support security and compliance work in engineering, including SOC 2 controls and evidence.

Skills

Technical leadership

Cloud-native AWS

AI adoption

Mentoring

Executive communication

Tools

Kubernetes

Terraform

Spacelift

Cursor/AI coding agents

Job description

If you are unable to complete this application due to a disability, contact this employer to ask for an accommodation or an alternative application process.

Production-Employee Asheville, NC, US

Who We Are

Artisan Studios, a leading digital innovation consultancy, crafts elegant digital solutions that accelerate success for our clients. We are a team of talented, compassionate, and inclusive professionals who share a passion for technology and an unwavering drive to grow. Our work spans from application and infrastructure modernization to cloud migration, AI engineering, and custom end-to-end product development.

We're looking for aStaff Engineer to join our team of Artisans!

About the Role

This is a senior individual contributor role. You lead through technical direction, standards, and your own work, not through direct reports.

You work across all teams and client engagements in the engineering organization. You set the technical bar, find risk early, and step in hands-on where a project needs you.

This role is designed to grow into the Director of Engineering role. As you grow, you take on more organizational leadership, including delivery health, engineering strategy, and people leadership.

Our engineers deliver with AI-assisted development under our Spec-Driven Development (SDD) playbook. You will show the organization how AI-assisted delivery is done well.

Key responsibilities

• Set technical direction across client engagements: review architectures, solution designs, and key technical decisions.
• Act as technical lead on the highest-risk engagements, and work hands-on when a project needs it.
• Own the Spec-Driven Development playbook and AI-assisted development standards. Show them in your own work, measure adoption, and improve them with the teams.
• Own engineering standards: code quality, testing (our engineers own testing for their own work), security, and architecture decision records.
• Find delivery and technical risk early across all engagements, and work with team leads to fix it.
• Lead the technical side of presales: scoping, solution architecture, estimates, statements of work, and client workshops.
• Act as the senior technical escalation point for clients.
• Mentor team leads and senior engineers, and raise the technical bar of the full organization.
• Define the technical hiring bar and run senior technical interviews.
• Support security and compliance work in engineering, including SOC 2 controls and evidence.

About the Candidate

You are a hands-on technical leader. Engineers follow your direction because of your judgment and your work, not your title. You give direct, honest feedback, and you measure results, not activity.

You are comfortable in a consulting setting. You can explain a technical risk to a client executive in the morning and pair with an engineer on the fix in the afternoon.

You use AI tools in your own work every day, and you know where AI output fails. You expect the same from the teams, and you know how to coach them to get there. You want to grow into organizational leadership.

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

• 10+ years in software engineering, with 3+ years as a senior engineer, tech lead, or architect across several teams.
• Experience setting technical direction for several teams without direct authority.
• Experience in a consulting or professional services company: solution architecture, estimates, statements of work, and client delivery.
• Strong hands-on background in cloud-native systems on AWS, in both architecture and code.
• Daily, hands-on use of AI coding agents (Cursor, Claude Code, or similar), and experience leading AI adoption in an engineering team.
• Experience mentoring senior engineers and team leads. People management experience is a plus.
• Clear written and verbal communication with executives, clients, and engineers.
• Experience delivering generative AI solutions for clients (for example Amazon Bedrock, RAG, or agent frameworks).
• SOC 2 or similar compliance experience in an engineering organization.
• Platform engineering background: Kubernetes, infrastructure as code (Terraform), and automation platforms such as Spacelift.
• Experience with mobile or IoT delivery.
• AWS Professional certification.

Core Competencies

• Develops Talent - Builds the skills of engineers and team leads through mentoring and example
• Drives Results - Delivers measurable outcomes, even when things are difficult
• Decision Quality - Considers all relevant factors and uses good criteria to keep the organization moving forward
• Manages Ambiguity - Operates well when the way forward is not clear
• Customer Focus - Builds strong client relationships and delivers client-centric solutions

More about our team

We're a creative company with a deep and equal passion for strategy, technology and design. Our work is diverse, and so is our team. We're committed to building a culture where differences are embraced. Our team is fantastic, but we've got room for you if you're interested.

More about our benefits

Our clients appreciate that we always bring our "A" game. But to do that consistently requires life balance, and we get that.

• Flexible working hours
• remote work environments
• medical
• dental
• vision
• life insurance
• disability insurance
• 401k matching
• and more.

Additional information

We believe our differences make us stronger. To ensure our culture continues to incorporate everyone's perspectives and experience, we celebrate and encourage diversity. Artisan is an equal opportunity employer and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, age, medical condition, disability, veteran status, marital status or other prohibited factors under applicable federal, state, and local laws.

As a remote-first, digitally innovative technology consulting firm, we pride ourselves on our ability to meet the needs of our clients. As such, you may be required to travel quarterly, depending on the specific client responsibilities of your role. This position requires constant operation of a computer, various software programs and other electronic productivity tools. This position requires prolonged observation of a computer screen. Additionally, it requires regular participation in virtual meetings and training. Artisan participates in e-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all new hires as part of our commitment to a compliant and secure workplace.