Associate Software Engineer

CDK Global•Austin, TX

5d•$85,000 - $95,000•Hybrid

About The Position

CDK Global is hiring an early-career engineer to build automotive retail software used by dealerships to sell, finance, and service vehicles and by consumers to shop for and buy cars. The engineer will develop production software using modern AI-based workflows, starting with AI-accelerated coding and progressing toward directing advanced AI systems on substantial development tasks. The role includes structured mentorship, a defined progression path, and early production ownership. The position emphasizes strong engineering fundamentals, precise specifications, rigorous verification, security, maintainability, lean code, and cost-effective use of AI development resources. The engineer will develop expertise in automotive retail, solve moderately scoped problems with increasing independence, and collaborate across engineering, product, and design. The role is hybrid in Austin, Texas, with some days in CDK’s office and remote work on remaining days; candidates must live within commuting distance. Participation in on-call rotations and emergency response is required.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
0–2 years of professional experience.
Experience with NodeJS, ReactJS, and AWS Cloud.
Strong command of at least one programming language and core computer science fundamentals.
Ability to read and reason about code written by others, identifying bugs, edge cases, security issues, and design problems.
Excellent written communication skills, including the ability to describe problems and designs precisely.
Genuine curiosity about AI-based development, demonstrated through coursework, projects, hackathons, or independent experimentation.
A verification mindset, with rigor in testing unvalidated output and attention to lean code and security.
Self-motivated fast learner who can adapt as tools change.
Collaborative problem-solving skills, ability to work independently and in teams, and ability to drive issues to timely resolution.
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without current or future employment-based visa sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

Substantive personal or academic projects using AI development tools, with the ability to explain what worked, what failed, and lessons learned.
Experience with Spec-Driven Development (SDD), Kafka, and Mongo.
Exposure to version control, code review, automated testing, and CI/CD.
Experience in a modern full stack, including mobile or web front ends, backend APIs, databases, or cloud.
Interest in building software that business operators and consumers depend on.

Responsibilities

Build and ship production software using AI-based development workflows, progressing from AI-accelerated coding to delegating well-scoped tasks to advanced AI systems.
Write precise specifications, technical plans, and acceptance criteria for humans and AI systems.
Own the correctness, security, and maintainability of shipped work by reviewing, testing, and validating AI-generated code; protect credentials, customer data, and proprietary code from unapproved tools.
Keep codebases lean by avoiding unnecessary generated code, dependencies, and over-engineering.
Use AI development resources cost-effectively, treating compute and tooling spend as engineering constraints.
Develop expertise in automotive retail, including dealership operations and how consumers buy vehicles.
Solve moderately scoped problems with increasing independence and sound technical judgment.
Experiment with and share AI development techniques and workflow improvements with the team.
Plan and prioritize work with decreasing need for day-to-day direction, and build relationships across engineering, product, and design.
Participate in on-call rotations and emergency response to maintain platform reliability.
Follow CDK Global policies and procedures, including responsible AI usage guidelines, and complete mandatory compliance tasks.
Meet or exceed performance expectations.