Azure Lead AppDev Engineer

Ascend Technologies • Little Rock, AR

1d • Remote

About The Position

The Lead AppDev Engineer serves as the senior technical execution leader within the client Modernization Program. This role is accountable for translating the Azure Application Development Architect’s modernization strategy into high-quality engineering delivery across both legacy operational support and cloud-native transformation initiatives. The Lead AppDev Engineer drives the technical implementation of refactoring monolithic legacy applications into scalable, secure, Azure-native solutions. This position establishes engineering rigor across development practices, DevOps discipline, data modernization, resiliency implementation, and release quality. The role ensures modernization efforts are not isolated feature upgrades but cohesive, platform-level improvements aligned to enterprise architecture standards. This position acts as the engineering authority beneath the Architect — guiding technical decisions, mentoring engineers, enforcing standards, and ensuring that modernization work improves scalability, reliability, maintainability, and cost efficiency across the client application ecosystem.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of enterprise application engineering experience, including modernization/refactoring initiatives.
• Deep hands-on experience with C#, ASP.NET Core, .NET 6–8, and REST API development.
• Strong experience with Azure PaaS application hosting (e.g., App Services) and cloud-native delivery practices.
• Strong experience with SQL Server and modern data access patterns (EF Core/ORM), performance tuning, and troubleshooting.
• Demonstrated experience implementing and operating CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps preferred) and Git-based workflows.
• Experience leading engineering teams through delivery, including code reviews, estimation support, and execution oversight.
• Strong understanding of secure coding practices and authentication/authorization concepts (OAuth/OIDC, Azure AD concepts)

Nice To Haves

• Azure certifications (Developer Associate, DevOps Engineer, or Solutions Architect).
• Experience with Azure API Management, Azure Functions, event-driven integration, or distributed systems patterns.
• Experience implementing observability (Application Insights, Log Analytics, structured logging, tracing).
• Experience with modern JavaScript frameworks (React/Vue/Angular) supporting UI modernization.
• Experience with disaster recovery planning and validation (backup/restore, failover, RTO/RPO requirements).
• Experience modernizing large-scale multi-tenant or multi-site platforms and implementing shared/common platform patterns.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day engineering execution across modernization and operations workstreams, ensuring alignment to program architecture standards.
• Translate modernization blueprints into sprint-level engineering designs, tasks, and deliverables.
• Lead refactoring of legacy applications into .NET 8+ patterns, including modularization and API-first modernization.
• Establish and enforce engineering best practices: clean code, code reviews, branching strategy, and release readiness controls.
• Drive modernization of data access patterns (EF Core adoption, stored procedure rationalization, query optimization) in collaboration with DBA.
• Partner with the Azure AppDev Systems Engineer to ensure environment readiness, deployment consistency, monitoring, and cost optimization.
• Collaborate with QA to ensure automated testing coverage, regression protection, and quality gates in CI/CD.
• Contribute to resiliency and disaster recovery enhancements (design input, implementation support, validation readiness).
• Mentor Senior AppDev Engineers and AppDev Engineers; provide coaching, feedback, and technical guidance.
• Identify technical risks and technical debt; propose and execute mitigation plans.
• Ensure resiliency, observability, and DR patterns are implemented consistently.
• Develop or contribute to the technical backlog, epics and user stories in conjunction with the architect. May be asks to perform the technical product owner role.
• Other responsibilities as assigned by management.

Benefits

• The salary for this position is commensurate with experience, skills, and qualifications. The range is intended to reflect our commitment to attracting top talent, and the final offer will be based on factors including, but not limited to, the candidate's previous experience, expertise in the field, relevant certifications, and the specific requirements of the role. In addition, internal equity, market trends, and geographic location may also influence the final salary.
• At Ascend Technologies we firmly believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion are not only fundamental values but also powerful drivers of innovation, growth, and success. We are committed to fostering an environment where every individual feels valued, respected, and empowered.
• CORE VALUES: Committed to Client Success, One Team, Integrity, Accountability, Transparency

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Associate degree