Lead Engineer – Automation Modernization

United Airlines•Houston, TX

4d•$112,480 - $146,540

About The Position

United's Digital Technology team designs, develops, and maintains large-scale technology solutions using innovative architectures, data analytics, and digital solutions. The Lead Engineer – Automation Modernization leads the design and development of RESTful APIs and reusable automation services to modernize enterprise services, including device lifecycle, incident management, secure file transfer, and job scheduling. The role applies strong software engineering practices to create scalable, secure, and supportable self-service capabilities, improving developer and user experience through documentation, observability, and reliable integrations. The Lead Engineer provides technical direction across complex implementations and collaborates with platform, infrastructure, DevOps, and application teams to advance modernization roadmaps and drive adoption. The position contributes to stable operations and continuous service delivery by troubleshooting system, platform, and integration issues.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration, or a related field.
At least 3 years of relevant experience.
Strong experience developing RESTful APIs and microservices.
Experience with enterprise automation tools, job schedulers, or file transfer platforms.
Proficiency in object-oriented programming, such as Java, Python, or similar.
Solid understanding of API design principles, authentication methods such as OAuth and JWT, and service orchestration.
Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices.
Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work in complex enterprise environments.
Strong analytical and systems-thinking mindset.
Ability to translate business needs into scalable technical solutions.
Effective communication and collaboration skills.
Self-driven, with a focus on continuous improvement and innovation.
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship.
Successful completion of an interview is required to meet job qualifications.
Reliable, punctual attendance is an essential function of the position.

Nice To Haves

Experience with observability and monitoring tools such as Big Panda, Dynatrace, or AIOps platforms.
Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP.
Knowledge of event-driven architectures and messaging systems.
Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform or CloudFormation.
Exposure to workflow automation and orchestration tools.

Responsibilities

Design, develop, and maintain REST APIs that enable automation and self-service capabilities across enterprise platforms and tools.
Modernize legacy automation workflows by exposing reusable services and APIs.
Collaborate with platform, infrastructure, DevOps, and application teams to integrate automation solutions.
Drive adoption of self-service capabilities by creating intuitive API-driven interfaces and documentation.
Implement best practices for API design, versioning, scalability, and security.
Contribute to architectural design discussions and modernization roadmaps for reusable, scalable, and future-ready automation solutions.
Integrate observability and monitoring solutions to support high availability, performance, and reliability.
Troubleshoot and resolve complex system, platform, and integration issues to ensure stable operations and continuous service delivery.