Lead Software Engineer

Cox Communications • Atlanta, GA

5d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Lead Software Engineer applies advanced software engineering knowledge, architectural patterns, and delivery methods to shape the technical direction of complex distributed software platforms at the Release Train level. The role leads milestone- and epic-level technical solutioning across a value stream portfolio, defines reference implementations and engineering standards, and partners across release trains to maintain architectural coherence as the platform evolves.

Working through influence rather than formal management authority, this role collaborates with Engineering, Product, Architecture, and SRE to make decisions and unblock delivery throughout the software development lifecycle. It leads difficult technical problem-solving and cross-team coordination, documents architectural risks and constraints, and uses AI-assisted engineering tools to improve productivity. The role also shapes spec-driven development practices so architectural intent, integration contracts, and implementation patterns are incorporated into workflows and AI coding agent configurations before code is generated.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree and 6 years of experience in a related field; alternatively, a master's degree and 4 years of experience, a Ph.D. and 1 year of experience, or 18 years of related experience.
• Hands-on full-stack development experience, including technologies such as StencilJS and C#.
• Experience designing and delivering distributed software systems, including API design, integration patterns, and cloud-native architectures using AWS or an equivalent.
• Hands-on experience leading technical solution discovery for complex initiatives and producing specifications and architectural artifacts for other engineers to execute.
• Experience with modern delivery methodologies, including spec-driven development, Agile practices at scale, and AI-assisted engineering workflows.
• Ability to review product requirements and system designs from an architectural perspective, contribute technical direction during discovery, and drive maintainable, scalable, and resilient implementation patterns.
• Ability to build partnerships with Product, Architecture, and Engineering teams inside and outside the organization and drive decisions across organizational boundaries without formal authority.
• Ability to stay current on software engineering tools, architectural patterns, and emerging methodologies, and to recommend and drive approaches that improve delivery throughput, technical quality, or engineering productivity.
• Demonstrated experience with AI coding tools such as Claude, Copilot, or equivalent, and ability to define and implement architectural guardrails within agent configurations, constitutions, or briefings.

Responsibilities

• Own milestone- and epic-level solution discovery for the assigned value stream portfolio, producing implementation-ready technical specifications for AI Transformed and AI Enabled delivery teams.
• Define technical standards and reference implementations for product architectures across the value stream.
• Partner with Value Stream Architects, peer Release Train-level engineers, and adjacent release trains to align technical direction, surface risks, and resolve cross-train decisions.
• Identify architectural drift, technical debt, and capability gaps; lead remediation through coaching, solution design, and verification of technical readiness.
• Drive adoption of spec-driven development, incorporating architectural intent and integration contracts into the artifacts used by engineers and AI coding agents.
• Support the incident commander during production incidents by providing technical expertise, accelerating diagnosis, and driving remediation.
• Adopt emerging engineering technologies and methods hands-on, then transfer knowledge to delivery teams through structured mentorship and reference work.
• Identify architectural risks, define mitigation strategies, and drive documented decisions that establish forward-looking technical direction.

Benefits

• Flexible paid vacation, subject to duties, company needs, and obligations.
• Seven paid holidays per calendar year.
• Up to 160 hours of paid wellness time annually for the employee or family members.
• Paid bereavement leave.
• Time off to vote.
• Jury duty leave.
• Volunteer time off.
• Military leave.
• Parental leave.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior