Lead Software Engineer

M&T Bank•Buffalo, NY

1d•$116,400 - $194,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Lead Developer provides day-to-day technical leadership while remaining actively involved in engineering. The role leads complex development efforts, translates solution designs into high-quality implementations, establishes development standards, conducts technical and code reviews, troubleshoots production issues, and mentors developers. The position designs and develops enterprise applications and backend services using Python, Flask, RESTful APIs, microservices, and service-oriented architectures. It translates business and architectural requirements into technical designs; provides direction throughout development, testing, implementation, and production support; and develops SQL, database integrations, reusable components, and engineering patterns. The Lead Developer also supports GitLab workflows and CI/CD pipelines, incorporates automated testing, code-quality checks, and security scanning, and uses AI-assisted engineering tools with appropriate review and controls. This role collaborates with Product Owners and Agile team members to evaluate feasibility, complexity, dependencies, and risks. It is based onsite four days per week at the Seneca One location in Buffalo, NY, with the flexibility to work from home one day per week.

Requirements

Associate’s degree and at least 7 years of systems analysis and/or application development work experience; or a bachelor’s degree and at least 5 years of such experience.
In lieu of a degree, a combined minimum of 9 years of education and/or relevant work experience, including at least 5 years of systems analysis and/or application development work experience.
Experience with Python, Flask, and RESTful API design and development.
Experience with microservices, object-oriented and modular application design, and application integration.
Experience with automated/unit testing, debugging, and troubleshooting.
Experience with Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle Database, or PostgreSQL; advanced SQL; query optimization and performance tuning; and application/database integration.
Experience with GitLab, CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, build and deployment automation, automated testing, and code-quality and security integration.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
Significant hands-on software-development experience and demonstrated ownership of complex application components or solutions.
Experience as a Senior Developer, Lead Developer, or in a comparable technical leadership role.
Strong understanding of the software-development lifecycle and Agile development practices.
Ability to independently diagnose and resolve complex technical issues.
Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to developers, architects, product partners, and management.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Experience in enterprise environments with established technology, security, risk, and change-management controls.
Financial-services or banking technology experience.
Experience developing or supporting business-critical enterprise applications.
Experience with high-volume or data-intensive systems.
Experience with application modernization and legacy-platform transformation.
Knowledge of secure software-development practices.
Experience with production incident resolution, performance optimization, and root-cause analysis.
Experience working across development, database, middleware/integration, and infrastructure boundaries.
Exposure to cloud-native development, containerization, or orchestration platforms.
Experience using AI-assisted development tools productively while maintaining strong engineering judgment and review.

Responsibilities

Design and develop enterprise applications and backend services using Python.
Build and maintain web services and application components using Flask and related Python frameworks.
Design, develop, integrate, and support RESTful APIs and applications based on microservices and service-oriented architectures.
Mentor developers across Python, Flask, APIs, microservices, SQL, databases, DevOps, CI/CD, testing, AI-assisted engineering, and troubleshooting.
Lead the design and implementation of complex applications, services, integrations, APIs, and data-driven solutions.
Translate business and architectural requirements into detailed technical designs and implementation approaches.
Provide technical direction to developers throughout design, development, testing, implementation, and production support.
Lead technical-design and code-review sessions and ensure solutions follow established engineering standards.
Develop complex SQL queries, stored procedures, data-access components, and database integrations.
Review and diagnose query-performance problems and perform SQL performance tuning and optimization for scalability, supportability, and maintainability.
Develop reusable components, frameworks, utilities, and engineering patterns to improve consistency and development efficiency.
Troubleshoot end-to-end application performance issues across API, application, data-access, and database layers.
Use GitLab for source-code management and team development workflows.
Develop, maintain, and continuously improve CI/CD pipelines supporting application build, testing, validation, and deployment.
Integrate automated unit testing, code-quality checks, and applicable security scanning into development workflows.
Use AI-assisted development tools in day-to-day software engineering and review AI-generated code and recommendations through engineering review, testing, security evaluation, and established controls.
Perform peer code reviews and ensure critical changes receive appropriate technical review.
Drive resolution of defects and recurring technical issues through root-cause analysis rather than short-term fixes.
Participate in troubleshooting complex production incidents and drive sustainable corrective actions.
Collaborate with Product Owners and Agile team members to assess technical feasibility, complexity, dependencies, and risks.