Lead Software Engineer

Appian•McLean, VA

About The Position

We are seeking a Lead Software Engineer (LSE) to drive the design and evolution of our cloud-native platform. This role is responsible for owning end-to-end platform capabilities, shaping architectural direction, and ensuring high standards of scalability, reliability, and developer experience. As a Lead Engineer, you will operate at the intersection of architecture, execution, and team leadership, working across squads to build cohesive and future-ready platform solutions.

Requirements

12+ years of proven experience as a Lead Engineer with a strong focus on AWS.
Deep hands-on experience with AWS services including EC2, Auto Scaling, EKS, ECS, Lambda, VPC, ALB/NLB, Route 53, PrivateLink, EBS, EFS, S3, IAM, KMS, and Secrets Manager.
Experience with programming languages such as Java, Python, or GoLang.
Strong proficiency in Infrastructure as Code using Terraform or any equivalent.
Strong proficiency in Kubernetes.
Experience with implementing and managing logging and monitoring solutions such as CloudWatch and CloudTrail.
Demonstrated ability to track, analyze, and optimize AWS cloud costs.
Excellent problem-solving and communication skills.
Ability to work independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

Develop platform features to the highest engineering standards with an AI-first mindset.
Spike robust solutions to clear architectural runway ahead of platform feature development.
Take personal responsibility for the overall technical performance of the team, including capabilities, quality, stability, and velocity.
Perform code reviews focusing on code quality, design, and implementation.
Regularly identify opportunities for code refactoring and performance optimizations, and champion these efforts within the team.
Mentor junior software engineers by sharing best practices and providing guidance on proficiency.
Identify technical constraints to engineering effectiveness and lead initiatives to address them.
Advise product management on technical opportunities and constraints.
Identify, understand, and implement technology trends and innovations relevant to the Appian Platform.
Effectively communicate technical designs verbally, visually, and in writing for technical audiences of all sizes.
Contribute to Appian's long-term documentation by publishing relevant, high-quality content to the Engineering's technical documentation site.