Software Engineering Team Lead
About The Position
At Bluestaq, we build secure data platforms for space missions, national defense, healthcare systems, and commercial innovation, focusing on modern architecture, operational excellence, and mission impact. Founded in 2018, Bluestaq is recognized as one of Inc. Magazine's Fastest-Growing Private Companies and a top Colorado workplace. The company's name, 'Blue' (military shorthand for the good guys) and 'staq' (as in software stack), reflects its mission-aligned technologists building platforms that protect valuable data. We are seeking a technically skilled and people-centered Software Engineering Team Lead to guide a small team of engineers in building secure, scalable solutions for government and commercial missions. This pivotal role involves deep technical contributions and direct team supervision, ensuring delivery, quality, security standards, and engineer growth. As a first-line leader, you will coach, mentor, and develop team members, serve as the technical point of contact, and collaborate with Product, Program, and Engineering stakeholders to align execution with strategic goals. This hands-on leadership role is for someone who empowers others and can unblock complex technical challenges.
Requirements
- Proven experience guiding engineering teams technically, including hands-on software development expertise.
- Prior experience supervising, mentoring, or coaching team members.
- Skilled in managing agile workflows, sprint planning, and cross-functional collaboration.
- Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to navigate ambiguity with composure.
- Effective communicator with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Ability to balance short-term delivery needs with long-term sustainability and technical quality.
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field and 4+ years of engineering or related experience, OR Associate degree in a related field and 6+ years of engineering or related experience, OR High School Diploma/GED and 8+ years of engineering or related experience.
- Ability to obtain a TS/SCI Clearance (U.S. citizenship required, background screen and credit check).
Responsibilities
- Directly supervise engineers on your team; conduct performance check-ins, feedback, and development planning.
- Uphold Bluestaq’s core values of trust, ownership, curiosity, teamwork, mentorship, and talent development, fostering a culture where team members take initiative, support one another, and grow together.
- Mentor engineers in both technical execution and professional development.
- Create psychological safety. Foster an environment where engineers feel safe to ask questions, raise concerns, surface problems early, and challenge ideas constructively.
- Navigate difficult conversations with empathy and directness.
- Identify and escalate growth needs, performance concerns, or resourcing issues to the Engineering Manager.
- Contribute to hiring, onboarding, and retention of high-performing engineering talent.
- Guide a small team of software engineers in designing and building secure, scalable software systems for government and commercial applications.
- Provide hands-on technical leadership across the team, including code contributions where appropriate.
- Ensure consistent application of modern software development practices, including CI/CD, code reviews, testing, and documentation.
- Support resolution of complex technical challenges, stepping in directly when needed to unblock progress.
- Promote code quality, maintainability, and secure development practices throughout the sprint cycle.
- Guide your team through complex implementations and align technical work with architecture standards and security requirements.
- Partner with architects and senior engineers to support scalability, performance, and maintainability across systems.
- Collaborate with engineering leadership to evaluate and implement appropriate tools, languages, and frameworks aligned with mission and program needs.
- Stay current with relevant technologies and introduce improvements in tooling, languages, and frameworks where they meaningfully improve outcomes.
- Partner closely with product owners, product managers, or engineering managers to plan sprints, define scope, clarify requirements, and prioritize backlog items.
- Own the day-to-day execution of delivery: assign tasks, track progress, and proactively remove blockers.
- Ensure that sprint commitments are met with both technical rigor and high-quality standards.
- Ensure systems and codebases meet architectural guardrails and security requirements.
- Escalate risks, delivery challenges, or resource constraints to Product, Program, and Engineering Management with clarity and urgency.
- Serve as the key point of contact for your team across product, program, and architectural stakeholders.
- Contribute to technical feasibility analysis, scope planning, and integration conversations.
- Participate in broader engineering planning, capability discussions, and system architecture reviews.
- Collaborate with other Team Leads and Engineering Managers to improve engineering process maturity and cross-team alignment.
- Drive adoption of tools, frameworks, and practices that improve engineering productivity and system reliability.
- Advocate for sustainable investments in tech debt, refactoring, and system reliability.
- Contribute to building a culture of technical excellence, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement.
Benefits
- Purpose-Driven Work: Support systems that power industries and critical operations, including healthcare and defense.
- Continuous Growth: Expand your technical expertise with hands-on projects and mentorship.
- Dynamic Environment: Be part of a team that thrives on problem-solving, learning, and collaboration.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Number of Employees
11-50 employees
