Lead Software Engineer - Data Engineering & Platform

Cox Automotive seeks a Lead Software Engineer to join our AI & Data Delivery Platform organization.
Cox Automotive is the market-leading provider of technology services to the automotive industry. Our engineering organization takes pride in building innovative products that make our customers successful. We are passionate about building great software while having fun doing it. The result is an award-winning culture where everyone is approachable, ideas are judged on merits, and empowered people drive transformative technology.
Are you passionate about data and technical leadership? Join Cox Automotive as a Lead Software Engineer! You'll lead the design and implementation of scalable data solutions, guide architecture decisions, and mentor engineers across our data platform. Collaborate with product, engineering, analytics, and data science teams to build and evolve cloud-native data platforms using Python, Snowflake, NoSQL databases, ETL/ELT frameworks, and AWS services (ECS, Lambdas, SQS, DynamoDB, Step Functions, RDS). You'll drive engineering best practices, enable AI-powered platform capabilities, and ensure reliable, high-performance data solutions throughout the SDLC, from architecture and design through CI/CD operations. Make a significant impact on the future of data and AI at Cox Automotive.
What You'll Do

• Lead the design, development, and evolution of scalable data pipelines, data products, and platform capabilities.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, Analytics, and Data Science teams to define technical strategy and deliver high-quality data solutions.
• Provide technical leadership and architectural guidance for cloud-native data platforms and services.
• Mentor engineers and promote a culture of technical excellence, innovation, ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Establish and enforce engineering standards, design patterns, and best practices across the team.
• Drive platform modernization efforts including self-service workflows, containerized execution models, and AI-enabled data capabilities.
• Learn and leverage the automotive digital marketing domain to change how the world buys, sells, and uses cars.

Who You Are

• Bachelor's degree in a related field and 6 years' experience in a related field. The right candidate could also have a different combination, such as a master's degree and 4 years' experience; a Ph.D. and 1 year of experience; or 18 years' experience in a related field.
• 7+ years of experience in software engineering, data engineering, or related technical fields.
• Experience leading the design and implementation of enterprise-scale data platforms and distributed systems.
• Strong experience with cloud-based application development, support, DevOps, and CI/CD practices.
• Advanced object-oriented design experience, including applied use of design patterns and architectural best practices.
• Proven ability to lead technical initiatives, influence engineering direction, and drive projects to successful completion.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills with the ability to work across multiple teams and stakeholders.
• Extensive database development skills, including data warehousing, data modeling, database technologies, and performance optimization.
• Experience mentoring engineers and conducting design reviews to uphold engineering quality standards.
• Applicants must currently be authorized to work in the United States for any employer without current or future sponsorship. No OPT, CPT, STEM/OPT or visa sponsorship now or in future.
• Availability for rotational on-call duties outside of standard business hours may be required.

Preferred AI-Related Skills

• Experience supporting AI/ML workflows, feature engineering, and data preparation for model training and inference.
• Experience leveraging AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Claude Code, agentic coding, codebase analysis, refactoring, implementation support ) to improve engineering productivity.
• Familiarity with vector databases, LLM integration, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), or prompt engineering.
• Understanding of MLOps practices, model deployment pipelines, and cloud-based AI infrastructure.
• Experience implementing data lineage, impact analysis, observability, or AI-driven data quality solutions.
• Commitment to ethical AI practices, responsible AI governance, and enterprise data governance standards.

USD 122,600.00 - 204,400.00 per year
Compensation:
Compensation includes a base salary in the range of $122,600.00 - $204,400.00. The base salary may vary within the anticipated base pay range based on factors such as the ultimate location of the position and the selected candidate's knowledge, skills, and abilities. Position may be eligible for additional compensation that may include an incentive program.
Benefits:
The Company offers eligible employees the flexibility to take as much vacation with pay as they deem consistent with their duties, the company's needs, and its obligations; seven paid holidays throughout the calendar year; and up to 160 hours of paid wellness annually for their own wellness or that of family members. Employees are also eligible for additional paid time off in the form of bereavement leave, time off to vote, jury duty leave, volunteer time off, military leave, and parental leave.
EOE, including disability/vets