Lead Software Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

We're partnering with a well-funded, early-stage technology company building mission-critical software that powers real-world operations. Their platform combines cloud infrastructure, distributed systems, real-time data, and intuitive user experiences to modernize an industry that has historically relied on manual processes.

This is a rare opportunity to join a small, high-caliber engineering team where you'll have significant influence over architecture, product direction, and company growth. You'll work directly with end users to solve complex operational challenges while building software that delivers measurable impact.

We're seeking an experienced Tech Lead to own the technical direction and execution of a core software platform. This is a hands-on leadership position requiring both technical depth and strong people leadership. You'll guide a team of engineers while remaining actively involved in system architecture, software development, and technical decision-making.

The ideal candidate thrives in fast-paced startup environments, enjoys solving complex systems problems, and is passionate about building reliable software that operates in real-world conditions.

• Lead engineering projects from planning through execution and delivery.
• Mentor and develop engineers through code reviews, technical guidance, and architectural discussions.
• Establish engineering best practices and maintain a high bar for code quality.
• Drive planning, prioritization, and execution across multiple initiatives.

• Own the architecture and evolution of core platform services.
• Design scalable, resilient distributed systems.
• Make key technical decisions across backend, frontend, infrastructure, and data layers.
• Improve reliability, performance, observability, and maintainability across the platform.

• Contribute hands-on to complex engineering initiatives.
• Design, build, test, and maintain production software across the stack.
• Develop APIs, backend services, internal tooling, and customer-facing applications.
• Ensure systems perform reliably under demanding operational workloads.

• Partner closely with product, design, customers, and external technology partners.
• Translate operational challenges into scalable technical solutions.
• Balance technical excellence with business priorities and customer needs.
• Help shape product strategy through direct customer feedback.

• Improve monitoring, testing, deployment, and incident response processes.
• Champion engineering best practices across CI/CD, cloud infrastructure, and system reliability.
• Continuously identify opportunities to improve development velocity and platform scalability.

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Previous experience leading engineering teams or serving as a technical lead.
• Strong background designing distributed systems and scalable backend architectures.
• Experience building production systems in real-time or operational environments.
• Strong proficiency with Go, Java, or another modern backend language.
• Experience with SQL and NoSQL databases, data modeling, and performance optimization.
• Experience designing and consuming REST and/or gRPC APIs.
• Working knowledge of modern frontend frameworks such as React or Angular.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and problem‑solving skills.
• Comfortable operating in a high‑growth startup environment with significant ownership.

• Experience with event‑driven architectures, messaging systems, or streaming technologies.
• Background working with IoT, logistics, mobility, robotics, industrial software, or other operational technology platforms.
• Experience integrating hardware and software systems.
• Previous startup experience.
• Familiarity with cloud infrastructure, observability platforms, and Infrastructure as Code.

What Success Looks Like

• You enjoy leading engineers while remaining deeply technical.
• You take ownership from concept through production.
• You thrive in ambiguous environments and bring structure to complex technical challenges.
• You enjoy collaborating directly with customers to build meaningful products.
• You're excited by the opportunity to help build a category‑defining technology company from the ground up.

We are committed to diversity and inclusivity in our hiring practices.