Lead Software Engineer Jobs
Lead Software Engineer jobs are open across fintech, healthtech, enterprise SaaS, and e-commerce, from mid-level to staff and principal, with specializations in distributed systems, platform engineering, and full-stack development. Find a role that fits from the openings below and apply directly.
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Showing 5 of 3,614+ Lead Software Engineer jobs
Overview:
Responsible at the expert level for writing code and the overall team's technical requirements gathering. Completes work following banking technology standards and contributes to the overall stability and resiliency of banking technology within the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) while also coaching others.
- Lead design, development, and delivery of ServiceNow solutions, including Service Catalog items, record producers, Flow Designer workflows, and task orchestration.
- Architect and implement complex, multi-stage workflows with routing, approvals, SLAs, and parallel/sequential task execution.
- Serve as technical lead and subject matter expert for ServiceNow development, establishing standards, patterns, and best practices.
- Provide hands-on mentorship and technical coaching to junior and mid-level developers on ServiceNow development, workflow design, and platform capabilities.
- Drive adoption of reusable, modular, catalog-driven solutions to enable scalability and reduce duplication across the platform.
- Design and maintain approval frameworks, assignment group routing, and task lifecycle management aligned to enterprise processes.
- Lead code reviews, design reviews, and pair programming sessions to ensure high-quality, secure, and maintainable implementations.
- Establish and enforce ServiceNow development standards, including scripting best practices (server/client), naming conventions, and configuration management.
- Collaborate with Product Owners, Architects, and Business Analysts to translate business requirements into scalable technical solutions.
- Partner across teams to ensure clear ownership, accountability, and alignment of workflows, tasks, and integrations.
- Drive continuous improvement of workflows and processes, optimizing for efficiency, user experience, and operational outcomes.
- Design and support integrations between ServiceNow and external systems (e.g., Jira, internal APIs, cloud platforms).
- Implement and monitor workflow performance metrics (cycle time, SLA adherence, task completion) to improve platform effectiveness.
- Ensure all solutions align with enterprise architecture, governance, risk, and compliance standards, including auditability and traceability.
- Oversee source control, CI/CD pipeline alignment, and promotion of changes through development, test, and production environments.
- Contribute to and lead application and platform architecture decisions within the ServiceNow domain.
- Communicate technical designs, decisions, and tradeoffs effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Promote a culture of engineering excellence, continuous learning, and knowledge sharing within the team.
SKILLS AND EDUCATION REQUIRED
- Associate’s degree and a minimum of 7 years’ systems analysis and/or application development work experience or Bachelor's degree and a minimum of 5 years' systems analysis and/or application development work experience. In lieu of a degree, a combined minimum of 9 years’ education and/or relevant work experience, including a minimum of 5 years’ systems analysis and/or application development work experience
- Expert proficiency in at least one programming language and professional proficiency in at least one additional programming language, with hands-on experience in ServiceNow platform development (server-side and client-side scripting)
- Extensive experience designing and implementing solutions in ServiceNow, including Service Catalog items, record producers, and Flow Designer workflows
- Proven experience architecting and delivering complex workflow-based solutions, including approvals, task orchestration, SLAs, routing rules, and lifecycle management
- Strong understanding of ServiceNow platform architecture, including data model, tables, relationships, and configuration vs. customization best practices
- Experience leading development efforts and guiding implementation of reusable, modular, catalog-driven solutions
- Experience with source control, versioning, and CI/CD or environment promotion processes aligned to SDLC practices
- Strong ability to translate complex business and technical requirements into scalable, maintainable, and secure ServiceNow solutions
- Advanced troubleshooting and debugging expertise within ServiceNow or similar workflow-driven platforms
PREFERRED SKILLS
- Expert analytical and problem-solving skills specific to application development and workflow/process automation
- Experience leading technical initiatives, driving project milestones, and delivering complex solutions across multiple teams
- Proven experience mentoring and coaching developers on ServiceNow development, workflow design, and platform best practices
- Experience designing enterprise-scale workflow architectures, including multi-stage intake, task orchestration, and approval frameworks
- Strong experience working in cross-functional environments and partnering with business, product, and architecture stakeholders
- Advanced organizational, time management, and communication skills (verbal and written)
- Experience implementing integrations between ServiceNow and external systems (e.g., APIs, Jira, cloud platforms)
- Familiarity with ServiceNow platform governance, performance optimization, and operational reporting
- Experience driving adoption of standards, reusable components, and platform best practices across teams
- ServiceNow Certified System Administrator (CSA)
- ServiceNow Certified Application Developer (CAD)
- ServiceNow Certified Implementation Specialist – Service Catalog
- Flow Designer and Integration-related micro-certifications
We support our team members with generous benefits.
- Competitive compensation
- Health, welfare, and retirement benefits
- 401(k) match at 5%
- Work-life balance and flexible work arrangements
- Banking Officers start with 25 days PTO plus 12 paid holidays
- 40 hours paid volunteer hours per year
- Much more. For details, see: M&T Benefits Overview
M&T Bank is committed to fair, competitive, and market-informed pay for our employees. The pay range for this position is $116,400.00 - $194,000.00 Annual (USD). The successful candidate’s particular combination of knowledge, skills, and experience will inform their specific compensation.
Location
Buffalo, New York, United States of America
Overview:
Responsible at the expert level for writing code and the overall team's technical requirements gathering. Completes work following banking technology standards and contributes to the overall stability and resiliency of banking technology within the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) while also coaching others.
- Lead design, development, and delivery of ServiceNow solutions, including Service Catalog items, record producers, Flow Designer workflows, and task orchestration.
- Architect and implement complex, multi-stage workflows with routing, approvals, SLAs, and parallel/sequential task execution.
- Serve as technical lead and subject matter expert for ServiceNow development, establishing standards, patterns, and best practices.
- Provide hands-on mentorship and technical coaching to junior and mid-level developers on ServiceNow development, workflow design, and platform capabilities.
- Drive adoption of reusable, modular, catalog-driven solutions to enable scalability and reduce duplication across the platform.
- Design and maintain approval frameworks, assignment group routing, and task lifecycle management aligned to enterprise processes.
- Lead code reviews, design reviews, and pair programming sessions to ensure high-quality, secure, and maintainable implementations.
- Establish and enforce ServiceNow development standards, including scripting best practices (server/client), naming conventions, and configuration management.
- Collaborate with Product Owners, Architects, and Business Analysts to translate business requirements into scalable technical solutions.
- Partner across teams to ensure clear ownership, accountability, and alignment of workflows, tasks, and integrations.
- Drive continuous improvement of workflows and processes, optimizing for efficiency, user experience, and operational outcomes.
- Design and support integrations between ServiceNow and external systems (e.g., Jira, internal APIs, cloud platforms).
- Implement and monitor workflow performance metrics (cycle time, SLA adherence, task completion) to improve platform effectiveness.
- Ensure all solutions align with enterprise architecture, governance, risk, and compliance standards, including auditability and traceability.
- Oversee source control, CI/CD pipeline alignment, and promotion of changes through development, test, and production environments.
- Contribute to and lead application and platform architecture decisions within the ServiceNow domain.
- Communicate technical designs, decisions, and tradeoffs effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Promote a culture of engineering excellence, continuous learning, and knowledge sharing within the team.
SKILLS AND EDUCATION REQUIRED
- Associate’s degree and a minimum of 7 years’ systems analysis and/or application development work experience or Bachelor's degree and a minimum of 5 years' systems analysis and/or application development work experience. In lieu of a degree, a combined minimum of 9 years’ education and/or relevant work experience, including a minimum of 5 years’ systems analysis and/or application development work experience
- Expert proficiency in at least one programming language and professional proficiency in at least one additional programming language, with hands-on experience in ServiceNow platform development (server-side and client-side scripting)
- Extensive experience designing and implementing solutions in ServiceNow, including Service Catalog items, record producers, and Flow Designer workflows
- Proven experience architecting and delivering complex workflow-based solutions, including approvals, task orchestration, SLAs, routing rules, and lifecycle management
- Strong understanding of ServiceNow platform architecture, including data model, tables, relationships, and configuration vs. customization best practices
- Experience leading development efforts and guiding implementation of reusable, modular, catalog-driven solutions
- Experience with source control, versioning, and CI/CD or environment promotion processes aligned to SDLC practices
- Strong ability to translate complex business and technical requirements into scalable, maintainable, and secure ServiceNow solutions
- Advanced troubleshooting and debugging expertise within ServiceNow or similar workflow-driven platforms
PREFERRED SKILLS
- Expert analytical and problem-solving skills specific to application development and workflow/process automation
- Experience leading technical initiatives, driving project milestones, and delivering complex solutions across multiple teams
- Proven experience mentoring and coaching developers on ServiceNow development, workflow design, and platform best practices
- Experience designing enterprise-scale workflow architectures, including multi-stage intake, task orchestration, and approval frameworks
- Strong experience working in cross-functional environments and partnering with business, product, and architecture stakeholders
- Advanced organizational, time management, and communication skills (verbal and written)
- Experience implementing integrations between ServiceNow and external systems (e.g., APIs, Jira, cloud platforms)
- Familiarity with ServiceNow platform governance, performance optimization, and operational reporting
- Experience driving adoption of standards, reusable components, and platform best practices across teams
- ServiceNow Certified System Administrator (CSA)
- ServiceNow Certified Application Developer (CAD)
- ServiceNow Certified Implementation Specialist – Service Catalog
- Flow Designer and Integration-related micro-certifications
We support our team members with generous benefits.
- Competitive compensation
- Health, welfare, and retirement benefits
- 401(k) match at 5%
- Work-life balance and flexible work arrangements
- Banking Officers start with 25 days PTO plus 12 paid holidays
- 40 hours paid volunteer hours per year
- Much more. For details, see: M&T Benefits Overview
M&T Bank is committed to fair, competitive, and market-informed pay for our employees. The pay range for this position is $116,400.00 - $194,000.00 Annual (USD). The successful candidate’s particular combination of knowledge, skills, and experience will inform their specific compensation.
Location
Buffalo, New York, United States of America
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Find Lead Software Engineer JobsLead Software Engineer Job Market
A snapshot from current openings nationwide, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
- HDR137
- Capital One135
- WSP118
- Westwood Professional Services79
- Citi66
Top Industries Hiring
- Consulting & Professional Services975
- Technology & Software953
- Construction & Real Estate294
- Banking & Financial Services251
- Electronics & Hardware235
What Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in lead software engineer jobs.
- 5 or more years of professional software engineering experience with demonstrated leadership
- Proficiency in at least one major backend language such as Java, Python, Go, or C++
- Experience designing and operating distributed systems or microservices at scale
- Ability to mentor engineers and drive technical decisions across a team
- Familiarity with cloud platforms such as AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related technical field
Tips for Your Lead Software Engineer Job Search
Quantify your architectural impact clearly
Hiring managers at this level expect numbers tied to systems decisions, not just features shipped. Rewrite your resume bullets to show latency reductions, uptime improvements, or engineering hours saved from your design choices. Generic delivery metrics won't differentiate you.
Show technical leadership alongside code ownership
Lead roles require evidence you've driven decisions across a team, not just written strong code yourself. Highlight moments where you set technical direction, resolved cross-team conflicts, or shaped an architecture that others built on. Mentorship examples strengthen this further.
Apply early to roles that fit
Migrate Mate lists lead software engineer openings from across the United States in one place, so you can find roles that match and apply directly to each listing.
Filter openings by your strongest domain
Lead roles are rarely generic. A fintech lead engineering distributed payment pipelines and a healthtech lead owning HIPAA-compliant data systems face different interview standards. Target openings where your domain experience is directly relevant rather than applying broadly and repositioning yourself in every cover letter.
Prepare a system design walkthrough in advance
Most lead-level interviews include a deep system design round. Practice narrating a real architecture you owned from requirements through trade-offs to production. Interviewers probe for how you handle ambiguity and scale constraints, not just whether you know distributed systems vocabulary.
Negotiate scope and autonomy, not just compensation
At the lead level, the reporting structure, team size, and technical decision authority matter as much as base pay. Ask directly about engineering ownership during offer conversations. Roles titled the same can differ significantly in how much architectural influence you actually hold day to day.
Lead Software Engineer Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies are hiring the most lead software engineers?
The companies hiring the most lead software engineers right now include HDR, Capital One, and WSP, with the largest share of openings in California, Texas, and New York, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of June 2026. Demand is concentrated in fintech, enterprise software, and cloud infrastructure.
How many lead software engineer jobs are remote?
About 24% of lead software engineer openings are fully remote or hybrid as of June 2026, making this one of the more remote-accessible senior technical roles. Platform engineering, backend infrastructure, and distributed systems positions tend to offer the highest share of remote-eligible arrangements compared to roles tied to on-site hardware or real-time collaboration requirements.
How do you become a lead software engineer?
Becoming a lead software engineer typically follows a progression from individual contributor roles into senior-level work, then into ownership of technical decisions across a team. Building depth in system design, taking initiative on cross-team projects, and demonstrating that you can mentor others are the core steps. Most leads reach the title after consistently driving outcomes beyond their assigned scope rather than through a formal promotion program.
Can you get hired as a lead software engineer without prior lead experience?
Yes, but you need to demonstrate lead-level impact in your application even if your title hasn't reflected it yet. Highlight moments where you drove architectural decisions, coordinated across teams, or unblocked other engineers. Strong system design skills and evidence of ownership often matter more than the label on a previous job. Internal promotions from senior roles are a common path into a first lead title.
What does the lead software engineer interview process look like?
The process typically includes a recruiter screen, a technical phone interview covering coding and system design, and a multi-stage onsite or virtual loop. The onsite usually combines a system design session, a coding round, and behavioral interviews focused on leadership and conflict resolution. Some companies add a presentation round where you walk through a past architecture or engineering decision in depth.
Where can I find and apply to lead software engineer jobs?
You can find and apply to lead software engineer jobs on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings from across the United States. Find roles that match your background and apply directly to each listing. Openings are updated regularly, so checking back frequently gives you access to positions as soon as they go live.
See All 3,614+ Lead Software Engineer Jobs
Jump back to the full list of openings and apply to any lead software engineer role that fits.
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