Lead Software Engineer Jobs in California
Lead Software Engineer jobs in California are among the most active in the country, concentrated in enterprise software, cloud infrastructure, fintech, and consumer technology across companies at every stage from growth-stage startups to large public firms. San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles anchor the hiring market, with employers like Google, Apple, and Salesforce maintaining deep and consistent demand for engineers at the lead level. The most sought-after specialties are distributed systems, platform engineering, and machine learning infrastructure. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
Find Lead Software Engineer JobsOverview
Showing 5 of 138+ Lead Software Engineer jobs
To get the best candidate experience, please consider applying for a maximum of 3 roles within 12 months to ensure you are not duplicating efforts.
Job Category
Software EngineeringJob Details
About Salesforce
Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn’t a buzzword — it’s a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we're looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce's core values at the heart of it all.
Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era? You’re in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce.
The Agentforce Reasoning Engine team is a group of Generative AI Application Engineers building the core Python/FastAPI service that powers multi-agent orchestration at Salesforce — enabling intelligent agents to reason, plan, and act on behalf of millions of customers every day. Based in San Francisco, CA and Bellevue, WA, you'll join a collaborative team that loves to learn and teach, and you'll play a direct role in shaping the AI backbone of Agentforce.
What You'll Actually Be Doing
Build and own scalable backend services powering multi-agent orchestration, supporting thousands of concurrent tenants at production scale.
Design and improve stateful session management using Redis and distributed storage patterns, ensuring reliability across LLM call chains.
Drive system performance through automation, including capacity planning, monitoring, and root cause analysis.
Collaborate with Product Managers, Application Architects, and AI researchers to bring agent reasoning capabilities from concept to production.
You're Our Person If...
You have 6+ years of experience building production AI systems and/or backend services.
You have strong Python programming skills and experience building production-grade async services (FastAPI or equivalent).
You have hands-on experience with distributed, scalable systems and modern data storage frameworks such as Redis, Kafka, and Docker/Kubernetes.
You have experience integrating with LLMs and prompt engineering in production systems.
A related technical degree required.
Even Better If...
You have experience with multi-agent orchestration or agentic AI frameworks.
You're familiar with vector databases, embeddings, and retrieval systems.
You have experience with conversational AI or voice-integrated services.
You collaborate well across teams and communicate clearly in writing and in discussion.
Unleash Your Potential
When you join Salesforce, you’ll be limitless in all areas of your life. Our benefits and resources support you to find balance and be your best , and our AI agents accelerate your impact so you can do your best . Together, we’ll bring the power of Agentforce to organizations of all sizes and deliver amazing experiences that customers love. Apply today to not only shape the future — but to redefine what’s possible — for yourself, for AI, and the world.
Accommodations
If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please submit a request via this Accommodations Request Form .
Please note that Salesforce uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help our recruiters assess and evaluate candidates’ resumes and qualifications throughout the recruiting process. Humans will always make any candidate selection and hiring decisions. Please see our Candidate Privacy Statement for more information about how we use your personal data and your rights, including with regard to use of AI tools and opt out options.
Posting Statement
Salesforce is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non-discrimination with all employees and applicants for employment. What does that mean exactly? It means that at Salesforce, we believe in equality for all. And we believe we can lead the path to equality in part by creating a workplace that’s inclusive, and free from discrimination. Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal. Any employee or potential employee will be assessed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications – without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, transgender status, age, disability, veteran or marital status, political viewpoint, or other classifications protected by law. This policy applies to current and prospective employees, no matter where they are in their Salesforce employment journey. It also applies to recruiting, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, assessment of job performance, discipline, termination, and everything in between. Recruiting, hiring, and promotion decisions at Salesforce are fair and based on merit. The same goes for compensation, benefits, promotions, transfers, reduction in workforce, recall, training, and education.
In the United States, compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, job level, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity, and benefits. Salesforce offers a variety of benefits to help you live well including: time off programs, medical, dental, vision, mental health support, paid parental leave, life and disability insurance, 401(k), and an employee stock purchasing program. More details about company benefits can be found at the following link: https://www.salesforcebenefits.com.Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Salesforce will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. At Salesforce, we believe in equitable compensation practices that reflect the dynamic nature of labor markets across various regions.

The typical base salary range for this position is $172,500 - $260,100 annually. In select cities within the San Francisco and New York City metropolitan area, the base salary range for this role is $207,800 - $285,800 annually.

The range represents base salary only, and does not include company bonus, incentive for sales roles, equity or benefits, as applicable.To get the best candidate experience, please consider applying for a maximum of 3 roles within 12 months to ensure you are not duplicating efforts.
Job Category
Software EngineeringJob Details
About Salesforce
Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn’t a buzzword — it’s a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we're looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce's core values at the heart of it all.
Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era? You’re in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce.
The Agentforce Reasoning Engine team is a group of Generative AI Application Engineers building the core Python/FastAPI service that powers multi-agent orchestration at Salesforce — enabling intelligent agents to reason, plan, and act on behalf of millions of customers every day. Based in San Francisco, CA and Bellevue, WA, you'll join a collaborative team that loves to learn and teach, and you'll play a direct role in shaping the AI backbone of Agentforce.
What You'll Actually Be Doing
Build and own scalable backend services powering multi-agent orchestration, supporting thousands of concurrent tenants at production scale.
Design and improve stateful session management using Redis and distributed storage patterns, ensuring reliability across LLM call chains.
Drive system performance through automation, including capacity planning, monitoring, and root cause analysis.
Collaborate with Product Managers, Application Architects, and AI researchers to bring agent reasoning capabilities from concept to production.
You're Our Person If...
You have 6+ years of experience building production AI systems and/or backend services.
You have strong Python programming skills and experience building production-grade async services (FastAPI or equivalent).
You have hands-on experience with distributed, scalable systems and modern data storage frameworks such as Redis, Kafka, and Docker/Kubernetes.
You have experience integrating with LLMs and prompt engineering in production systems.
A related technical degree required.
Even Better If...
You have experience with multi-agent orchestration or agentic AI frameworks.
You're familiar with vector databases, embeddings, and retrieval systems.
You have experience with conversational AI or voice-integrated services.
You collaborate well across teams and communicate clearly in writing and in discussion.
Unleash Your Potential
When you join Salesforce, you’ll be limitless in all areas of your life. Our benefits and resources support you to find balance and be your best , and our AI agents accelerate your impact so you can do your best . Together, we’ll bring the power of Agentforce to organizations of all sizes and deliver amazing experiences that customers love. Apply today to not only shape the future — but to redefine what’s possible — for yourself, for AI, and the world.
Accommodations
If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please submit a request via this Accommodations Request Form .
Please note that Salesforce uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help our recruiters assess and evaluate candidates’ resumes and qualifications throughout the recruiting process. Humans will always make any candidate selection and hiring decisions. Please see our Candidate Privacy Statement for more information about how we use your personal data and your rights, including with regard to use of AI tools and opt out options.
Posting Statement
Salesforce is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non-discrimination with all employees and applicants for employment. What does that mean exactly? It means that at Salesforce, we believe in equality for all. And we believe we can lead the path to equality in part by creating a workplace that’s inclusive, and free from discrimination. Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal. Any employee or potential employee will be assessed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications – without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, transgender status, age, disability, veteran or marital status, political viewpoint, or other classifications protected by law. This policy applies to current and prospective employees, no matter where they are in their Salesforce employment journey. It also applies to recruiting, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, assessment of job performance, discipline, termination, and everything in between. Recruiting, hiring, and promotion decisions at Salesforce are fair and based on merit. The same goes for compensation, benefits, promotions, transfers, reduction in workforce, recall, training, and education.
In the United States, compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, job level, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity, and benefits. Salesforce offers a variety of benefits to help you live well including: time off programs, medical, dental, vision, mental health support, paid parental leave, life and disability insurance, 401(k), and an employee stock purchasing program. More details about company benefits can be found at the following link: https://www.salesforcebenefits.com.Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Salesforce will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. At Salesforce, we believe in equitable compensation practices that reflect the dynamic nature of labor markets across various regions.

The typical base salary range for this position is $172,500 - $260,100 annually. In select cities within the San Francisco and New York City metropolitan area, the base salary range for this role is $207,800 - $285,800 annually.

The range represents base salary only, and does not include company bonus, incentive for sales roles, equity or benefits, as applicable.See All 138+ Lead Software Engineer Jobs in California
Find roles in California that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Lead Software Engineer JobsLead Software Engineer Jobs by City in California
Where California roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Lead Software Engineer Job Market in California
A snapshot from current California openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
- Northrop Grumman16
- Salesforce7
- JPMorganChase7
- TikTok5
- NVIDIA4
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software29
- Banking & Financial Services8
- Fintech5
- Electronics & Hardware4
- Investment & Asset Management4
What California Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in lead software engineer jobs across California.
- Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related technical field
- Seven or more years of software engineering experience with at least two years in a lead or senior role
- Proficiency in one or more languages such as Java, Python, Go, or C++ used across the team's stack
- Demonstrated experience designing and scaling distributed systems or cloud-native architectures
- Experience mentoring engineers and driving technical direction across cross-functional product teams
- Familiarity with agile development practices, code review culture, and continuous integration pipelines
Lead Software Engineer Jobs in California: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a lead software engineer in California?
Becoming a lead software engineer in California typically requires a bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field, followed by several years of progressively senior engineering work. There is no state-issued license for this role. California employers place heavy weight on a demonstrable portfolio of large-scale systems work, open-source contributions, or prior tech-company experience, and internal promotions from senior engineer positions are the most common path to a lead title.
How much do lead software engineers make in California?
Lead software engineers in California earn a median of about $174,410 a year, based on May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, ranging from around $105,060 for the lowest 10% to over $272,670 for the top 10%. Pay rises with experience, specialty, and employer.
Which companies hire lead software engineers in California?
Employers hiring lead software engineers in California right now include Northrop Grumman, Salesforce, and JPMorganChase, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of August 2026. California's concentration of technology headquarters means that many of these openings come from companies building core product infrastructure rather than support or outsourced teams.
Which California cities have the most lead software engineer jobs?
San Francisco, San Jose, and Palo Alto have the most lead software engineer openings in California. The San Francisco Bay Area dominates because of its density of technology headquarters and venture-backed companies, while Los Angeles has grown significantly as a hub for entertainment technology, fintech, and aerospace software, pulling in lead-level hiring across a wider range of industries.
Are there remote lead software engineer jobs in California?
Yes, and more than most fields. About 33% of lead software engineer openings tied to California are remote or hybrid as of August 2026, reflecting how naturally the role adapts to distributed collaboration. The parts of the work most often done remotely include architecture reviews, code review, and cross-team coordination, while some employers require occasional on-site presence for planning cycles or team offsites.
How can I get hired as a lead software engineer in California with little or no experience?
The most realistic path is to first land a mid-level or senior software engineer role and build visible leadership experience from within. Large California employers such as Google, Meta, and Apple run structured engineering development programs where senior engineers take on lead responsibilities before the title follows. Building a public portfolio of architectural decision records, open-source project leadership, or internal platform work makes the transition concrete to hiring managers looking for evidence of scope and ownership.
Where can I find and apply to lead software engineer jobs in California?
You can find and apply to lead software engineer jobs in California on Migrate Mate, which lists current California openings updated regularly. Find the roles that fit your experience and apply directly to the ones that match.
See All 138+ Lead Software Engineer Jobs in California
Find roles in California that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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