Lead Software Engineer Jobs in Minnesota

POSITION DESCRIPTION

McGough is establishing an internal software engineering capability to complement our extensive portfolio of SaaS and enterprise applications. We are seeking a Lead Software Engineer – Technical Lead to serve as a foundational technical leader in this new function. Reporting to the Senior Manager of Enterprise Applications, this position serves as the hands-on technical lead for McGough’s internal software engineering team. This role provides technical direction, architecture leadership, code review, mentorship, and hands-on software engineering skills but does not initially have direct reports or formal people management responsibilities. This is a highly influential technical role. The successful candidate will help establish engineering standards, development practices, architecture patterns, technology choices, DevOps practices, and the technical foundation for a growing internal engineering team. Over time, this role has the potential to evolve into an engineering management position as the McGough engineering organization expands.

What Your Work Could Look Like

A team may see an opportunity to replace a manual workflow with custom software. You would work with business partners, Business Analysts, application and integration owners, and other technology teams to understand the need and decide what should be built. From there, you would shape an architecture the team can maintain, contribute hands-on engineering, and guide the design and code reviews that carry it through delivery.

At the same time, you would help establish how McGough develops software internally. That could mean defining practical architecture and coding patterns, strengthening testing and release practices with platform and security partners, and coaching another engineer through a difficult design choice. You would help the team build useful solutions while creating standards it can apply to the next one.

How We Work and Lead

• Stay curious about the problem. We listen to the people doing the work and test whether custom software is the right response before committing to a design.
• Lead through the work. We explain technical choices, invite challenge in design and code reviews, and use feedback to strengthen the solution and the team.
• Build trust through ownership. We make tradeoffs and risks clear, set a standard for quality, and work with operational partners so what we deliver can be supported.
  

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in software engineering, computer science, or related technical field.

• 8+ years of software engineering experience, or related technology experience.
• Demonstrated experience designing, developing, and supporting enterprise applications and services.
• Demonstrated experience with source control, CI/CD, and software deployment practices.
• Demonstrated experience providing technical leadership on complex technology initiatives.

• Demonstrated experience developing and consuming APIs and implementing enterprise integrations.
• Experience with relational databases and SQL.
• Strong experience of software architecture.
Experience with one or more modern programming languages such as C#/.NET, Python, Java, JavaScript.

Preferred

• Strong understanding of application security, reliability, scalability, and maintainability.
• Technology Experience:
  • C#/.NET
  • Python
  • Azure cloud or other major cloud platform.

REST APIs and API Management.

Skills

• Microservices and distributed systems.
• Docker and container technologies.
• Infrastructure as code.
• CI/CD platforms.
AI APIs, AI Agents, and Agentic workflows.

OFFICE AND TRAVEL

• Primarily works in corporate office out of St. Paul, Minnesota. May be minimal travel between office locations and to vendor related conferences.
• Hybrid work environment but may need more in office presence towards the beginning of tenure.
May be required to visit jobsite on occasion.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS

Technical Leadership and Architecture

• Serve as a senior technical leader for McGough internal software engineering capability.
• Establish software engineering standards, development practices, coding standards and architecture patterns and technical governance.
• Evaluate technologies, frameworks, platforms, and development approaches.
• Provide technical direction for software development, integration, automation, and AI initiatives.
• Translate business requirements and opportunities into practical technical solutions.
• Serve as a technical advisor to project teams, business stakeholders, and technology leadership.
• Partner with the Senior Manager, Enterprise Applications to build and maintain McGough’s engineering roadmap.

Software Engineering & Application Development

• Design, develop, test, deploy and maintain software applications and services.
• Build reusable services, APIs, integrations, automation, and workflow solutions.
• Lead and participate in code reviews and establish engineering quality standards.
• Troubleshoot complex technical problems and provide sustainable solutions.
• Identify opportunities to replace manual processes with automated API-driven workflows or custom applications.

AI and Intelligent Automaton

• Evaluate and implement solutions using large language models (LLMs), AI APIs, AI Agents, and agentic workflows.
• Design and implement AI solutions that securely interact with McGough’s enterprise applications, APIs, data, and business workflows.
• Partner with business stakeholders and other digital operations teams to identify high-value AI use cases.
• Stay current with rapidly evolving AI engineering practices and determine which technologies add value to McGough.

Cloud & DevOps

• Develop and support cloud-based applications and services.

• Establish modern CI/CD practices for internal software development.
• Implement automated build, testing, deployment, and releases processes.
• Partner with other digital operations teams to ensure applications support security and reliability requirements.
• Aid in the production support of developed applications and solutions.

Engineering Team Development

• Help establish the culture, practices, and technical foundation of McGough’s internal engineering team.
• Mentor junior engineers and establish technical development practices.
• Participate in recruiting and technical evaluation of future engineering team members.
Promote knowledge sharing, collaboration, engineering discipline, and continuous learning.

An Invitation to Apply

If you have led technical work while staying close to the code, we would like to hear how you have shaped sound decisions, helped other engineers grow, and built software that lasted beyond its first release. This role offers the chance to establish McGough’s internal engineering practices alongside the Senior Manager, Enterprise Applications and the teams that will build, secure, and support the solutions.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

The physical requirements listed here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Position involves sitting for extended periods of time at employee’s workstation and during meetings as well as while traveling, either by plane or car. Employees need to be able to lift 20 pounds as frequently as needed to move objects; dexterity to write and manipulate computer keyboard and mouse; ability to hear and speak clearly; and ability to distinguish between colors on graphs and charts.

Occasionally, employees will be required to visit construction jobsites which may expose the employees to dirt, dust, uneven surfaces, outdoor weather conditions, and extreme temperatures.

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In alignment with our commitment to pay transparency, the base salary range for this position is $143,000 to $173,000 excluding fringe benefits or potential bonuses. If you join McGough, your final base salary will be determined by several factors, including geography, location, skills, education, and experience. Furthermore, we place significant value on pay equity among our current team members as part of any final job offer.

Please note that the range provided above reflects the hiring range for this role. Hiring near the top end of this range would be atypical, as we aim to allow room for future salary growth. Additionally, McGough offers a comprehensive compensation and benefits package. This includes insurance coverage for medical, dental, vision, life, and disability. We also provide generous retirement plans, voluntary benefit plans, parental leave, substantial paid time off, and holiday pay.