Senior Software Development Engineer Jobs in McLean, VA

Posted Date 9/11/2026

Description Senior Lead Software Engineer, Marketing and Messaging Experimentation

Are you driven to revolutionize intelligent platforms and build high-impact systems at enterprise scale? Do you excel at tackling complex engineering puzzles where big data, machine learning, and cutting-edge technology converge? At Capital One, you’ll join a dynamic group of makers, breakers, doers, and disruptors who build solutions that directly impact millions of customers. We are seeking a Senior Lead Software Engineer to architect and scale our next-generation capabilities across experimentation, audience segmentation, and journey decisioning within our marketing and messaging platforms to drive deeply personalized, AI-powered customer experiences.

What You’ll Do:

• Serve as a technical innovator and cross-functional architect, partnering with data science, product, and engineering teams to design resilient, system-level architectures for enterprise-wide experimentation, audience segmentation, and customer journey orchestration.
• Architect and scale high-performance systems and engines across experimentation, audience segmentation, and journey decisioning to optimize message effectiveness and analyze customer responsiveness leveraging advanced ML models and personalization techniques.
• Integrate cutting-edge AI, agentic workflows, and distributed streaming architectures to power fast, scalable journey orchestration, automated creative testing, and targeted segment delivery across products, messages, and channels.
• Mentor and guide software engineers while cultivating a culture of technical excellence, continuous experimentation, and hands-on innovation with emerging tech stacks.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree
• At least 6 years of experience in software engineering (Internship experience does not apply)
• At least 1 year experience with cloud computing (AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree
• 9+ years of experience in at least one of the following: Python, Java, Go, SQL, etc
• 4+ years of experience with AWS, GCP, Azure, or another cloud service
• 4+ years of experience in open source frameworks
• 4+ years of experience with distributed streaming technologies (e.g., Apache Kafka)
• 4+ years of people management experience, or mentoring talented engineers
• 2+ years of experience in Agile practices
• Proficiency in system architecture, system design, and large-scale, low-latency applications
• Experience leveraging interactive AI tooling to accelerate productivity, utilizing capabilities beyond basic code completion.
• Hands-on experience with Agentic AI workflows/automation, integrating Machine Learning models or AI-driven systems. Experience building or scaling experimentation platforms and A/B, MAB testing frameworks.

Capital One will consider sponsoring a new qualified applicant for employment authorization for this position.

The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount Capital One is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked.

Chicago, IL: $209,000 - $238,500 for Sr. Lead Software Engineer

McLean, VA: $229,900 - $262,400 for Sr. Lead Software Engineer

Plano, TX: $209,000 - $238,500 for Sr. Lead Software Engineer

Riverwoods, IL: $209,000 - $238,500 for Sr. Lead Software Engineer

Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter.

This role is also eligible to earn performance based incentive compensation, which may include cash bonus(es) and/or long term incentives (LTI). Incentives could be discretionary or non discretionary depending on the plan.

Capital One offers a comprehensive, competitive, and inclusive set of health, financial and other benefits that support your total well-being. Learn more at the Capital One Careers website. Eligibility varies based on full or part-time status, exempt or non-exempt status, and management level.

This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days.No agencies please. Capital One is an equal opportunity employer (EOE, including disability/vet) committed to non-discrimination in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Capital One promotes a drug-free workplace. Capital One will consider for employment qualified applicants with a criminal history in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable laws regarding criminal background inquiries, including, to the extent applicable, Article 23-A of the New York Correction Law; San Francisco, California Police Code Article 49, Sections 4901-4920; New York City’s Fair Chance Act; Philadelphia’s Fair Criminal Records Screening Act; and other applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding criminal background inquiries.

If you have visited our website in search of information on employment opportunities or to apply for a position, and you require an accommodation, please contact Capital One Recruiting at 1-800-304-9102 or via email at RecruitingAccommodation@capitalone.com. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.

For technical support or questions about Capital One's recruiting process, please send an email to Careers@capitalone.com

Capital One does not provide, endorse nor guarantee and is not liable for third-party products, services, educational tools or other information available through this site.

Capital One Financial is made up of several different entities. Please note that any position posted in Canada is for Capital One Canada, any position posted in the United Kingdom is for Capital One Europe and any position posted in the Philippines is for Capital One Philippines Service Corp. (COPSSC).

Senior Lead Software Engineer, Marketing and Messaging Experimentation

Are you driven to revolutionize intelligent platforms and build high-impact systems at enterprise scale? Do you excel at tackling complex engineering puzzles where big data, machine learning, and cutting-edge technology converge? At Capital One, you’ll join a dynamic group of makers, breakers, doers, and disruptors who build solutions that directly impact millions of customers. We are seeking a Senior Lead Software Engineer to architect and scale our next-generation capabilities across experimentation, audience segmentation, and journey decisioning within our marketing and messaging platforms to drive deeply personalized, AI-powered customer experiences.

What You’ll Do:

• Serve as a technical innovator and cross-functional architect, partnering with data science, product, and engineering teams to design resilient, system-level architectures for enterprise-wide experimentation, audience segmentation, and customer journey orchestration.
• Architect and scale high-performance systems and engines across experimentation, audience segmentation, and journey decisioning to optimize message effectiveness and analyze customer responsiveness leveraging advanced ML models and personalization techniques.
• Integrate cutting-edge AI, agentic workflows, and distributed streaming architectures to power fast, scalable journey orchestration, automated creative testing, and targeted segment delivery across products, messages, and channels.
• Mentor and guide software engineers while cultivating a culture of technical excellence, continuous experimentation, and hands-on innovation with emerging tech stacks.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree
• At least 6 years of experience in software engineering (Internship experience does not apply)
• At least 1 year experience with cloud computing (AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree
• 9+ years of experience in at least one of the following: Python, Java, Go, SQL, etc
• 4+ years of experience with AWS, GCP, Azure, or another cloud service
• 4+ years of experience in open source frameworks
• 4+ years of experience with distributed streaming technologies (e.g., Apache Kafka)
• 4+ years of people management experience, or mentoring talented engineers
• 2+ years of experience in Agile practices
• Proficiency in system architecture, system design, and large-scale, low-latency applications
• Experience leveraging interactive AI tooling to accelerate productivity, utilizing capabilities beyond basic code completion.
• Hands-on experience with Agentic AI workflows/automation, integrating Machine Learning models or AI-driven systems. Experience building or scaling experimentation platforms and A/B, MAB testing frameworks.

Capital One will consider sponsoring a new qualified applicant for employment authorization for this position.

The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount Capital One is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked.

Chicago, IL: $209,000 - $238,500 for Sr. Lead Software Engineer

McLean, VA: $229,900 - $262,400 for Sr. Lead Software Engineer

Plano, TX: $209,000 - $238,500 for Sr. Lead Software Engineer

Riverwoods, IL: $209,000 - $238,500 for Sr. Lead Software Engineer

Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter.

This role is also eligible to earn performance based incentive compensation, which may include cash bonus(es) and/or long term incentives (LTI). Incentives could be discretionary or non discretionary depending on the plan.

Capital One offers a comprehensive, competitive, and inclusive set of health, financial and other benefits that support your total well-being. Learn more at the Capital One Careers website. Eligibility varies based on full or part-time status, exempt or non-exempt status, and management level.

This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days.No agencies please. Capital One is an equal opportunity employer (EOE, including disability/vet) committed to non-discrimination in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Capital One promotes a drug-free workplace. Capital One will consider for employment qualified applicants with a criminal history in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable laws regarding criminal background inquiries, including, to the extent applicable, Article 23-A of the New York Correction Law; San Francisco, California Police Code Article 49, Sections 4901-4920; New York City’s Fair Chance Act; Philadelphia’s Fair Criminal Records Screening Act; and other applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding criminal background inquiries.

If you have visited our website in search of information on employment opportunities or to apply for a position, and you require an accommodation, please contact Capital One Recruiting at 1-800-304-9102 or via email at RecruitingAccommodation@capitalone.com. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.

For technical support or questions about Capital One's recruiting process, please send an email to Careers@capitalone.com

Capital One does not provide, endorse nor guarantee and is not liable for third-party products, services, educational tools or other information available through this site.

Capital One Financial is made up of several different entities. Please note that any position posted in Canada is for Capital One Canada, any position posted in the United Kingdom is for Capital One Europe and any position posted in the Philippines is for Capital One Philippines Service Corp. (COPSSC).

Salary209,000.00 - 238,500.00 Annual