Lead Software Engineer Visa Sponsorship Jobs in Oregon
Oregon's lead software engineer market centers on Portland's thriving tech corridor, home to employers like Nike, Intel, Adidas, and a dense cluster of software companies. Intel's large Hillsboro campus makes the state a notable hub for senior engineering talent. International candidates will find active H-1B sponsorship across both established enterprises and mid-sized product companies statewide.
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Get Access To All JobsWork options: Hybrid Onsite: Mon-Thurs
Title: Lead Software Engineer – AI Developer Tooling & Enablement
Location: Beaverton, OR
Duration: 1 Year contract
NIKE, Inc. does more than outfit the world's best athletes. It is a place to explore potential, obliterate boundaries and push out the edges of what can be. The company looks for people who can grow, think, dream and create. Its culture thrives by embracing diversity and rewarding imagination. The brand seeks achievers, leaders and visionaries. At Nike, it’s about each person bringing skills and passion to a challenging and constantly evolving game.
Role Overview
We are seeking a Lead Software Engineer to serve as the technical anchor for Nike’s AI Developer Tooling & Enablement platform. This role operates at a Principal Software Engineer level, combining deep hands-on engineering, platform stewardship, and enterprise-scale governance across GitHub, Cursor, Claude, and emerging AI development tools. The Lead Software Engineer will own the technical strategy, architecture, and execution for AI-powered developer tooling used by thousands of engineers globally, while partnering closely with Product, Security, Legal, Finance, and Vendor Management. This role fills a critical capability gap by unifying platform engineering excellence, AI tooling expertise, and enterprise systems leadership into a single accountable technical owner.
Key Responsibilities
Technical Leadership & Platform Stewardship
- Serve as the lead engineer and technical steward for the AI Dev Tooling & Enablement squad, owning architecture, administration, and long-term technical direction for GitHub, Cursor, and Claude.
- Establish and evolve technical standards, patterns, and best practices for AI developer tooling at enterprise scale.
AI Dev Tooling & Enablement Initiatives
- Lead multiple proof-of-concept and incubation efforts central to Nike’s AI development strategy, including:
- Background agents running on self-hosted runners
- Claude Code evaluation and comparative analysis
- "Bring Your Own Model” (BYOM) enablement pathways
- Design and implement SCIM-based integrations (e.g., for Cursor) to support automated team management, access control, and accurate cost allocation and chargeback.
- Translate experimental AI capabilities into secure, supportable, production-ready platforms.
GitHub & AI Tooling Platform Ownership
- Act as squad lead and governance owner for all GitHub and Cursor initiatives, including GitHub Copilot and adjacent AI dev tooling (e.g., MCP servers and system integrations).
- Provide end-to-end product support and operational ownership for developer tooling used by thousands of engineers.
- Partner directly with vendors such as GitHub, Anysphere and Anthropic to drive Nike requirements, roadmap alignment, and issue resolution.
- Evaluate new vendor features in Preview/Beta to determine enterprise applicability and value.
- Lead annual SOX and security compliance audits, and design automation for:
- License management and reclamation
- Policy enforcement and reporting
- Maintain and evolve a Selenium-based automation suite required to bridge gaps where vendor APIs are insufficient.
- Serve as a key contributor to open-source initiatives, configurations, and inner-source tooling.
- Consult with internal teams on advanced topics such as authentication patterns using GitHub Apps.
- Author and drive execution of a strategic GitHub ecosystem optimization proposal, covering:
- Organizational and account footprint
- Repository rationalization
- Governance models for private vs. internal repositories
Software Development & Engineering Contributions
- Design and implement Backstage plugins powering Nike’s developer portal, including:
- AI Tools portal
- GitHub insights and workflows
- An upcoming administrative control panel
- Contribute as a hands-on engineer and technical reviewer to other NDX platform capabilities such as Managed CI/CD, Jeter, and QMA.
- Build dashboards and tooling to improve visibility into Cursor usage, cost trends, and optimization opportunities.
- Balance platform-level architecture with direct code contributions in TypeScript, backend services, automation frameworks, and infrastructure tooling.
AI Dev Tools Governance & Risk Management
- Act as a core member of the AI Dev Tools Feature Review Committee, helping evaluate, approve, and operationalize AI tools for enterprise use.
- Lead and shape the MCP Server approval lifecycle, from proposal through review and production readiness.
- Ensure all AI tooling aligns with Nike’s security, compliance, and responsible-AI standards.
Cross-Functional Collaboration & Influence
- Operate at the center of Nike’s development ecosystem, partnering closely with:
- Inner-source contributors across CX, NPE, and FPE team
- Security, Legal, CIS, and Platform Engineering
- Internal engineering customers across domains
- Provide enterprise-level guidance on:
- Source control and GitHub best practices
- CI/CD patterns and platform usage
- SDLC improvements and developer experience optimization
Qualifications
Required
- 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, with demonstrated principal-level technical leadership.
- Deep expertise in GitHub administration, governance, and automation at enterprise scale.
- Strong background in platform engineering and developer experience tooling.
- Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tools and emerging AI platforms.
- Proven ability to design and maintain automation frameworks where vendor APIs are limited.
- Excellent cross-functional communication skills, including the ability to translate technical and financial concepts for senior stakeholders.
Preferred
- Experience with Backstage, internal developer portals, and platform extensibility.
- Familiarity with SCIM, identity management, and enterprise access controls.
- Exposure to open-source contribution models and inner-source practices.
- Business or financial education (e.g., MBA) or equivalent experience supporting vendor and cost management.
Work options: Hybrid Onsite: Mon-Thurs
Title: Lead Software Engineer – AI Developer Tooling & Enablement
Location: Beaverton, OR
Duration: 1 Year contract
NIKE, Inc. does more than outfit the world's best athletes. It is a place to explore potential, obliterate boundaries and push out the edges of what can be. The company looks for people who can grow, think, dream and create. Its culture thrives by embracing diversity and rewarding imagination. The brand seeks achievers, leaders and visionaries. At Nike, it’s about each person bringing skills and passion to a challenging and constantly evolving game.
Role Overview
We are seeking a Lead Software Engineer to serve as the technical anchor for Nike’s AI Developer Tooling & Enablement platform. This role operates at a Principal Software Engineer level, combining deep hands-on engineering, platform stewardship, and enterprise-scale governance across GitHub, Cursor, Claude, and emerging AI development tools. The Lead Software Engineer will own the technical strategy, architecture, and execution for AI-powered developer tooling used by thousands of engineers globally, while partnering closely with Product, Security, Legal, Finance, and Vendor Management. This role fills a critical capability gap by unifying platform engineering excellence, AI tooling expertise, and enterprise systems leadership into a single accountable technical owner.
Key Responsibilities
Technical Leadership & Platform Stewardship
- Serve as the lead engineer and technical steward for the AI Dev Tooling & Enablement squad, owning architecture, administration, and long-term technical direction for GitHub, Cursor, and Claude.
- Establish and evolve technical standards, patterns, and best practices for AI developer tooling at enterprise scale.
AI Dev Tooling & Enablement Initiatives
- Lead multiple proof-of-concept and incubation efforts central to Nike’s AI development strategy, including:
- Background agents running on self-hosted runners
- Claude Code evaluation and comparative analysis
- "Bring Your Own Model” (BYOM) enablement pathways
- Design and implement SCIM-based integrations (e.g., for Cursor) to support automated team management, access control, and accurate cost allocation and chargeback.
- Translate experimental AI capabilities into secure, supportable, production-ready platforms.
GitHub & AI Tooling Platform Ownership
- Act as squad lead and governance owner for all GitHub and Cursor initiatives, including GitHub Copilot and adjacent AI dev tooling (e.g., MCP servers and system integrations).
- Provide end-to-end product support and operational ownership for developer tooling used by thousands of engineers.
- Partner directly with vendors such as GitHub, Anysphere and Anthropic to drive Nike requirements, roadmap alignment, and issue resolution.
- Evaluate new vendor features in Preview/Beta to determine enterprise applicability and value.
- Lead annual SOX and security compliance audits, and design automation for:
- License management and reclamation
- Policy enforcement and reporting
- Maintain and evolve a Selenium-based automation suite required to bridge gaps where vendor APIs are insufficient.
- Serve as a key contributor to open-source initiatives, configurations, and inner-source tooling.
- Consult with internal teams on advanced topics such as authentication patterns using GitHub Apps.
- Author and drive execution of a strategic GitHub ecosystem optimization proposal, covering:
- Organizational and account footprint
- Repository rationalization
- Governance models for private vs. internal repositories
Software Development & Engineering Contributions
- Design and implement Backstage plugins powering Nike’s developer portal, including:
- AI Tools portal
- GitHub insights and workflows
- An upcoming administrative control panel
- Contribute as a hands-on engineer and technical reviewer to other NDX platform capabilities such as Managed CI/CD, Jeter, and QMA.
- Build dashboards and tooling to improve visibility into Cursor usage, cost trends, and optimization opportunities.
- Balance platform-level architecture with direct code contributions in TypeScript, backend services, automation frameworks, and infrastructure tooling.
AI Dev Tools Governance & Risk Management
- Act as a core member of the AI Dev Tools Feature Review Committee, helping evaluate, approve, and operationalize AI tools for enterprise use.
- Lead and shape the MCP Server approval lifecycle, from proposal through review and production readiness.
- Ensure all AI tooling aligns with Nike’s security, compliance, and responsible-AI standards.
Cross-Functional Collaboration & Influence
- Operate at the center of Nike’s development ecosystem, partnering closely with:
- Inner-source contributors across CX, NPE, and FPE team
- Security, Legal, CIS, and Platform Engineering
- Internal engineering customers across domains
- Provide enterprise-level guidance on:
- Source control and GitHub best practices
- CI/CD patterns and platform usage
- SDLC improvements and developer experience optimization
Qualifications
Required
- 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, with demonstrated principal-level technical leadership.
- Deep expertise in GitHub administration, governance, and automation at enterprise scale.
- Strong background in platform engineering and developer experience tooling.
- Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tools and emerging AI platforms.
- Proven ability to design and maintain automation frameworks where vendor APIs are limited.
- Excellent cross-functional communication skills, including the ability to translate technical and financial concepts for senior stakeholders.
Preferred
- Experience with Backstage, internal developer portals, and platform extensibility.
- Familiarity with SCIM, identity management, and enterprise access controls.
- Exposure to open-source contribution models and inner-source practices.
- Business or financial education (e.g., MBA) or equivalent experience supporting vendor and cost management.
Lead Software Engineer Job Roles in Oregon
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Search Lead Software Engineer Jobs in OregonLead Software Engineer Jobs in Oregon: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies sponsor visas for lead software engineers in Oregon?
Intel is Oregon's largest H-1B sponsor for engineering roles, with its Hillsboro campus filing hundreds of petitions annually for senior technical positions. Nike's global headquarters in Beaverton regularly sponsors lead engineers in e-commerce and data platforms. Other active sponsors include Daimler Truck North America, Viewpoint, and a range of Portland-based SaaS companies. Sponsorship activity is concentrated in the Portland metro area.
Which visa types are most common for lead software engineer roles in Oregon?
The H-1B is the primary visa category for lead software engineers in Oregon, as the role consistently qualifies as a specialty occupation requiring at least a bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field. Candidates already holding L-1A or L-1B status through multinational employers like Intel may transfer internally. Australian citizens working at Oregon-based companies may also be eligible for the E-3 visa as an alternative to the H-1B.
Which cities in Oregon have the most lead software engineer sponsorship jobs?
Portland and its immediate suburbs account for the vast majority of lead software engineer sponsorship opportunities in Oregon. Beaverton and Hillsboro, both within the Portland metro area, are particularly active due to Nike and Intel respectively. Eugene has a smaller but growing tech presence linked to the University of Oregon. Outside the Portland metro, sponsorship opportunities are limited.
How to find lead software engineer visa sponsorship jobs in Oregon?
Migrate Mate filters job listings specifically by visa sponsorship availability, making it easier to identify Oregon employers actively hiring lead software engineers from abroad. Rather than sorting through generic postings, you can browse roles confirmed to include sponsorship at companies like Intel, Nike, and Portland-area software firms. Setting up alerts on Migrate Mate for lead software engineer roles in Oregon helps you track new openings as they appear.
Are there any Oregon-specific considerations for lead software engineers seeking visa sponsorship?
Oregon's H-1B prevailing wage requirements for lead software engineers are set at the metropolitan level by the Department of Labor, with the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro having its own wage determination separate from national averages. Intel's presence creates a strong university pipeline, particularly from Oregon State University and Portland State University, which can influence local hiring competition. Oregon has no state income tax, which affects total compensation planning for internationally relocating engineers.
What is the prevailing wage for sponsored lead software engineer jobs in Oregon?
U.S. employers sponsoring a visa must pay at least the prevailing wage, which is what workers in the same role, area, and experience level typically earn. The Department of Labor sets this rate to make sure companies aren't hiring foreign workers simply because they'd accept lower pay than a U.S. worker. It varies by job title, location, and experience. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search page.
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