Job Role: Lead Software Engineer - AI Application Platform
Location: Charlotte, NC (Onsite)
Eligibility: USC/GC/H4-EAD only
Pay Rate: $90/hr. on W2
The Opportunity
We are seeking a Lead Software Engineer to guide the architectural development and execution of AppGen, a sophisticated AI-powered application generation platform. This role suits a proven technical leader with deep, hands-on expertise across the full software stack who finds enabling a team to build better software deeply satisfying.
You will shape critical systems, mentor senior and junior developers through complex technical decisions, conduct rigorous code reviews across multiple technology domains, and directly influence the platform's trajectory through strategic engineering leadership.
This is for someone who:
• Engages thoughtfully when a junior developer asks targeted architectural questions—because you see an opportunity to shape how someone thinks about systems
• Takes time to explain subtle type-safety issues in code review, understanding that feedback is a teaching moment
• Can present architecture clearly to executives and confidently explain both what we're building and why it matters
• Finds more energy in the code your team ships than in the code you write individually
• Has proven depth across the full stack and a track record of developing engineers into stronger contributors
If that describes you, we'd like to talk.
Core Responsibilities
1. Technical Architecture & Systems Thinking (40%)
• Shape architectural decisions across the full stack: How should the component layer handle dynamically generated forms? What's the right approach to validate complex cross-field dependencies in the FormBuilder? What separation of concerns makes sense between the Generator Lambda and the Parent Backend?
• Guide architecture discussions: Help senior developers think through design trade-offs. Should we use NgRx or Angular signals for this feature? When does a new Lambda function become worthwhile given cold-start costs?
• Identify and address system-wide bottlenecks: Work across layers to improve performance. Explore Lambda cold-start optimization, RDS query efficiency, and DynamoDB access patterns.
• Establish patterns and guide consistency: Define coding conventions that work across Python, TypeScript, and Terraform. Help new team members understand the reasoning behind architectural choices.
What this looks like in practice: You're able to justify architectural decisions with technical reasoning. When someone questions an approach, you can explain the trade-offs you considered. You can write code in multiple languages to validate an approach if needed.
2. Code Review & Technical Guidance (30%)
• Full-stack PR reviews: Review Python FastAPI endpoints and Angular components with equal depth, understanding how they interact.
• Deep technical review: Catch issues thoughtful code review can surface:
o RxJS Observable lifecycle and potential memory patterns in Angular
o Query efficiency and data loading patterns in SQLAlchemy
o Terraform module organization and state management implications
o Type safety and TypeScript coverage gaps
o AWS security and IAM configurations
• Educational feedback: Your code reviews help the team learn. When you identify an issue, reviewees understand not just what changed, but how to think about similar problems in the future.
• Define quality expectations: Work with the team to establish what "production-ready" means for this platform and support consistent application of those standards.
What this requires: Experience reviewing code across teams and multiple languages. You know how to write feedback that resonates—clear, constructive, and focused on helping people improve.
3. Mentorship & Team Development (20%)
• Expand specialist capabilities: Help backend specialists learn to contribute to the forms-engine. Support frontend experts in understanding FastAPI patterns.
• Accelerate junior developers: Pair on complex problems. Explain the reasoning behind patterns like DataState. Connect architectural choices to implementation details and performance implications.
• Identify and address gaps: Recognize when someone is struggling with a technology and provide targeted support—training, pair programming, or guidance through architectural decisions.
• Create growth opportunities: Stretch the team into new areas. A backend engineer working on their first Terraform contribution. A frontend specialist implementing an AWS Lambda authorizer.
What this requires: Genuine investment in people's growth. You've walked developers through major transitions (generalist to specialist, specialist to full-stack, or into new technology areas). You understand that team strength grows when individuals expand their capabilities.
4. Stakeholder Communication & Technical Leadership (10%)
• Explain to diverse audiences: Translate architectural choices and trade-offs for product managers, executives, and business stakeholders. Connect "optimizing DynamoDB queries" to "improving form submission latency by 30%."
• Shape technical direction: Contribute the engineering perspective on feasibility, risk, and what unlocks future capabilities.
• Support release confidence: You understand the code changes, comprehend the risks, and know what to monitor. You can stand behind releases.
Required Qualifications
Technical Skills
Frontend (Production Experience)
• 5+ years of Angular (including handling version migrations, optimizing change detection, and guiding teams through reactive patterns)
• Strong TypeScript skills with generics, discriminated unions, and strict mode
• RxJS depth: You understand hot vs. cold observables, unsubscription patterns, and can identify potential memory issues in reviews
• NgRx state management: You've designed stores at scale, optimized selectors, and evaluated architectural implications
• CSS Grid & Responsive Design: You can assess component hierarchy and layout decisions
• Material Design: You've worked within it and know when and how to extend it
Backend (Production Experience)
• 5+ years of Python (async/await, type hints, data modeling)
• FastAPI production experience: session management, dependency injection, middleware
• SQL and ORMs (SQLAlchemy): You write efficient queries and review them critically
• AWS services: Understanding of Lambda behavior, IAM least-privilege patterns, VPC networking
• REST API design: Versioning, error handling, idempotency
• Testing frameworks: pytest, testing st