Lead Software Engineer

AutoNation is seeking a hands-on Lead Software Engineer to help design and deliver digital platforms used by our customers, Associates, and business operations nationwide. You will write and review production code, guide technical decisions, mentor engineers, and partner with product, architecture, quality engineering, delivery, and application operations teams. Our platforms use Java, AWS, microservices, APIs, and modern data technologies. You will also help advance AutoNation's person-centered approach to AI-enabled engineering - applying leading-edge AI capabilities to improve quality, accelerate feedback, and help teams focus on meaningful customer and business problems while preserving human judgment and accountability. What You'll Do · Lead the design, development, testing, implementation, and operation of scalable, highly available software products. · Remain hands-on by contributing production code, reviewing designs and code, and troubleshooting complex technical issues. · Translate product and business objectives into practical architecture, technical plans, estimates, and delivery priorities. · Mentor engineers and promote strong practices in software design, automated testing, security, reliability, observability, and DevOps. · Develop reusable solution patterns in partnership with architecture and other engineering teams. · Balance delivery speed with maintainability, operational readiness, and long-term platform health. · Communicate technical decisions, risks, dependencies, and tradeoffs clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders. · Help teams adopt AI-assisted development practices responsibly across requirements, design, coding, testing, documentation, troubleshooting, and code review. What You Bring · Eight or more years of Java software-development experience with progressively increasing technical responsibility. · Experience providing technical leadership to a team of at least three software engineers. · Bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience. · Experience designing and delivering large-scale, highly available, mission-critical systems. · Strong knowledge of Java-based microservices or multi-tier architectures, REST APIs, JSON, OAuth, SQL, relational databases, and data modeling. · Strong solution-design, architectural decision-making, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills. · Experience working within Agile or another structured software-delivery methodology. Preferred Experience · AWS or another major cloud platform; cloud-native architecture; distributed systems; automated delivery; observability; and modern DevOps practices. · AI-assisted software-engineering tools and methodologies, or a strong interest in helping teams adopt them responsibly. · Ecommerce, retail, automotive, financial services, or consumer-facing digital platforms. Why AutoNation? · Lead high-impact engineering work across a nationwide organization while remaining close to the technology. · Influence architecture, engineering practices, product delivery, and the growth of other engineers. · Help shape how AutoNation applies person-centered AI across the software-development lifecycle. · Join a team focused on innovation, continuous improvement, and measurable customer and business outcomes.

Anticipated base salary: $130,000-$170,000 annually, plus eligibility for the company annual bonus program. Program terms and payouts are determined at the company's discretion and are subject to change. AutoNation offers competitive compensation, 401(k) matching, health, dental and vision plans, family-support benefits, Associate vehicle and service discounts, YouDecide offers, and opportunities to support our DRV PNK mission. Work Authorization At this time, we are not considering applicants who require employment authorization sponsorship (1) as a condition of eligibility