Developer Lead
Role details
Job location
Tech stack
Job description
This position leads the design, development, and implementation of modern web and data-driven applications supporting the McCormick School of Engineering. The role combines technical leadership with strong stakeholder engagement, working closely with academic, research, administrative, and business analyst partners to clarify needs, shape technical solutions, and translate priorities into scalable and maintainable systems. This position provides architectural direction, contributes hands-on development, mentors developers, and helps identify opportunities to improve systems, data access, workflows, and digital services through modern engineering practices and AI-enabled tools.
This role architects and develops solutions that integrate emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence technologies such as large language models (LLMs) and AI-driven developer tooling, into applications and workflows that enhance productivity, decision-making, and digital services within McCormick.
The Developer Lead establishes development standards and best practices, mentors developers, and ensures systems are secure, accessible, and aligned with modern web and AI development practices.
The role contributes directly to application architecture, system integrations, and the development of new AI-enabled capabilities across McCormick platforms. It also supports the development of a centralized data platform and hub-and-spoke application architecture that enables shared data services, analytics, and intelligent applications across McCormick systems.
Works closely with stakeholders to identify opportunities for automation, intelligent tooling, and AI-assisted development, guiding implementation strategies that improve internal systems, data access, and user experiences.
Maintains, enhances, and supports existing applications and systems, ensuring reliability, performance, security, and ongoing alignment with evolving business and user needs.
Specific Responsibilities:
Strategic Planning
- Structures requirements; designs, documents, and implements data driven solutions.
- Designs/architects scalable systems that meet future growth demands
- Identifies and recommends project and activities as related to system/architectural direction and strategy.
- Establishes best practices and procedures/tools, programming standards, etc.
- Provides recommendations for strategic planning and system growth/future business needs.
- Researches and applies state-of-the-art and peer best practices in regard to software development and systems engineering.
- Helps plan and prioritize web team projects.
Administration
- Responds to customer inquiries via phone, online, in-person, etc.
- Develops and implements procedures for data security, management and compliance.
- Creates and maintains code documentation.
- Grants system access to new user.
- Delivers system presentation and overview.
- Collaborates with cross-team assets to create project timeline and assign tasks and deliverables.
- Identifies resources needed for future projects.
- Represents project in absence of manager.
- Sets up meetings with clients and other staff as appropriate.
Development
- Gathers and analyzes requirements; develops solutions/programs/reports, and implements technology.
- Reviews, analyzes, and modifies programming systems including encoding, testing, debugging and documenting programs.
- Troubleshoots problems involving complex difficult issues.
- Prioritize tasks
- Meets with business analyst/stakeholder to determine requirements, gives input on prioritization.
- Collaborates on development best practices and standards with development teams across the institution.
- Contributes to coding and maintenance of web applications.
- Stays up to date on technical solutions: service oriented architecture, system monitoring, web APIs, databases and scripting languages such as PHP and Ruby on Rails.
Supervises
- Assigns staff to certain projects/tasks
- Champions utilization of best practices and standards, and ensures compliance with IT/University policies.
- Conducts performance evaluations for supervised team members.
- Serves as highest level technical expert on the web team.
Miscellaneous
Performs other duties as assigned., * BI
- Cognos BI
- InfoEd (Grants Administration)
- Instructure Canvas
- PeopleSoft Campus Solutions (SES)
- PeopleSoft Financials/SCM (NU Financials)
- PeopleSoft HRMS (FASIS)
- active directory design, administration
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Apache
- Code Repositories (GitHub)
- identity management/provisioning
- information security
- LDAP
- Linux Operating System
- Mac OS X Operating System
- Microsoft Exchange
- Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Outlook)
- Microsoft SharePoint
- NoSQL (MongoDB, CouchDB)
- OpenAM (Identity Management)
- OpenStack/Cloudstack
- Puppet/Chef/Ansible
- Server hardware
- Service Orienteted Architecture (SOA)
- SQL/MySQL/Postgres
- Windows Operating System
- CSS3
- HTML 5
- Java
- JavaScript
- PeopleCode (PeopleSoft)
- PHP (Laravel)
- Python(AI / Data / Scripting)
- JSON / XML
- Web / RESTful APIs
- Artificial Intelligence APIs
- Data Modeling
- Systems Integrations
- Large Language Models (LLM integration)
- Prompt Engineering
- AI-assisted Development Tools
- Web Accessibility (WCAG compliance)
- Data Warehousing
- ETL / Data Pipelines
- Critical thinking
- Data modeling
- Data warehouse design/develop
- Database design/ data structure
- Debugging
- Decision making
- Enterprise architecture
- Enterprise directory services
- Judgment
- Metadata creation and management
- Problem solving
- Troubleshooting
- Agile environment
- Code documentation
- Collaboration and teamwork
- Cost/benefit analysis
- Evaluate resources
- Facilitate collaboration
- Functional documentation
- Iterative & incremental development
- Organizational skills
- Planning
- Workflow development & documentation
- Write proposals and project charters
Requirements
Minimum Qualifications: (Education, experience, and any other certifications or clearances)
- Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a major such as computer science, information technology, or related; OR appropriate combination of education and experience.
- 6 or more years of professional software development experience.
- Demonstrated experience developing modern web applications using MVC frameworks such as PHP (Laravel) or similar technologies.
- Experience designing relational database schemas and developing data-driven applications.
- Experience designing or implementing data warehouses, analytics platforms, or large-scale institutional data systems.
- Experience implementing AI-enabled tools or integrations within software systems.
- Experience implementing and maintaining accessible web applications conforming to WCAG standards.
- Strong experience with JavaScript and modern front-end development practices.
- Experience working collaboratively with stakeholders to translate requirements into technical solutions.
- Experience leading or mentoring developers and guiding technical implementation decisions., * Strong proficiency in Agile development practices and MVC application development using PHP/Laravel or similar frameworks.
- Strong knowledge of JavaScript and modern client-side web technologies.
- Strong understanding of HTML5, CSS3, and modern web standards.
- Experience integrating AI tools, APIs, or large language models (LLMs) into web applications.
- Understanding of data modeling and relational database design.
- Experience designing data pipelines, ETL processes, or centralized data platforms supporting analytics and reporting.
- Experience designing integrations between multiple applications and data systems using APIs and shared data platforms.
- Understanding of data architecture concepts, including centralized data platforms, data integration, and analytics enablement.
- Experience building and consuming RESTful APIs and web services.
- Strong familiarity with Git-based version control workflows.
- Demonstrated commitment to web accessibility design, including WCAG implementation.
- Ability to architect scalable technical solutions and structure complex technical requirements.
- Ability to troubleshoot complex application and system issues.
- Ability to communicate technical concepts effectively to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Ability to mentor developers and guide development practices and engineering standards.
Preferred Qualifications: (Education and experience)
- Master's degree in computer science or related field or the equivalent combination of education, training, and experience from which comparable skills can be acquired.
- Experience implementing AI-assisted development tools and workflows.
- Experience developing AI-powered application features or services.
- Experience designing systems that integrate large language models or AI services into web applications.
- Experience designing or implementing PostgreSQL-based data warehouses or analytics platforms.
- Experience working with large institutional datasets or analytics-driven systems.
- Experience developing applications within higher education or research environments.
- Experience developing tools that improve automation, productivity, or knowledge discovery.
Preferred Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities)
- Experience evaluating and implementing emerging AI technologies to improve internal tools and workflows.
- Experience designing data-driven applications supporting analytics and reporting.
- Familiarity with natural language interfaces, AI assistants, or knowledge systems.
- Ability to identify opportunities where AI can improve user experience, automation, or operational efficiency.
- Strong interest in exploring and adopting new development technologies and approaches.
Benefits & conditions
Target hiring range for this position will be between $125,220 - $161,200 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data., At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful, competitive, high-quality health care plans, retirement benefits, tuition discounts and more! Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/index.html to learn more.
Work-Life and Wellness: Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life's challenges and opportunities, and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles. We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/work-life/index.html to learn more., $125,220 - $161,200 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.Job Summary:This position leads the design, development, and implementation of modern web and data-driven applications supporting the McCormick School of Engineering Required Education Bachelor's Degree
