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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Software Engineer Lead - **Company:** Acuity Brands - **Location:** United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Agile Methodology, Artificial Intelligence, Amazon Web Services, Confluence, JIRA, Microsoft Azure, Cloud Computing, Cloud Computing Security, Software Quality, Code Review, Continuous Integration, Data Stores, Software Debugging, Linux, DevOps, Web Development, Github, Integrated Development Environments, Python (Programming Language), PostgreSQL, Linux System Administration, NoSQL, OAuth, Octopus Deploy, Object-Oriented Software Development, OpenID, Scrum Methodology, Phishing, Standard Sql, Next.js, Software Engineering, Web Application Frameworks, Enterprise Software Applications, Cloud Platform System, Postman, ReactJS, Deep Learning, Generative AI, Git, Fastapi, Event Driven Architecture, Pytest, Containerization, Integration Tests, Kubernetes, HuggingFace, Production Code, Non-relational Database, Cosmos DB, Virtual Agents, Asynchronous Programming, Interactive Whiteboards, Restful APIs, Devsecops, Serverless Computing, GXP, Docker - **Published:** August 30, 2026 - **Apply:** https://careers.acuitybrands.com/talentcommunity/apply/1424706200/?locale=en_US ## About the Role * Strong professional software engineering background. (Typically, 10+ years, but we value impact and evidence of delivery over a specific number.) * Proven technical leadership in a delivery team, such as leading design discussions, setting technical direction within a team, mentoring engineers, and raising engineering standards through example. * Strong Python engineering skills including maintainable OOP design, typing, asynchronous programming, and building robust service layers (FastAPI preferred). * Demonstrated experience designing and building REST APIs and service integrations, with a focus on reliability, observability, and performance. * Prior cloud experience is mandatory, with hands-on delivery on at least one hyperscaler (Azure preferred; AWS/GCP also valued). * Container experience is essential, including packaging, running, and troubleshooting containerised services across environments. * Kubernetes experience is highly preferred, including deploying, operating, and debugging services in a cluster (or strong motivation and evidence of learning it quickly if you have deep container/cloud experience). * Experience with modern DevOps practices and CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions, ArgoCD, Azure DevOps) and pragmatic Git branching/release strategies. * Strong quality mindset, including unit/integration testing (PyTest), code review habits, and an ability to balance delivery pace with engineering discipline. * Solid understanding of security fundamentals for modern services, including AuthN/AuthZ (OpenID/OAuth2) and secure build/deploy practices (e.g., container scanning). * Comfortable working in Agile environments (Scrum/Kanban; SAFe exposure helpful) and collaborating effectively across product, architecture, and data/AI stakeholders. * Experience working with SQL and NoSQL data stores, including data modelling and operating services backed by document, key value-, or similar relational (PostgreSQL preferred) and non-relational databases. * Solid core Linux skills, comfortable working in Linux environments for development, debugging, deployment, and operational troubleshooting. Preferred Skills and Experience * Experience building with Generative AI and/or Agentic AI frameworks and patterns (MAF, LangChain, LanghGraph, CrewAI, Hugging Face, OpenAI APIs, Claude Code), with a pragmatic approach to taking PoCs toward production readiness. * Familiarity with event-driven architecture and scalable integration patterns across enterprise systems and IoT-adjacent environments. * Azure platform depth (e.g. Resource Groups, VNETs, Cosmos DB, serverless, ...) and/or broader cloud platform engineering experience. * DevSecOps experience, including code-to-cloud security practices and improving pipelines and guardrails without slowing teams down. * Demonstrable interest in modern AI concepts (transformers/attention, deep learning foundations) and staying current in a fast-moving technical landscape. * General knowledge of web application development, including familiarity with modern frontend frameworks and patterns. Exposure to React and/or Next.js is a plus. Other Agile: Jira, Azure DevOps Collaboration: Confluence, Miro, Teams Development: Git, VSCode, Docker Testing: Postman, PyTest Cloud & DevOps: Azure, ArgoCD, GitHub Actions ## Description This role is for a Lead Engineer (AI and Python) who wants to influence technical direction through strong engineering judgement and collaboration. You will technically lead a high impact AI engineering team and play a defining role in how AI driven software is built across a growing and ambitious organisation. This position comes with real ownership, where your technical judgement directly shapes outcomes. You will work in close partnership with key business and technical stakeholders, collaborating to define cloud native, container first solutions designed for enterprise use from day one. This is a hands-on technical leadership role. You will write production code, drive proof-of-concepts, and validate architectural decisions through implementation. Alongside this, you will set technical standards, guide design choices, and raise the bar for the team. You will also play a central role in hiring and building your team, reinforcing a strong engineering culture and a consistently high technical bar. AI is central to the mission. You will operate at the intersection of exploratory AI development and enterprise grade engineering, turning emerging ideas into secure, scalable production systems. You will work alongside a friendly, collaborative team of high calibre engineers who take immense pride in their work, value good engineering practices, and support each other in building platforms and teams that underpin future capabilities. Key Tasks & Responsibilities (Essential Functions) * Lead the technical direction of a high impact AI engineering team, staying -hands-on- and setting the pace through example. * Design and deliver cloud native, -container first- services that are built to scale and ready for real enterprise use. * Partner closely with architects and key stakeholders to shape architecture, align on patterns, and translate strategy into practical engineering decisions. * Take AI enabled capabilities from early exploration and proof--of---concept through to secure, reliable, production deployments.Write * high-quality- Python code and help define the engineering bar for maintainability, testing, and operational excellence. * Drive good engineering practices across code quality, CI/CD, containerisation, Kubernetes, and cloud operations, keeping teams focused on outcomes. * Guide technical trade-offs and prioritisation, balancing innovation with pragmatism and -long-term platform health-. * Play a central role in hiring and onboarding, helping build a high calibre team and strengthening a collaborative, supportive culture-. * Mentor and coach engineers through reviews, pairing, and technical feedback, enabling growth and shared ownership. * Stay current with fast-moving AI and cloud technologies, assessing new approaches and introducing them where they add real value., Acuity Inc. will consider any candidate for whom an Agency has submitted an unsolicited resume to have been referred by the Agency free of any charges or fees. This includes any Agency that is an approved/engaged vendor, but does not have the appropriate approvals to be engaged on a search. E-Verify Participation Poster e-verify.gov eeoc.gov Protecting Yourself from Recruitment Scams: Acuity is committed to maintaining the integrity of our Talent Acquisition process and the security of our candidates. We are aware of phishing and fraudulent schemes in which individuals impersonate Acuity representatives or recruiting partners to solicit payments or sensitive personal information. As you navigate your job search, please keep the following in mind: * No Financial Requests: Acuity will never ask candidates for payment, credit card information, banking details or other financial information during the interview process. * Verify Recruiter Communications: Legitimate communications from Acuity recruiters will come from an "@acuityinc.com" email address. If you are contacted by a recruiting agency regarding a role with Acuity, the agency should clearly identify itself and its relationship to Acuity. If you suspect any suspicious activity, verify the agency legitimacy by contacting +1 877-584-1411, option# 0. * Be Alert for Suspicious Activity: Exercise caution if you receive unsolicited outreach with unusual requests, grammatical errors, requests for personal or financial information, or pressure to act quickly. Always verify the sender before sharing information or clicking links. * Report Suspected Fraud: If you receive a suspicious message or believe someone is impersonating Acuity or one of our recruiting partners, please contact +1 877-584-141, option# 0, report the incident to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, or to your state attorney general. ## Related Videos - [Improving quality with Agentic AI with Rovo Dev and Xray](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2005-improving-quality-with-agentic-ai-with-rovo-dev-and-xray) - [How a Small Team Shrank a Microsoft Monorepo by 94%](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1236-how-a-small-team-shrank-a-microsoft-monorepo-by-94) - [Blueprints for Success: Steering a Global Data & AI Architecture](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1577-blueprints-for-success-steering-a-global-data-ai-architecture) - [Shipping Faster with Less: Render on Cloud Hosting, AI Workloads, and the Future of DevOps](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1894-shipping-faster-with-less-render-on-cloud-hosting-ai-workloads-and-the-future-of-devops) - [Collaboration Quantified: Lessons from Open Source Developer Networks](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1422-collaboration-quantified-lessons-from-open-source-developer-networks) - [Git for Code Reviews](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/429-git-for-code-reviews) ## Related Articles - [Navigating the AI Shift](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/629-navigating-the-ai-shift) - [Dev Digest 120 - Apple and peers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/455-dev-digest-120-apple-and-peers) - [What is Agentic Programming and Why Should Developers Care?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/625-what-is-agentic-programming-and-why-should-developers-care) - [What is Software Engineering in the Age of AI?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/640-what-is-software-engineering-in-the-age-of-ai) - [Dev Digest 121 - AI goes offline](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/456-dev-digest-121-ai-goes-offline) - [Highest Paying Tech Companies for Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/220-highest-paying-tech-companies-for-developers)