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# Lead Software Engineer - AI Systems, Architecture & Developer Experience (113439-1)

- **Company:** Cullerton Group, LLC
- **Location:** Chicago, IL, United States
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Contract:** Temporary to permanent
- **Skills:** LangGraph Framework, Java (Programming Language), Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Artificial Intelligence, Amazon Web Services, Computing Platforms, Systems Engineering, Cloud Computing, Cyber Security, Relational Databases, Cursor, Distributed Systems, Software Architecture, Systems Development Life Cycle, Search Technologies, Software Engineering, Systems Architecture, Strategies of Testing, Pinecone, Spring Cloud, LangChain, Retrieval-Augmented Generation, Large Language Models, Claude Code, Multi-Agent Systems, Prompt Engineering, Generative AI, AI Coding Agents, Agentic-AI, Pgvector, Kubernetes, Information Technology, CrewAI, AutoGen, Milvus, Claude, Api Design, Google Gemini, Model Context Protocol, GPT, Docker, ChromaDB, Microservices
- **Published:** October 29, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.careerbuilder.com/job-details/lead-software-engineer-ai-systems-architecture-developer-experience-113439-1-chicago-il--60a3fd40-4835-48a2-a31f-bf8e462c753e

## About the Role

Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence (AI), System Architecture, Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence (AI), System Architecture, Systems Engineering, Java, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), * Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field with 10+ years of experience, OR Master’s degree with 8+ years of experience.

 * Deep hands-on Java backend development, including microservices and API design.
 * Strong software architecture and experience designing large-scale distributed systems.
 * Extensive AWS, Docker, and Kubernetes experience.
 * Hands-on experience building production-level AI agents, prompt engineering, and agentic development patterns.
 * Practical experience with vector databases such as Pinecone, Milvus, Chroma, or pgvector.
 * Experience with Generative AI, LLM-powered applications, AI agents, or intelligent automation platforms.
 * Strong familiarity with AI coding assistants and an understanding of Model Context Protocol (MCP).
 * Experience leading architectural initiatives, mentoring engineers, and influencing multiple engineering teams.

Preferred Qualifications

 * Experience with LangChain, LangGraph, AutoGen, or CrewAI.
 * Experience designing RAG systems and semantic-search solutions.
 * Knowledge of application, cloud, and security architecture best practices.
 * Experience establishing technical governance and engineering standards across multiple teams.
 * Experience implementing evaluation and testing strategies for AI outputs, including factual accuracy, hallucination monitoring, and safety.

## Description

We are seeking a senior Lead Software Engineer to architect and deliver next-generation software platforms powered by Artificial Intelligence, Large Language Models (LLMs), and agentic workflows. This role combines deep Java backend and distributed-systems architecture with hands-on AI/LLM integration, cloud-native development, and technical leadership. The engineer will design production-grade AI systems, establish engineering standards, mentor teams, and help integrate AI-assisted development tools into the software development lifecycle., * Architect and develop multi-agent and stateful AI systems using frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, AutoGen, or CrewAI.

 * Integrate foundation models such as Claude, GPT, and Gemini through secure APIs while managing token usage, costs, and rate limits.
 * Design RAG and semantic-search architectures, integrating relational data with vector databases.
 * Lead architecture for Java backend systems, APIs, microservices, distributed systems, and cloud-native applications.
 * Establish engineering standards and architectural governance across multiple development teams.
 * Integrate AI development tools such as Cursor, Claude Code, and Windsurf into engineering workflows and establish responsible AI-development practices.
 * Mentor engineers and technical leads while driving architecture reviews, RFCs, automation, modernization, and engineering excellence.