As part of the Cox Automotive family, Central Dispatch is evolving the nation's largest self-managed auto transportation platform. Our logistics solutions connect shippers with a nationwide network of carriers, enabling vehicles to move efficiently across the country.
The Lead Software Engineer applies secure software engineering principles to the design, development, testing, maintenance, and evaluation of software and cloud infrastructure. This role operates as a senior technical expert who leads through influence rather than people management. Lead Engineers contribute to architecture, guide engineering practices across teams, and ensure systems are built for scalability, resilience, and long-term maintainability. The role also incorporates responsible use of AI-assisted development tools to improve design, coding, testing, troubleshooting, and documentation across the SDLC.
Lead Engineers elevate engineering standards, support cross-team alignment, mentor engineers at multiple levels, and contribute heavily to the evolution of the Central Dispatch platform.
Our Teams
Cox Automotive's Central Dispatch teams are based primarily in Atlanta, GA. We have cultivated a group of versatile, hardworking, and creative team members with diverse skill sets who can adapt to the rapid changes in the automotive and technology industries. We are committed to supporting our logistics businesses and building for the future with a best-in-class platform.
Primary Duties and Key Responsibilities
- Lead team efforts to design, develop, test, and document complex software systems and applications, incorporating AI-assisted tools into daily workflows to improve accuracy and reduce manual workload while ensuring all AI output is validated.
- Provide technical and procedural guidance to engineers within the team and across adjacent teams, including coaching on responsible AI usage, prompt strategies, and verification of AI-generated artifacts.
- Collaborate with analysts, engineers, architects, and product partners to design highly complex systems, using both personal knowledge and AI-supported exploration to evaluate architectural options or tradeoffs.
- Support multiple teams by reviewing designs, advising on solution approaches, and offering AI-enabled research, code analysis, and prototyping support.
- Break down functional and business requirements into clear implementation plans and estimations, integrating AI tools to explore solution space and improve estimation accuracy.
- Write high-quality, maintainable code and comprehensive automated tests for complex system components. Use AI to support test generation, refactoring, or documentation while validating quality and security.
- Evaluate secure coding practices and recommend improvements, including using AI-enabled scanning and analysis tools to identify vulnerabilities or code quality concerns.
- Ensure quality, performance, stability, observability, and adherence to specifications across team deliverables. Combine human expertise with AI analysis to detect bottlenecks or improvement opportunities.
- Drive modernization of legacy systems by guiding refactoring, migration planning, and solution redesign, leveraging AI tools to analyze legacy code and propose clearer patterns.
- Define and recommend metrics that improve engineering quality, cycle time, reliability, and operational performance, including metrics related to AI-assisted development.
- Present architectural decisions, system changes, and technical topics to peers, leadership, and partners, incorporating insights from AI-generated analysis when appropriate.
- Promote adoption of modern engineering practices, including cloud-native patterns, automated testing, observability, and responsible AI-enabled development workflows.
- Mentor Software Engineers I, II, and Senior Engineers, helping them develop stronger engineering skills, sound judgment, and effective use of AI in their workflow.
- Share insights, refined prompts, and lessons learned from AI-assisted development to help strengthen team and organizational standards.
Required Experience, Knowledge, and Skills
- Bachelor's degree in a related discipline and 6 years of experience in a related field, or equivalent combinations such as a master's degree and 4 years of experience, a PhD and 1 year of experience, or 18 years of experience with no degree.
- Skilled in analytical thinking, requirements analysis, technical troubleshooting, system and technology integration, and secure cloud-native development.
- Strong hands-on development experience with modern programming languages, frameworks, and distributed system architectures.
- Demonstrated ability to evaluate complex technical problems, design scalable and maintainable solutions, and guide implementation across multiple teams.
- Skilled in building partnerships, driving innovation, focusing on execution, and striving for engineering excellence.
- Strong communication skills with the ability to influence decisions, explain complex engineering concepts, and lead technical discussions across teams.
- Proven ability to mentor, guide, and level up engineers while supporting cross-team technical alignment.
USD 122,600.00 - 204,400.00 per year
Compensation:
Compensation includes a base salary of $122,600.00 - $204,400.00. The base salary may vary within the anticipated base pay range based on factors such as the ultimate location of the position and the selected candidate's knowledge, skills, and abilities. Position may be eligible for additional compensation that may include an incentive program.
Benefits:
The Company offers eligible employees the flexibility to take as much vacation with pay as they deem consistent with their duties, the company's needs, and its obligations; seven paid holidays throughout the calendar year; and up to 160 hours of paid wellness annually for their own wellness or that of family members. Employees are also eligible for additional paid time off in the form of bereavement leave, time off to vote, jury duty leave, volunteer time off, military leave, and parental leave.
Top Skills
What the Team is Saying
What We Do
For well over a century, Cox Enterprises has been shaping the future with daring ideas and values-driven thinking.
Since our founding in 1898, our relentless spirit of innovation has driven us to disrupt industries and enhance the quality of life in the communities we serve. Through our major divisions — Cox Communications, Cox Automotive and Cox Farms — our people have countless opportunities to grow and make an impact in the communications and automotive industries, as well as in new ventures in agriculture, cleantech, digital media and more.
As a privately-held, family-owned business, we know that people are our most valuable asset. We offer a supportive and inclusive environment with flexible career growth, amazing benefits and work-life balance at the forefront.
Our mission, our ways of working and our commitment to people are what make our workplace culture remarkably flexible and resilient. Join us to build a better future and make your mark.
Why Work With Us
At our core, Cox is a technology company that values human relationships. We know people feel most empowered when their work has meaning, when they feel respected and have opportunities to grow. “Career satisfaction” is not enough at Cox — we’re here to help you find balance, live well and achieve your career goals even as they change over time.
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Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
Every person has different working styles and preferences — and we aim to empower teams to work where they are most comfortable. Some roles require in-person work, but for those that can be performed remotely, we offer flexibility.
