Senior Software Engineer

Company

Cox Automotive - USA

Engineering / Product Development

Sr Software Engineer

Individual ContributorHybrid - Ability to work remotely part of the week

Yes, 5% of the time

Day

Compensation

Compensation includes a base salary in the range of $101,500.00 - $169,100.00. 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.

Job Summary

The Senior Software Engineer is responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining scalable, secure, and high-performing software systems. This role works cross-functionally with Product, Architecture, and Engineering teams to deliver business value through high-quality, reliable software.

This is a hands-on role focused on building production-ready solutions, while contributing to technical direction, mentoring engineers, and leveraging modern tools—including AI and spec-driven development—to improve engineering productivity and outcomes.

Key Responsibilities:

Software Development & Design

• Design, develop, test, and deploy software across the full technology stack
• Translate business and functional requirements into clear, well-defined technical specifications
• Ensure systems are scalable, resilient, maintainable, and secure
• Apply modern engineering standards and best practices

Delivery & Execution

• Break down specs and features into clear, actionable, and estimable tasks
• Deliver incremental value using Agile methodologies
• Own end-to-end delivery of features or services
• Align development with architectural standards and system design

Quality & Reliability

• Write and maintain automated unit, integration, and end-to-end tests
• Ensure code quality, performance, and adherence to specifications
• Troubleshoot and resolve production issues
• Identify risks, dependencies, and deviations early

AI-Transformed Engineering

• Leverage AI-assisted tools (e.g., Copilot, LLM-based tools) to improve productivity and code quality
• Use AI for code generation, test creation, debugging, and documentation
• Validate and refine AI-generated outputs for correctness, security, and maintainability
• Contribute to team practices around AI usage and prompt engineering

Spec-Driven Development

• Drive spec-driven development, where features are defined through clear, structured specifications before implementation
• Create and refine technical specs (APIs, contracts, workflows, data models) that serve as the source of truth for development
• Use specifications to enable alignment across engineering, product, and QA
• Leverage specs to support automation, testing, and AI-assisted development workflows
• Ensure implementations are traceable back to specifications and meet defined acceptance criteria

Collaboration

• Partner with Product, QA, and Architecture teams to deliver solutions
• Participate in design discussions and technical decision-making
• Communicate progress, trade-offs, and blockers clearly

Technical Leadership & Growth

• Contribute to coding standards and engineering best practices
• Mentor junior engineers through code reviews and guidance
• Continuously learn and adopt new technologies, including AI-driven techniques

Spec-Driven + AI Requirements

• Experience working in spec-driven or contract-first development environments
• Ability to define clear technical specifications (e.g., API contracts, schemas, workflows)
• Experience using AI-assisted development tools effectively
• Ability to validate, refine, and safely adopt AI-generated outputs
• Understanding of responsible AI usage in software development

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree Computer Science or a related discipline and 4+ years of experience in a related field, OR master’s degree and 2+ years of experience, OR Ph.D. and up to 1 year of experience, OR 18+ years of directly relevant experience.
• Strong proficiency in at least one programming language (e.g., Java, Python, .NET)
• Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS) and distributed systems
• Solid understanding of system design, APIs, and data models
• Experience with automated testing and CI/CD practices
• In Office 2 days a week required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building large-scale or mission-critical systems
• Familiarity with microservices and event-driven architectures
• Experience integrating AI capabilities into applications (e.g., LLM APIs, search, recommendations)
• Experience improving engineering workflows through automation or AI
• Strong debugging and performance tuning skills

To be employed in this role, you’ll need to clear a pre-employment drug test. Cox Automotive does not currently administer a pre-employment drug test for marijuana for this position. However, we are a drug-free workplace, so the possession, use or being under the influence of drugs illegal under federal or state law during work hours, on company property and/or in company vehicles is prohibited.

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.Through groundbreaking technology and a commitment to stellar experiences for drivers and dealers alike, Cox Automotive employees are transforming the way the world buys, owns, sells – or simply uses – cars. Cox Automotive employees get to work on iconic consumer brands like Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book and industry-leading dealer-facing companies like vAuto and Manheim, all while enjoying the people-centered atmosphere that is central to our life at Cox. Benefits of working at Cox may include health care insurance (medical, dental, vision), retirement planning (401(k)), and paid days off (sick leave, parental leave, flexible vacation/wellness days, and/or PTO). For more details on what benefits you may be offered, visit our benefits page. Cox is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer – All qualified applicants/employees will receive consideration for employment without regard to that individual’s age, race, color, religion or creed, national origin or ancestry, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, physical or mental disability, veteran status, genetic information, ethnicity, citizenship, or any other characteristic protected by law. Cox provides reasonable accommodations when requested by a qualified applicant or employee with disability, unless such accommodations would cause an undue hardship.

EOE, including disability/vets