Staff Software Engineer - Enterprise Data Governance

Description
This role is categorized as hybrid. This means the successful candidate is expected to report to Warren, MI or Austin, TX three times per week, at minimum [or other frequency dictated by the business if more than 3 days].
The Role
The Enterprise Data Governance team is looking for a Level 8 Software Engineer to design, build, and operate enterprise-grade data governance and data platform capabilities. This role focuses on building robust, secure, and scalable services and UIs that enable data discovery, policy enforcement, lineage, and governance workflows across the enterprise.
You will work closely with product owners, data governance SMEs, data platform engineers, and security teams to deliver high-quality software that underpins our data governance strategy.
What You'll Do

• Design, develop, and maintain full-stack applications that support data governance capabilities (e.g., data catalogs, policy management, approvals, lineage views).
• Build and enhance React front-end applications using TypeScript and modern JavaScript patterns.
• Implement Python and Java backend services and APIs leveraging frameworks such as Django and Spring.
• Design, implement, and optimize relational data models with PostgreSQL and integrate with Cosmos DB where appropriate.
• Develop and maintain RESTful APIs used by internal services and UIs, ensuring reliability, security, and performance.
• Apply strong Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) practices, design patterns, and clean code principles across the stack.
• Build, test, and deploy services on Azure, leveraging managed services, containers, and PaaS capabilities where appropriate.
• Use GitHub for version control, code reviews, CI/CD workflows, and collaboration.
• Collaborate with architects, data engineers, and governance SMEs to translate functional and non-functional requirements into technical designs.
• Contribute to engineering best practices, coding standards, observability, and operational readiness.
• Participate in on-call and production support rotations as needed, troubleshooting and resolving issues in a timely manner.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, and learning.

Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications)

• 8+ years of hands-on experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or a related technical field; or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong proficiency in React for building complex, component-based front-end applications.
• Strong programming skills in Python and Java for backend/API development.
• Hands-on experience with PostgreSQL (schema design, query optimization, migrations).
• Professional experience building and operating solutions on Microsoft Azure.
• Proficiency with TypeScript and JavaScript in production systems.
• Hands-on experience with Django (or similar Python web frameworks) for API and service development.
• Hands-on experience with Spring (Spring Boot or related) for Java-based services.
• Strong understanding and practical use of Object-Oriented Programming concepts and design patterns.
• Experience designing and implementing REST APIs, including versioning, authentication/authorization, and documentation.
• Experience with Cosmos DB or equivalent cloud-native NoSQL/datastore technologies.
• Proficiency with GitHub for source control, branching strategies, pull requests, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Familiarity with secure coding practices, API security, secrets management, and identity/authorization patterns in the cloud.
• Relevant professional experience in software engineering, preferably in data platforms, data governance, or other enterprise platform domains.
• Experience operating in a large-scale, enterprise environment is a plus.
• Proven ability to deliver high-quality software in an agile environment.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to decompose complex requirements into iterative, deliverable increments.
• Effective communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a global, cross-functional team and handle multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

What Can Give You a Competitive Advantage (Preferred Qualifications)

• Background in Big Data ecosystems and data analytics platforms (e.g., data lakes, lakehouses, or large-scale data processing systems).
• Experience with Databricks platform and Databricks certifications.
• Hands-on experience with Apache Spark (PySpark or Scala/Java) for data processing and analytics workloads.
• Experience building or integrating with Agentic AI solutions, including:
  • Orchestrating tool-using agents or workflow-based AI systems.
  • Integrating LLM-based services into backend applications or UIs.
  • Applying AI to automate governance workflows, data quality checks, or metadata enrichment.
• Experience with data governance tooling (e.g., data catalogs, lineage tools, policy engines) or similar enterprise data management platforms.
• Familiarity with distributed systems concepts (scalability, resilience, consistency) and event-driven architectures.
• Experience with observability stacks (logging, metrics, tracing) and performance optimization in production environments.

This job may be eligible for relocation benefits.
Company Vehicle: Upon successful completion of a motor vehicle report review, you will be eligible to participate in a company vehicle evaluation program, through which you will be assigned a General Motors vehicle to drive and evaluate. Note: program participants are required to purchase/lease a qualifying GM vehicle every four years unless one of a limited number of exceptions applies.
Compensation:

• The expected base compensation for this role is: $160,200 - $220,500. Actual base compensation within the identified range will vary based on factors relevant to the position.
• Bonus Potential: An incentive pay program offers payouts based on company performance, job level, and individual performance.
• Benefits: GM offers a variety of health and wellbeing benefit programs. Benefit options include medical, dental, vision, Health Savings Account, Flexible Spending Accounts, retirement savings plan, sickness and accident benefits, life insurance, paid vacation & holidays, tuition assistance programs, employee assistance program, GM vehicle discounts and more.

GM DOES NOT PROVIDE IMMIGRATION-RELATED SPONSORSHIP FOR THIS ROLE. DO NOT APPLY FOR THIS ROLE IF YOU WILL NEED GM IMMIGRATION SPONSORSHIP NOW OR IN THE FUTURE. THIS INCLUDES DIRECT COMPANY SPONSORSHIP, ENTRY OF GM AS THE IMMIGRATION EMPLOYER OF RECORD ON A GOVERNMENT FORM, AND ANY WORK AUTHORIZATION REQUIRING A WRITTEN SUBMISSION OR OTHER IMMIGRATION SUPPORT FROM THE COMPANY (e.g., H-1B, OPT, STEM OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc.)
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