Lead Software Engineer (Merchandise)

Work Where You Matter

At Dollar General, our mission is Serving Others! We value each and every one of our employees. Whether you are looking to launch a new career in one of our many convenient Store locations, Distribution Centers, Store Support Center or with our Private Fleet Team, we are proud to provide a wide range of career opportunities. We are not just a retail company; we are a company that values the unique strengths and perspectives that each individual brings. Your difference truly makes a difference at Dollar General. How would you like to Serve? Join the Dollar General Journey and see how your career can thrive.

Company Overview

A Lead Software Engineer (LSE) is recognized as an expert in their strategic functional area and uses a systematic application of advanced technical knowledge to deliver software solutions using modern day technology stacks. The LSE leads large complex projects consisting of on-shore and off-shore resources, uses strong organizational and leadership skills to set and maintain efficient development progress, and defines all software components for large-scale systems with minimal oversight.

Job Details

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Designs changes to new and existing applications (35%)
• Develops and debugs software in support of new and existing applications (30%)
• Project leadership, cost estimation and task planning (20%)
• Mentors/coaches junior team members (10%)
• Provides support for production applications (24x7) (5%)

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs):

• Collaborate with decision makers, external vendors, and stakeholders to define complex business requirements.
• Demonstrate ability to communicate complex technical information in a condensed manner both verbally and in writing.
• Take initiative to contact stakeholders and research solutions when problems are encountered.
• Understanding of complex Retail and Technology concepts.
• Recognized expert in one strategic domain with advanced knowledge in at least one additional domain.
• Generate commitment and enthusiasm from others to set and achieve challenging goals and objectives.
• Experience leading teams and demonstrates a mastery in all aspects of software development activities.
• Assist in career development, staff mentoring and succession planning for engineers.
• Understand and implement architectural vision for performance, extensibility, and availability.
• Lead scope of work estimation, cost estimates, task planning, forecasting, scheduling, and staff requirements definitions.
• Lead complex technology initiatives including those that are companywide with broad impact.
• Conduct research and make recommendations on products, services, protocols, and standards in support of procurement and development efforts.
• Educate teams on technology changes applicable to their domain and how to apply them to their business area.
• Act as a key participant in developing standards and companywide best practices for engineering.
• Assign tasks to both on-shore and off-shore team members to leverage strengths or enhance knowledge.

Qualifications

Work Experience &/or Education:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field, trade school or equivalent work experience
• Ability to lead the design and integration of AI and LLM based solutions (agents, RAG, automation) within application architectures.
• Experience providing technical guidance on prompt design, model integration, and AI governance best practices.
• Experience modernizing legacy applications to cloud-native or microservices architectures
• Hands-on experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
• Extensive experience with CI/CD pipelines, telemetry/monitoring, and Kubernetes-based deployments
• Proficiency with source control, build and quality tools such as GitLab
• 7+ years of software development experience in an enterprise IT environment
• 5+ years of experience with a higher-level language (C, Java, Python)
• 5+ years of experience as a full stack Java developer
• 3+ years of hands-on development using PL/SQL, shell scripting
• 2+ years of experience with real time streaming platform (Kafka)
• 2+ years delivering software supporting Merchandising or retail-related applications