Senior Staff Technical Lead - AI

Octane® is revolutionizing recreational purchases by delivering a seamless, end-to-end digital buying experience. We connect people with their passions by combining cutting-edge technology and innovative risk strategies to make lifestyle purchases - like powersports vehicles, RVs, and OPE - fast, easy, and accessible.

Octane adds value throughout the customer journey: inspiring enthusiasts with our editorial brands, including Cycle World® and UTV Driver®, instantly prequalifying consumers for financing online, routing customers to dealerships for an easy closing, and supporting customers throughout their loan with superior loan servicing.

Founded in 2014, we’re a company with 550+ employees and over 30 OEM and 4,000 dealer partners.

Octane is currently hiring a Senior Staff Technical Lead to join our AI and Data Engineering team. This role is for an experienced Engineer who will guide the design and implementation of scalable cloud-based systems using AWS, Python, AI models, LLMs, Vector Databases, and microservices. You will mentor engineers, influence technical strategy, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to align engineering efforts with business goals. With deep expertise in cloud infrastructure, AI systems, and complex data ecosystems, you'll ensure the delivery of high-quality, high-performance solutions while championing best practices across teams. Your leadership will foster a culture of continuous improvement, driving innovation and technical excellence. This position requires strong technical expertise, leadership skills, and the ability to navigate complex challenges while maintaining a hands-on approach to critical projects.

Responsibilities: 

• Serve as a hands-on technical leader, guiding the design and implementation of scalable cloud-based systems, primarily using AWS, Python, React, and microservices architectures.
• Mentor and uplift engineers and technical leaders within the organization, providing guidance on design, code quality, testing, debugging, and best practices to ensure the successful delivery of technical projects.
• Influence and collaborate with cross-functional teams, including tech leads and TPMs, to drive engineering priorities and align roadmaps to meet business goals. Continuously adjust technical strategies to accommodate evolving business needs.
• Operate through technical leaders to ensure that projects are delivered on time and that team morale is maintained, balancing technical excellence with accelerated business outcomes.
• Act as the gatekeeper and champion for engineering best practices, working closely with senior staff engineers to adapt and refine processes as necessary, ensuring consistency and quality across teams.
• Play a critical role in code reviews, architecture decisions, and major technical challenges, stepping in to support or backup tech leads and TPMs as needed.
• Set the standard for high-performance and scalable solutions by contributing to system design, coding, and troubleshooting complex issues in distributed systems and relational databases.
• Foster a collaborative, high-performing engineering culture by driving knowledge sharing, innovation, and technical excellence across teams. Your influence extends to multiple engineering directors, shaping the technical strategy and execution at various levels of the organization.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience in software engineering roles, with deep expertise in designing and deploying scalable systems in AWS environments.
• Proficiency in Python for backend development and React for building modern, user-friendly front-end applications.
• Advanced experience with CI/CD pipelines and tools for automating the build, test, and deployment processes.
• Strong understanding of microservices architectures, relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL), and containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).
• Strong understanding of AI/ML and GenAI capabilities is a must have skill and proven deployment of the technologies will be required.
• Understanding of common Vector Databases and data embeddings are required.
• Proven ability to influence and mentor technical leaders and engineers, fostering continuous improvement and technical excellence.
• Experience with infrastructure as code tools such as Terraform or CloudFormation to automate and manage cloud resources.
• Familiarity with advanced security practices in cloud environments, including encryption, IAM roles, and secure data handling.
• Expertise in Agile methodologies and project management tools such as Jira, with a focus on delivering high-quality projects on time.
• Experience driving collaboration between engineering and non-technical teams, influencing roadmaps, and aligning technical goals with business objectives.

Benefits:

• Robust Health Care Plans (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Generous Parental Leave
• Up to 5 weeks time off (self-managed)
• Retirement Plan (401k) with company match!
• Educational Assistance/Tuition Reimbursement up to $3K/year 
• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Short Term / Long Term Disability
• Robust Ancillary benefits including accident insurance, hospital insurance, etc
• Wellhub (Gympass) Wellness Benefit
• Powersports Safety Benefit

Disclaimer:  The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by associates assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified.  All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.

Octane Lending is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or any other protected status with respect to recruitment, hiring, promotion and other terms and conditions of employment.

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