Python Developer Lead

Python Developer Lead

Location: Remote within the United States; must work Central Time hours.

Duration: 12-month contract with the potential for conversion to permanent employment after six months

Start Date: ASAP

Position Overview

We are seeking a hands-on Lead Software Engineer to guide technical delivery for our Investments team. This role combines software development, architectural decision-making, mentorship, and stakeholder collaboration, with a primary focus on Python, Apache Airflow, dbt, and Snowflake.

The ideal candidate can translate business needs into scalable technical solutions, explain architectural trade-offs, and lead a small development team while actively contributing to development. You will help establish engineering standards, improve application quality, and support the team’s evolving cloud deployment capabilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, testing, deployment, and support of applications, APIs, and data workflows using Python, Airflow, dbt, and Snowflake.
• Provide technical direction and hands-on development support throughout the software development lifecycle.
• Oversee development quality, delivery timelines, technical dependencies, and project risks.
• Partner with product and business stakeholders to clarify requirements, evaluate solutions, and communicate technical decisions and trade-offs.
• Coach and mentor developers, fostering collaboration, accountability, and continuous learning.
• Promote architectural standards and engineering best practices, including test-driven development, containerization, and maintainable code.
• Identify opportunities to improve the reliability, performance, and quality of supported systems.
• Support the team’s progression toward greater ownership of cloud deployments.
• Where applicable, supervise a small team of up to four employees and support their performance and development.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent practical experience.
• At least eight years of software development experience.
• Strong hands-on experience with Python, Apache Airflow, dbt, and Snowflake.
• Experience developing and supporting API-based applications and data workflows.
• Broad understanding of full-stack development, including frontend frameworks, databases, and deployment practices.
• Proficiency in test-driven development and containerization.
• Experience working with multiple database technologies.
• Demonstrated ability to lead small engineering teams or technical projects while remaining hands-on.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to evaluate complex technical options.
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to explain architecture, technical trade-offs, and decisions to technical and nontechnical stakeholders.
• Ability to learn new technologies quickly and collaborate effectively with a distributed team.
• Availability to work Central Time hours.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with AWS, particularly cloud deployment practices; experience with GCP or other cloud platforms is also valuable.
• Experience with Retool.
• Experience using GitHub Copilot or similar AI-assisted development tools.
• Knowledge of insurance or reinsurance.
• Familiarity with additional technologies such as JavaScript, Java, Groovy, Go, C#/.NET, or Node.js.
• Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, relational and NoSQL databases, Terraform, Ansible, or shell scripting.
• Master’s degree and/or LOMA certification.