Lead Software Engineer

Caterpillar

Confirmed live today High trust
Closes in 7 days

Quick summary

Work type
On-site
Location
Chicago, IL
Salary
$128,470–$208,770 / yr
Posted
2 days ago
Freshness
Confirmed live today
Closes
Oct 11, 2026 (soon)

Market check

Salary context

Competitive pay

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $176k
This role $169k
$116k most similar roles pay here $243k

This role pays less than 61% of similar roles. Most pay $142,450–$208,800 — the shaded band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $169k versus about $176k for comparable roles.

Based on 240 similar postings.

Employer

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc. is the world''s largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. Industry: Heavy Equipment & Manufacturing

Caterpillar currently has 157 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $118,860–$183,140 across 148 roles with salary data.

Most-posted roles

View all roles at Caterpillar

At a glance

TL;DR · Lead Software Engineer

As a Lead Software Engineer within the Cat Digital Platform team, you will provide technical leadership to build scalable, secure cloud solutions that facilitate the flow of data and services between customers, dealers, machines, and applications. You will lead the design and development of enterprise-scale REST APIs and microservices using Java 21+, Spring Boot, and AWS services while defining OpenAPI specifications and managing security via OAuth 2.0 and JWT. Your daily work involves translating business requirements into technical designs, conducting code reviews, and overseeing the end-to-end software lifecycle including CI/CD pipelines and automated testing with JUnit and Mockito. You will utilize technologies such as Apigee, Kafka, RabbitMQ, and various database systems like PostgreSQL and MongoDB to solve complex integration challenges within an Agile framework while ensuring high reliability and observability for critical digital infrastructure.

What you'll do

  • Design and develop enterprise-scale REST APIs and microservices using Java, Spring Boot, and AWS cloud services.
  • Build API-first solutions including service contracts, payload schemas, and OpenAPI/Swagger specifications.
  • Implement secure service integrations using OAuth 2.0, JWT, and enterprise authorization models.
  • Translate business requirements into technical designs, user stories, and implementation plans.
  • Lead design reviews, code reviews, and the adoption of engineering best practices for reliability and security.
  • Drive quality engineering through automated testing, performance testing, and operational excellence.
  • Resolve complex production issues and manage the end-to-end software lifecycle including deployment and monitoring.

What we're looking for

  • Knowledge of software development tools and activities to produce products in line with requirements.
  • Ability to convert market requirements into software product designs.
  • Proficiency in decision-making, critical thinking, and effective communication techniques.
  • Extensive experience developing RESTful APIs and microservices using Java 21+ and Spring Boot (preferred).
  • Experience designing, deploying, and operating applications in public cloud environments like AWS, Azure, or GCP (preferred).
  • Proven ability to own the end-to-end software lifecycle including automated testing with JUnit and Mockito (preferred).
  • Experience designing Event-Driven Architectures using message streaming solutions such as Kafka or RabbitMQ (preferred).
  • Knowledge of various database technologies including relational, NoSQL, caching, search, and vector databases (preferred).

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