Software Engineer I - Data Center Engineering

About Us

Johnson Controls is a global leader in smart, healthy, and sustainable buildings. Our mission is to reimagine the performance of buildings to serve people, places, and the planet. We enable you to build your best future through meaningful work projects, learning opportunities, and a company culture focused on physical, financial, and emotional wellbeing.

About the Role

Johnson Controls is building the next generation of intelligent building systems for hyperscale data centers. This role sits inside our Data Center Controls Innovation Engineering team at our Controls Product Development Center in Glendale, WI. You'll collaborate in a lab and software environment, working alongside experienced engineers on middleware platforms, web applications, and building automation systems deployed in critical infrastructure globally.

This position is 100% on-site at our new Controls Product Development Center and Lab in Glendale, WI, with up to 20% travel.

Responsibilities

• Design and build full-stack features across the entire application layer: RESTful APIs, middleware services, and responsive web UIs.
• Write clean, maintainable code in modern JavaScript/TypeScript (React, Node.js) and Python for backend services and data pipelines.
• Develop and maintain middleware integrations between building automation systems, IoT field devices, and cloud platforms.
• Build dashboards and data visualization tools that surface real-time and historical data center telemetry to operators and engineers.
• Collaborate with embedded and controls engineers to define APIs and data contracts between device firmware and software layers.
• Participate in code reviews, write unit and integration tests, and support CI/CD pipelines.
• Track development tasks and workflows in JIRA, keeping features visible and shipping on schedule.
• Build and present technical designs, sprint demos, and status updates for engineering and project stakeholders.
• Collaborate with cross-functional and global engineering teams to hit project milestones.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• 0 to 5 years of professional or internship experience; new graduates are welcome.
• Proficiency in JavaScript or TypeScript with hands-on experience in a modern frontend framework (React preferred).
• Experience building and consuming RESTful APIs and working with backend frameworks (Node.js, Python/Flask, or similar).
• Solid understanding of web fundamentals: HTML, CSS, HTTP, and browser rendering.
• Familiarity with relational or time-series databases and writing queries (SQL, InfluxDB, or similar).
• Basic experience with containerization and deployment tooling (Docker, CI/CD pipelines).
• Comfortable working in a Linux/Unix environment and using Git for version control.
• Strong problem-solving instincts; ability to dig into issues across the stack.
• Organized and clear communicator; ability to write concise technical summaries and present them.
• Proficient with standard engineering and project tools: JIRA, Confluence, or equivalent.
• Must be authorized to work in the U.S.; no sponsorship available.
• Must be able to work 100% on-site in Glendale, WI; up to 20% travel.

Preferred Qualifications

• Exposure to MQTT, WebSockets, or other real-time data protocols used in IoT or industrial systems.
• Experience with embedded systems.
• Familiarity with C/C++ and/or Rust.
• Familiarity with data center infrastructure, HVAC systems, or Building Automation Systems (BAS).
• Experience integrating with third-party hardware APIs or industrial protocols (BACnet, Modbus, OPC-UA).
• Exposure to cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and serverless or microservices architectures.
• Experience working with cross-functional or globally distributed engineering teams.
• An eye for the business context behind engineering decisions.

Benefits

• Competitive salary.
• Paid vacation, holidays, and sick time.
• Comprehensive benefits package including 401K, medical, dental, and vision care.
• On-the-job and cross-training opportunities.
• Encouraging and collaborative team environment.
• Dedication to safety through our Zero Harm policy.

Pay

Salary range: $67,900 - $85,000 (determined by education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and market alignment). This role offers a competitive bonus plan based on individual, group, and corporate performance.