Software Engineer Lead (Hybrid)

About the role

Build the platform that transforms how an entire industry creates its data. Millions of complex, unstructured documents flow through the American real estate industry every year — and the systems that turn them into usable data haven’t fundamentally changed in decades. First American Data & Analytics is building the AI-powered platform that replaces them — from the ground up.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical delivery of the full-stack platform — frontend, backend, data infrastructure, AI-integrated workflows.
• Set architecture patterns, connect the pieces, and ensure the team ships reliably.
• Bring operational fluency to system design — partner with program leadership and operational teams to understand workflows, identify gaps, and translate that into software that transforms how work gets done.
• Design and build the data layer — production schemas that track every field from raw document extraction through derivation and normalization, with full audit trail. Configuration-driven, so changes propagate without code rewrites.
• Integrate AI/ML workflows — structured LLM output, model serving, provenance tracking, evaluation infrastructure, and feedback loops that drive continuous improvement.

Requirements

• 8+ years of software engineering experience with progressive technical leadership.
• Deep database design — relational schema architecture, migrations, indexing, SQL fluency. PostgreSQL preferred.
• Full-stack development — strong backend (Python/FastAPI or equivalent), frontend (React, NextJS preferred, or equivalent).
• AI/ML integration experience — you build the production systems around models: serving endpoints, workflow orchestration, structured LLM output, confidence scoring.
• Document processing or OCR pipelines — layout analysis, structured text extraction, document understanding. The extraction pipeline starts with a layout parser.
• Workflow system design — claim/lock patterns, status transitions, multi-stage review.
• Cross-functional and distributed team leadership — you’ve driven delivery across time zones, functions, and skill sets. You plan and manage delivery with PMs, BAs, and stakeholders.
• Cloud platform experience — GCP preferred (Cloud SQL, Cloud Run, BigQuery). AWS or Azure transfers.
• Comfortable coordinating with enterprise infrastructure, network, and security teams.
• Bachelor’s degree in CS or related field, or equivalent experience.

Qualifications

• Agentic AI experience — designing or building multi-step AI workflows where models plan, execute, and evaluate autonomously.
• UI component libraries and state management — MaterialUI (or similar design system), Redux, Zustand, or equivalent.
• Containerization — Docker, Kubernetes, or similar.
• Observability — OpenTelemetry, structured logging, drift detection.
• LLM orchestration or RAG architecture — LangChain, vector databases, or similar. You don’t need to check every box. If this role excites you and you bring most of what’s listed above, we want to hear from you.

Skills

• Builder’s mindset — energized by new problems where no playbook exists.
• Deeply AI-fluent — you use AI tools daily to accelerate your work and push those around you to do the same.
• Operationally fluent — you sit in workflow reviews, absorb the domain, ask the right questions, and translate what you learn into system design. You make complex technical work legible to non-technical teammates.
• Ownership — you see the gap, scope the solution, and ship it.
• Curious and always learning — you stay current not because you’re told to, but because you can’t help it.
• Strategic and scalable thinker — you evaluate trade-offs and choose approaches that scale and last.
• Mentor by default — you make the people around you better through code review, architecture discussions, and explaining your reasoning out loud.

Benefits

• Health, Dental, Vision, 401K Match.
• $172,900 - $198,750 Annually plus annual performance bonus.

Pay

• Compensation: $172,900 - $198,750 Annually plus annual performance bonus.

Schedule

• Hybrid: 3 days/week on-site, Santa Ana, CA.