Lead Software Engineer - Technical Track

Job Description We have an exciting   opportunity for   a   Lead Software Engineer   at   UL Research Institutes , within our Digital Safety Research Institute (DSRI) . Th is is   a REMOTE opportunity  

The   Lead Software Engineer   is a major contributor   to   the development and maintenance of complex software systems of Digital Safety. The Lead Software Engineer   provides   technical guidance, mentorship, and leadership to the team while collaborating with stakeholders to deliver high-quality software solutions.  

 

UL   Research Institute s:  

At   UL Research Institutes   (ULRI) ,   we   expand the boundaries of safety science to   create a more secure and sustainable world. For   more than   a century, we have studied the unintended consequences of innovation, designed solutions to mitigate   risk   and shared our findings with academia, scientists, manufacturers, and policymakers across industries.   We   identify   critical safety and sustainability issues, asking   tough   questions because we believe a safer world begins with knowledge.  

Build a safer, more secure, and sustainable future with us.   Join us and work with our Fire Safety   team s   who conduct the research   required   to produce that knowledge   and   put it   into   practice.  

Digital Safety Research Institute:  

The Digital Safety Research Institute (DSRI) addresses unresolved safety risks and emerging dangers in the world’s digital ecosystem. We aim to help protect people from unwanted access to personal devices and privacy,   algorithms , and disinformation threats by working to create a new digital safety ecosystem.  

DSRI is committed to sharing digital safety insights, collaborating with key stakeholders, and offering extensive outreach and education to help support safer digital environments for people everywhere.  

What   you’ll   learn   and   achieve:  

As the   Lead Software   Engineer,  you   will play a key role in the rapid growth of   UL   as you:  

Lead, define, and develop full-stack software systems and platforms that enable large-scale research, evaluation, and dissemination of safety insights  

Implement service boundaries, data model evolution, integration patterns between our platforms, and the pipelines and evaluation frameworks they feed  

Set technical direction across projects, aligning architecture and data frameworks with DSRI’s evolving research priorities and the broader AI evaluation ecosystem  

Iterative design of complex, ambiguous, cross-cutting systems where the problem   isn’t   fully understood  

Ensure consistency in engineering practices and set the standard for AI-assisted engineering on the team, including the use of Claude Code on large refactors, greenfield work, and adopted code from external organizations; developing patterns and documentation to accelerate software engineering.  

Provide feedback to teams using AI coding tools in a dangerous, inappropriate, or inefficient way.  

Provide guidance and informal mentorship to junior engineers to support skill development and knowledge sharing.  

Foster a collaborative and positive work environment, promote knowledge sharing and professional growth within the team.  

Assist   in hiring, onboarding, and training new software engineers, ensuring a smooth integration into the team.  

Represent technical work across the organization and in select external settings  

Contribute to and/or lead other department specific and cross-functional initiatives.  

What makes you a great fit:  

While no one candidate will embody every quality, the successful candidate will bring many of the following professional competencies and personal attributes :  

Deep expertise in software engineering, applied across the systems that support research and data-driven analysis (i.e., React in production at meaningful scale or complexity, Python services, async patterns, careful data handling, sensible API design, PostgreSQL, designing and implementing complex data structures, and working knowledge of the systems layer underneath, including containers, deployment, and observability).  

Architectural judgment built on   real experience   (i.e., able to make choices from experience and articulate trade-offs, and able to know when not to introduce a new service, abstraction, or dependency).  

Sophisticated use of AI coding tools, including integrating Claude Code or similar tools into substantial, non-trivial work and the ability to structure context, decompose problems, review generated code, and recover when the tools do not function properly.  

Track record   of technical leadership without formal authority, with experience raising the level of teams through what you build and how you work.  

Clear, direct written communication and the ability to translate complex technical work for varied audiences (i.e., design documents, RFCs, post-mortems, asynchronous code reviews, and internal and external presentations).  

Genuine interest in AI safety, test & evaluation, or one of specific harm domains (e.g., synthetic media, chatbot safety  

Professional education and experience requirements for the role include:  

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, or equivalent combination of education and experience. Master’s degree preferred.  

Minimum 8 years of experience in software development, with a focus on platform security and   proficiency   in multiple programming languages and frameworks.  

Experience deploying several complex software products and   understands   the nuances of the software development life cycle.  

About   UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement  

UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement   are   nonprofit organization s   dedicated to advancing safety science research through the discovery and application of scientific knowledge. We conduct rigorous independent research and analyze safety data,   convene   experts worldwide to address risks, share knowledge through safety education and public outreach initiatives, and develop standards to guide safe commercialization of evolving technologies. We foster communities of safety, from grassroots initiatives for neighborhoods to summits of world leaders. Our organization employs collaborative and scientific approaches with partners and stakeholders to drive innovation and progress toward improving safety, security, and sustainability,   ultimately enhancing   societal well-being.   

To learn more, visit   our websites   UL.org   and   ULSE.org .   

 

Salary Range: $131,186.31-$180,381.17 Pay Type: Salary