Senior Software Engineer

Location:

Austin, United States of America

Thales people architect identity management and data protection solutions at the heart of digital security. Business and governments rely on us to bring trust to the billions of digital interactions they have with people. Our technologies and services help banks exchange funds, people cross borders, energy become smarter and much more. More than 30,000 organizations already rely on us to verify the identities of people and things, grant access to digital services, analyze vast quantities of information and encrypt data to make the connected world more secure.

Austin, Hybrid

We are seeking a highly experienced Senior Software Engineer to join Thales in Austin, TX, serving as a senior technical leader in the design, evolution, and governance of core software products supporting state and law enforcement agencies. This role provides hands on technical leadership, combining active software development with ownership of baseline and reference software solutions that underpin multiple customer programs and serve as the foundation for project delivery across the organization.

Operating as a recognized technical expert, the Software Engineer leads the definition of complex software architectures, establishes engineering standards, and drives technical decision-making for mission-critical, secure, and scalable systems. The role influences technical direction by guiding design approaches, resolving high-impact technical challenges, and ensuring alignment with long-term product and platform strategies.

In close collaboration with engineering leadership, program stakeholders and technical board, this role shapes innovation within core products, anticipates emerging technical and security needs, and ensures solutions meet stringent performance, reliability, and regulatory requirements. While remaining hands-on, the Software Engineer leads and develops core products that provide reusable foundations prioritizing simplicity and extensibility to enable project specific capabilities without adding unnecessary complexity.

Regulatory Compliance Requirements

Must have U.S. Citizenship to obtain the post-hire Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Clearance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and must be able to obtain post-hire clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investments in the U.S. (CFIUS) and Department of Treasury.

Key Areas of Responsibility

• Provide technical leadership across cross-functional teams to define, design, and evolve complex software solutions for law enforcement products, primarily within cloud-based environments.
• Lead the full software development lifecycle at a systems and architecture level, guiding requirements analysis, solution design, implementation approaches, validation strategies, and long-term maintainability of core products.
• Deploy, configure, and validate core products and solutions in cloud environments, ensuring alignment with architectural guidelines and operational requirements
• Define and enforce engineering best practices, coding standards, and design patterns to ensure the delivery of secure, scalable, and high-quality software across multiple projects and teams.
• Drive resolution of complex, high-impact technical issues, including performance, scalability, and reliability challenges, performing root-cause analysis and defining sustainable corrective actions.
• Continuously evaluate emerging technologies, tools, and industry trends, recommending and driving adoption where appropriate to advance product capabilities, security posture, and development efficiency.
• Partner with engineering leadership, and project design authority team to translate business, customer, and regulatory requirements into coherent technical architectures and implementation strategies.
• Lead and influence technical reviews with the technical board, including architecture and code reviews, providing expert guidance and decision-making to ensure consistency, quality, and long-term product health.
• Establish and maintain authoritative technical documentation, including architecture descriptions, reference designs, and technical standards, to support product scalability and knowledge transfer across teams.
• Operate as a recognized technical expert, collaborating with Software Engineers and Architects to guide technical direction while remaining hands-on.
• Provide technical leadership and subject-matter expertise in sales and bid activities, shaping solution architectures, assessing feasibility and risk, and contributing to competitive, compliant proposals.
• Perform additional responsibilities consistent with the scope and expectations of a senior technical leadership role.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field (or foreign equivalent).
• 9+ years of progressively responsible experience in software engineering, demonstrating expert-level application of software engineering principles, system design, and…