Lead Software Engineer, CMS PlatformWe are looking for a Lead Software Engineer to drive the technical direction of our Content Management System platform at Paramount Streaming. This is a hands-on individual contributor leadership role - you will write production code, own architectural decisions, and raise the technical bar across a polyglot platform that powers content delivery for Paramount+, Pluto TV, and CBS.com across multiple regions.
You will lead a team of 2-5 engineers through influence, not authority. No direct reports - maximum technical impact.
ResponsibilitiesTechnical Leadership & Architecture- Serve as the established technical owner of one or more core CMS systems (API layer, integration services, search pipeline, or admin UI).
- Drive architectural decisions across the CMS platform, including API design, data modeling, event-driven integrations, and search infrastructure.
- Lead the design and implementation of scalable, robust services across a polyglot stack: Java/Spring Boot APIs, Next.js/React frontends, Python services, Kafka/PubSub messaging, and Solr search pipelines.
- Define and promote engineering best practices. This includes coding standards, design patterns, testing strategies, documentation, and AI-augmented workflows. Explain what team members do well and where they need supervision. Describe how we maintain code quality while increasing output.
- Identify, prioritize, and strategically reduce technical debt across the domain.
- Write and review RFCs, architecture decision records, and technical design documents for significant changes.
- Set the team's bar for AI-assisted development - including review standards for agent-generated PRs, prompt and context patterns (e.g., CLAUDE.md / agent instructions), and how we measure quality at higher delivery speed.
Delivery & Execution- Stay involved in coding. Write important production code. Run explorations to reduce risks in architecture decisions. Build prototypes. Help with high-impact features.
- Lead large projects and initiatives from conception through delivery - break down ambiguous, large-scale problems into actionable work.
- Coordinate rollouts and releases across multiple teams and services effectively.
- Partner with product managers, stakeholders, and other scrum teams to shape technical roadmaps that connect engineering work to business outcomes.
- Assess technical risk, make pragmatic trade-off decisions, and communicate them clearly.
Operational Excellence- Own end-to-end delivery: from design through production observability and reliability.
- Fulfill SLAs by participating in on-call rotation, leading incident resolution, conducting RCAs, and driving preventive improvements.
- Set a high bar for quality through automated testing, peer review, CI/CD pipelines, and observability (structured logging, metrics, alerting).
- Ensure platform reliability across multi-region deployments (US, International, Pluto TV).
Mentorship & Culture- Mentor and coach engineers through code reviews, design sessions, pairing, and architectural guidance - other engineers seek you out for this.
- Raise the technical bar for the entire team systematically, not just through individual contributions.
- Influence engineering culture: advocate for higher product quality, engineering efficiency, and continuous improvement.
- Help expand the team through interviewing candidates and onboarding new team members.
- Facilitate knowledge sharing across the team - tech talks, documentation, cross-training on system areas.
Cross-Functional Collaboration- Represent the engineering team in cross-functional planning with product, design, content operations, and SRE.
- Communicate technical concepts and trade-offs clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Work with other teams. Coordinate with teams that oversee nearby systems. This includes content ingestion, delivery, and editorial tools.
Motivational Fit- You view your teammates' success as your success and want to help them grow.
- You're inspired by building platforms that enable content producers to reach millions of viewers.
- You find satisfaction in thinking long-term, tackling the hardest problems, and building robust solutions.
- You thrive in ambiguity - you can define the approach when the problem itself is unclear.
- You take pride in leaving systems better than you found them.
QualificationsRequired- BS in Computer Science or related technical field, or equivalent useful experience.
- 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with 2+ years in a technical lead or senior engineering role.
- Proven track record of leading complex technical initiatives to successful completion.
- Solid proficiency in Java (17+) and Spring Boot - building RESTful APIs, data access layers, and microservices.
- Production experience with React and Next.js (or equivalent modern frontend frameworks) using TypeScript.
- Experience with Python for services, scripting, or data pipelines.
- Solid knowledge of relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL) - schema design, query optimization, and migration tooling (e.g., Liquibase, Flyway).
- Experience with message brokers and event-driven architecture - Apache Kafka, GCP Pub/Sub, or similar.
- Experience with search infrastructure - Apache Solr, Elasticsearch, or equivalent.
- Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (GCP or AWS) and containerized deployments (Docker, Kubernetes).
- Solid CI/CD experience - building and maintaining automated build, test, and deployment pipelines.
- Exemplary written and oral communication skills, with the ability to translate technical complexity for diverse audiences.
- Demonstrated ability to balance technical excellence with pragmatic delivery.
Preferred- Experience leading system migrations (monolith to microservices, legacy to modern stack).
- Knowledge of content management areas. Awareness of editorial workflows. Experience with media or streaming platforms.
- Experience with multi-region or multi-tenant architectures.
- Expertise in API design. This includes OpenAPI and Swagger. It also involves contract-first development and strategies for versioning.
- Infrastructure as code and deployment tooling (Helm, ArgoCD, Terraform).
- Observability and monitoring platforms (Grafana, Prometheus, Datadog, or similar).
- Experience with Redis (caching, RediSearch) and NoSQL data stores.
- OAuth2/OIDC authentication and authorization patterns.
- Experience with automated testing at scale - integration testing with TestContainers, E2E with Playwright or similar.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Hiring Salary Range: $164,640.00 - 246,960.00.
The hiring salary range for this position applies to New York, California, Colorado, Washington state, and most other geographies. Starting pay for the successful applicant depends on a variety of job-related factors, including but not limited to geographic location, market demands, experience, training, and education. The benefits available for this position include medical, dental, vision, 401(k) plan, life insurance coverage, disability benefits, tuition assistance program and PTO or, if applicable, as otherwise dictated by the appropriate Collective Bargaining Agreement. This position is bonus eligible.
What We Offer:- Attractive compensation and comprehensive benefits packages. Check out our full list of benefits here: https://www.paramount.com/careers/benefits
- Generous paid time off.
- An exciting and fulfilling opportunity to be part of one of Paramount's most dynamic teams.
- Opportunities for both on-site and virtual engagement events.
- Unique opportunities to make meaningful connections and build a vibrant community, both inside and outside the workplace.
- Explore life at Paramount: https://www.paramount.com/careers/life-at-paramount
