Lead Software Engineer (Python, Vector Databases, AWS)
As a Lead Software Engineer, you will build the data infrastructure layer that powers Capital One's AI-driven content management capabilities. You will own the Content Hub — our vector and graph database platform for semantic content retrieval — including the embedding pipelines, knowledge graph schema, and indexing infrastructure that enable AI models to retrieve the right content, rules, and context at generation time.
What You’ll Do:
Design and build the Content Hub - vector database and graph database infrastructure for semantic retrieval. Own the indexing pipeline, query layer, and integration with AI content generation platform.
Build and operate embedding pipelines, generate embeddings, manage chunking strategies, and handle index refresh as content evolves.
Own embedding model selection and refresh strategy — evaluate tradeoffs between embedding model quality and operational cost; design refresh pipelines that keep the index current as the underlying content corpora changes.
Lead a portfolio of diverse technology projects and a team of developers with deep experience in distributed microservices, and full stack systems to create solutions that help meet regulatory needs for the company
Share your passion for staying on top of tech trends, experimenting with and learning new technologies, participating in internal & external technology communities, mentoring other members of the engineering community, and from time to time, be asked to code or evaluate code
Collaborate with digital product managers, and deliver robust cloud-based solutions that drive powerful experiences to help millions of Americans achieve financial empowerment
Utilize programming languages like JavaScript, Java, HTML/CSS, TypeScript, SQL, Python, and Go, Open Source RDBMS and NoSQL databases, Container Orchestration services including Docker and Kubernetes, and a variety of AWS tools and services
Basic Qualifications:
Bachelor’s Degree
At least 4 years of experience in software engineering (Internship experience does not apply)
At least 1 year experience with cloud computing (AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud)
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience with data infrastructure, search systems, or AI/ML engineering
Experience working with vector databases or embedding-based search
Experience working with data pipeline engineering — ingestion, transformation, chunking, and indexing at scale; familiarity with batch and streaming pipeline patterns
Experience with Python for data pipeline and backend service development
Experience with RAG architecture
2+ years of experience in Agile practices
Experience leveraging interactive AI tooling to accelerate productivity, utilizing capabilities beyond basic code completion
At this time, Capital One will not sponsor a new applicant for employment authorization, or offer any immigration related support for this position (e.g. H1B, F-1 OPT, F-1 STEM OPT, F-1 CPT, J-1, TN, E-3, and O-1, or any other forms of work authorization that require immigration support from an employer).
The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount Capital One is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked.
McLean, VA: $197,300 - $225,100 for Lead Software EngineerRichmond, VA: $179,400 - $204,700 for Lead Software Engineer
Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter.
This role is also eligible to earn performance based incentive compensation, which may include cash bonus(es) and/or long term incentives (LTI). Incentives could be discretionary or non discretionary depending on the plan.
Capital One offers a comprehensive, competitive, and inclusive set of health, financial and other benefits that support your total well-being. Learn more at the Capital One Careers website. Eligibility varies based on full or part-time status, exempt or non-exempt status, and management level.
This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days.