Lead and own the engineering function: make architecture and release decisions, mentor backend engineers, respond to P0/P1 incidents and author RCAs, perform hands-on backend work (including ActiveMQ→SQS migration), monitor via DataDog/CloudWatch/X‑Ray, optimize infrastructure costs, maintain Confluence runbooks, and own DMS/OEM integrations and SOC 2/PCI-DSS engineering responsibilities.
We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer to grow into full ownership of our engineering function. You'll work directly alongside our current engineering leader — learning the codebase, the systems, the integrations, and the team — until you can run everything independently. This is a genuine succession track: we want someone who can step into the seat at any moment, not eventually.
Day to day you'll carry real ownership — architecture decisions, release authority, backend work, incident response — while building the institutional knowledge to be fully self-sufficient. No ramp period is permanent; readiness is the milestone.
Key Responsibilities
Senior Software Engineering Leadership
- Develop independent judgment on prioritization and architecture.
- Lead and coordinate backend engineers — assignments, sprint reviews, PR approvals, and technical mentorship.
- Share go/no-go authority for production deployments; make hotfix vs. queue calls jointly with QA.
- Build working knowledge of every product area: Glovebox, MPI, PromisePay, scheduler, OEM feeds, reporting.
Hands-On Backend Work
- Stay active in the codebase — reviewing PRs, diagnosing production issues, and shipping fixes directly when needed.
- Own queue architecture work: the ongoing ActiveMQ → SQS migration, consumer management, and backlog triage.
- Monitor and respond to application-layer health via DataDog, CloudWatch, and AWS X-Ray.
- Identify and lead infrastructure cost-reduction initiatives (DocumentDB ReadIOPS, Lambda efficiency, etc.).
DMS & OEM Integrations
- Become the internal expert on DMS integrations: Reynolds & Reynolds, CDK, DealerTrack, DealerBuilt, AutoSoft, AutoMate, Dominion, and more.
- Own engineering for OEM data pipelines — Toyota/Lexus TMNA feeds, Honda/Acura programs, Mazda, Ford GUDB, Hyundai/Genesis SLT, Kia, Audi/VW/BMW monthly reports.
- Provide technical guidance to Support and Customer Success on DMS-specific issues and integration edge cases.
Incident Response & Escalation
- Serve as a primary escalation point for P0/P1 incidents — respond, contain, communicate, and document.
- Author RCAs following significant production events.
- Maintain runbook documentation in Confluence; keep escalation contacts current.
Security & Compliance
- Own application-layer security: code-level vulnerability remediation, SAST findings, dependency management, and repo access.
- Serve as the engineering point of contact in SOC 2 and PCI-DSS audits.
- Coordinate with IT and SRE on cross-functional security policies.
About
UpdatePromise does more than create industry changing products. It is a place to explore potential, obliterate boundaries and push out the edges of what can be. The company looks for people who can grow, think, dream, innovate and create. Our culture thrives by embracing diversity and rewarding imagination. We seek achievers, leaders and visionaries. At UpdatePromise it’s about each person bringing skills and passion to a challenging and constantly evolving world of technology.UpdatePromise is a technology company. From our flagship Auto-Body Review product that changed an industry, to our full suite of products geared towards communication and automation, managing big data and providing leading edge engineering and systems support, our teams at UpdatePromise exist to revolutionize the future at the confluence of tech and communication. We invest and develop advances in technology and employ the most creative people in the world, and then give them the support to constantly innovate, iterate and serve consumers more directly and personally. Our teams are innovative, diverse, multidisciplinary and collaborative, taking technology into the future and bringing the world with it.
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