Lead software engineer: how to become one?

Significance of lead software engineers in the tech industry

According to the International Trade Administration, the US IT industry accounts for $1.4 trillion of the country’s value-added GDP. With over 229,536 US-based software engineering leads in more than 500,000 IT companies across the country, the efforts of individuals who inhabit this role are critical to the country’s long-term prosperity.

How lead engineers are shaping Shell’s digital initiatives

At Shell, we are leveraging digital innovations

such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, and automation to enhance operational efficiency and reduce emissions. Lead software engineers are instrumental in driving these digital initiatives, ensuring that Shell’s technology capabilities support our efforts to meet energy demand, strengthen system performance, and adapt to a changing digital landscape.

Understanding the role

The role of lead software engineer requires excellent programming skills and management responsibilities.

Definition of a lead software engineer

So, what is a lead software engineer?

A lead software engineer

is a senior engineer assigned to lead a team of engineers. Engineering leads oversee every stage of the software development lifecycle, having acquired the requisite advanced technical skills and project management know-how needed for the position.

How it differs from other software roles

The difference between a senior software engineer role and other IT positions lies in the scope of responsibility.

While a lead engineer must have the technical expertise required to engineer software projects, they also assume a leadership role. In addition to technical skills, they employ soft skills to manage individual team members and guide a project’s technical direction.

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Essential skills for a lead software engineer

Tech leads need hard and soft skills to fill lead software engineer jobs, act as project managers, and lead engineering teams.

Technical expertise required

As a tech lead at Shell, you’ll need the following technical skills to ensure the successful execution of your software projects:

• Deep Understanding of Coding Languages: Shell engineers code with React, Golang, Python, and other languages. You’ll need a firm grasp of many of them to perform code reviews and tests at every stage of the software development lifecycle.
• Project Management Software: You’ll use version control systems like Git and project management software like Trello. Git will help you keep track of changes to the code base, while Trello is useful for assigning and managing tasks.

Technical leadership in the above software and languages will aid the successful delivery of projects and training of non-technical staff. Learn more about how Shell uses citizen software development

programs to develop the careers of its existing staff.

These initiatives not only expand employee skillsets but also enhance Shell’s ability to respond to digital demands across our operations.

Leadership and management skills

Senior roles require employees to maintain coding standards, quality standards, and quality assurance practices. Also, a senior engineer in a lead role is responsible for updating non-technical stakeholders.

Thus, you’ll need soft skills to manage conversations with and expectations of team members and other stakeholders.

Importance of continuous learning

The information technology space evolves constantly. Senior engineers must keep updating their knowledge and expertise to stay marketable.

Learn new programming languages and processes to improve your technical skills and read books on leadership to develop your soft skills.

Educational pathways

There are several pathways to becoming a lead software engineer

. The most common ways include:

Academic background

You can get on the path to lead software engineer status by earning a computer science degree or an IT Bachelor of Science degree. Once you graduate from university, you can apply for available junior software engineer roles, become a senior engineer after three years, and fill a lead role when it opens up.

Alternatively, you can gain the necessary skills through coding bootcamps.

Additional certifications and training

If you’re already a software engineer, you can get certified in specialized software and coding languages to make yourself more qualified for a role as a lead engineer.

Gaining the necessary experience

To gain the knowledge and experience required to become a lead software engineer, aim to build a track record.

Early career steps

Start by knowing one technology intimately. That means gaining proficiency in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and their frameworks, and a back-end technology like one of the following:

• MERN - A tech stack that comprises MongoDB, Express, React.js, and Node.js.
• MEAN - Same as above, except you replace React.js with Angular.js.
• A Python, PHP, or Java tech stack

This coding knowledge will give you the hard skills required for consideration for a senior software engineer role.

Building diverse IT experience

In addition to being able to use multiple programming languages to create and ship software solutions, you can also gain experience in the following ways:

• Learning algorithms and data structures
• Writing documentation
• Debugging and software deployment

Ultimately, a knowledge of front-end and back-end software engineering processes will make you more qualified for the role.

Skills development at Shell

At Shell, we support the continuous growth and development of our information and digital engineering

teams.

We support employees in developing their technical and leadership skills through structured training programs and mentorship initiatives. While career growth depends on individual development and business needs, our teams have access to a range of learning resources designed to enhance their expertise:

Training and development programs

We have award-winning

training programs like our IT Upskilling and Lead for Team Leaders programs, which help employees build the leadership and technical skills necessary for a lead engineer role.

Mentoring and networking

Shell also offers global mentoring initiatives and leadership development programs designed to support career growth across our digital and engineering communities.

How to apply for a lead software engineer position at Shell

Here’s how to apply for a lead engineer position at Shell:

The application process

Visit our careers page to view the available roles

. You can filter the results by experience level.

If you find a role that aligns with your skills and experience, you can apply through the Shell My Workday Jobs portal. The selection process involves reviewing applications to identify candidates whose expertise best matches business needs.

Tips for a successful application

Follow these two tips when applying to increase your chances of a successful application:

1. Use Keywords: Include role-related keywords to optimize your application.
2. Provide Information: Be thorough when providing information. It will help hiring managers make informed decisions about your candidacy.

Also, double-check your application for grammatical and spelling mistakes before sending it out.

Ready to apply? View available roles

at Shell now.

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