About the Department

The mission of the South Carolina Department of Education is to serve students, support teachers, empower parents, and engage the community so that every student graduates prepared to reach their full potential.

Purpose of Position

The South Carolina Department of Education is seeking an accomplished Lead Software Engineer to serve as the senior hands-on technical contributor for a software development team within the Office of Information Technology. This role is crucial in delivering and modernizing the applications that support the Agency's mission, setting the technical standard through direct development work while providing technical direction and mentorship to a team of developers. The ideal candidate will have deep, current experience in full-stack software development, application architecture, cloud delivery on Microsoft Azure, and the modernization of legacy systems onto modern frameworks.

This position reports to the Director of Enterprise Application & Architecture.

Essential Functions

Software Design and Development (50%)

Design, build, test, deploy, and maintain production applications across the team's technology stack — full-stack modern web development using React and React Native on the frontend, Python on the backend, Azure SQL for data, and Microsoft Azure for hosting.
Own delivery of complex features and services end to end, from requirements and design through implementation, testing, deployment, and production support.
Write clean, well-tested, maintainable code and contribute to shared libraries, components, and patterns used across the team.
Diagnose and resolve production issues, including performance, reliability, and security defects.

Technical Design and Architecture (20%)

Lead technical design for new applications and significant enhancements; produce architecture, design, and integration documentation.
Make and document framework, pattern, and tooling decisions in coordination with the Director and the Infrastructure & Cloud Operations group.
Evaluate and prototype new technologies — including cloud-native Azure services, infrastructure-as-code (Bicep), and emerging tools — and apply them to agency needs.

Engineering Standards and Modernization (10%)

Establish and enforce code review discipline, coding standards, automated testing practices, and CI/CD workflows (GitLab, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps).
Lead migration of legacy applications, including ColdFusion, onto modern frameworks and the Azure platform.
Drive reduction of technical debt, vulnerability remediation, and production defect burn-down.

Technical Leadership and Mentorship (20%)

Provide day-to-day technical direction to the development team and remove blockers so developers can deliver.
Mentor and coach developers through pairing, code review, and design guidance, and support their technical growth.
Contribute to sprint planning, backlog refinement, and estimation, and help balance workload across the team.
Support the Director on technical strategy, technical hiring (screening and interviews), and onboarding of new developers.

This position is located in the Office of Information Technology.

Position Duties

A bachelor's degree in computer science or related field and experience in computer system development and modification in either an on-premises, cloud-based, or hybrid environment. Relevant experience may substitute for the bachelor's degree on a year-for-year basis.

Minimum Qualifications

A two (2) year technical degree in computer science, information technology, or a related field and work experience in software development, including the design, development, testing, and maintenance of applications. Relevant work experience may substitute for the degree on a year-for-year basis.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Five (5) or more years of professional full-stack software development experience, including recent hands-on production work at a senior level.
Track record leading the design and delivery of complex, user-facing applications across the full stack.
Technically proficient in modern frontend and backend development, with demonstrated depth in key languages and frameworks such as React, TypeScript, C#, and Python.
Experience designing and delivering applications on Microsoft Azure (Container Apps, App Service, Azure SQL, Entra ID), ideally using infrastructure-as-code (Bicep).
Experience establishing engineering standards, component architectures, and development best practices.
Product-focused approach to building solutions that are robust, scalable, and easy to use.
Demonstrated ability to provide technical leadership and mentorship to a team of developers, and to drive cross-team alignment through influence rather than formal authority.
Comfortable in fast-moving, evolving environments — including building applications from initial concept to production and navigating ambiguity to ship high-quality software.
Proficiency with source control and CI/CD tooling (GitLab, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps).
Experience modernizing legacy applications onto modern frameworks and cloud platforms.
Familiarity with Agile delivery, code review discipline, and automated testing.
Experience in state government, K–12 education, or a similarly regulated environment.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain technical decisions to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Other Qualifications

As a part of a generous compensation package, we offer comprehensive benefits that include generous paid time off, preeminent health care benefits, professional development opportunities, pension, and 401(k).

The South Carolina Department of Education offers an exceptional benefits package that includes:

Health, Dental, Vision, Long Term Disability, and Life Insurance for Employee, Spouse, and Children.
15 days annual (vacation) leave per year.
15 days sick leave per year.
13 paid holidays.
State Retirement Plan and Deferred Compensation Programs

ONLY THOSE APPLICANTS CHOSEN FOR AN INTERVIEW WILL BE NOTIFIED BY LETTER THAT THE POSITION HAS BEEN FILLED.

http://www.ed.sc.gov/jobs/human-resources/title-ix-nondiscrimination/

Benefits

Benefits for State Employees

The state of South Carolina offers eligible employees generous benefits, including health and dental insurance; retirement and savings plan options; and paid vacation and sick leave. Plus, work-life balance programs such as telecommuting and flexible work schedules are available to employees of some state agencies.

Insurance Benefits
Eligible employees may enroll in health insurance, which includes prescription coverage and wellness benefits. Other available insurance benefits include dental, vision, term life insurance, long term disability and flexible spending accounts for health and child care expenses.

Retirement Benefits
State employees are also offered retirement plan options, including defined benefit and defined contribution plans. Additionally, eligible employees may elect to participate in the South Carolina Deferred Compensation Program, which is a voluntary, supplemental retirement savings plan offering 401(k) and 457 plan options.

Workplace Benefits
State employees may also be eligible for other benefits, including tuition assistance; holiday, annual and sick leave; and discounts on purchases, travel and more.

Note: The benefits above are available to most state employees, with the exception of those in temporary positions. Employees in temporary grant and time-limited positions may be eligible for all, some or none of these benefits as benefits are associated with each position type. For these positions, contact the hiring agency to determine what benefits may be available.

Supplemental Questions

Supplemental questions are considered part of your official application. Any misrepresentation will result in your disqualification from employment. Please complete the state application to include all current and previous work history and education. A resume will not be accepted or reviewed in lieu of the application. I have read and acknowledge the above statement.

I understand that a criminal record investigation will be conducted prior to employment being offered by the South Carolina Department of Education. My personal identifying information will be processed through the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED).

Do you have a bachelor's degree in computer science or related field?

Do you have at least five (5) or more years of professional full-stack software development experience, including recent hands-on production work at a senior level?

How did you hear about this position?

Careers.sc.gov
Indeed.com
Social Media/Advertising
LinkedIn
Other (Please specify below)

If you answered “other” in the question above, please specify where you heard about this position below.

Required Question

Agency Information

Employer: State of South Carolina
Agency: Department of Education
Address: 849 Learning Lane

West Columbia, South Carolina, 29172
Phone: 803-734-8505

Lead Software Engineer (Application Developer III) - 61161323

Job description