Lead Software Engineer

Appian
tuition reimbursement
United States, Virginia, McLean
Jun 30, 2025
Here at Appian, our core values of Respect, Work to Impact, Ambition, and Constructive Dissent & Resolution define who we are. In short, this means we constantly seek to understand the best for our customers, we go beyond completion in our work, we strive for excellence with intensity, and we embrace candid communication. These values guide our actions and shape our culture every day. When you join Appian, you'll be part of a passionate team that's dedicated to accomplishing hard things. Our Engineering Enablement team is growing! We empower Appian's developers to work efficiently, securely, and enjoyably by building tools, processes, and systems that reduce friction, enforce best practices, and maximize productivity. As a Lead Software Engineer on this team, you'll provide technical leadership in re-architecting platform infrastructure, creating high-impact abstractions, and enabling self-service capabilities that help teams ship high-quality software faster. In this role, you'll ensure foundational systems are intuitive, reliable, and aligned with business goals-supporting developer workflows from local builds to CI/CD, while optimizing for both performance and cost in cloud environments. This role is based at our HQ in McLean, VA. Appian was built on a culture of in-person collaboration, which we believe is a key driver of our mission to be the best. Employees hired for this position are expected to be in the office 5 days a week to foster that culture and ensure we continue to thrive through shared ideas and teamwork. We believe being in the office provides more opportunities to come together and celebrate working with the exceptional people across Appian. To be successful in this role, you will: Key contributor to team feature breakdowns/sizing and design of new feature implementations. Moderate degree of personal responsibility for the overall performance of the team, including capabilities, quality, stability and velocity. Perform code reviews which provide feedback not only on code quality, but on design and implementation. Build automation to prevent problem recurrence. Seek to identify opportunities for code refactoring and performance optimizations on a regular basis and champion these efforts within the team. Mentor junior software engineers by sharing best-practices and providing guidance on how to become more proficient. Share advanced/expert knowledge with others in the department, both on and off team; maintain a reputation as a key resource in those areas. Lead technological changes to keep the platform modern. Effectively communicate technical designs verbally, visually and/or in writing for small to medium sized technical audiences. Contribute to Appian's long-term documentation through publishing relevant, high-quality content to Engineering's technical documentation site Basic Qualifications: At least 7 years experience designing, building and architecting software in an enterprise software or Saas/Paas environment Bachelors in Computer Science or Engineering, or equivalent experience Tools and Resources Training and Development: During onboarding, we focus on equipping new hires with the skills and knowledge for success through department-specific training. Continuous learning is a central focus at Appian, with dedicated mentorship and the First-Friend program being widely utilized resources for new hires. Growth Opportunities: Appian provides a diverse array of growth and development opportunities, including our leadership program tailored for new and aspiring managers, a comprehensive library of specialized department training through Appian University, skills based training, and tuition reimbursement for those aiming to advance their education. This commitment ensures that employees have access to a holistic range of development opportunities. Community: We'll immerse you into our community rooted in respect starting on day one. Appian fosters inclusivity through our 8 employee-led affinity groups. These groups help employees build stronger internal and external networks by planning social, educational, and outreach activities to connect with Appianites and larger initiatives throughout the company. About Appian Appian is a software company that automates business processes. The Appian AI-Powered Process Platform includes everything you need to design, automate, and optimize even the most complex processes, from start to finish. The world's most innovative organizations trust Appian to improve their workflows, unify data, and optimize operations-resulting in better growth and superior customer experiences. For more information, visit appian.com. [Nasdaq: APPN] Follow Appian: Twitter, LinkedIn. Appian is an equal opportunity employer that strives to attract and retain the best talent. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Appian provides reasonable accommodations to applicants in accordance with all applicable laws. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact us by email atReasonableAccommodations@appian.com. Please note that only inquiries concerning a request for reasonable accommodation will be responded to from this email address. Appian's Applicant & Candidate Privacy Notice