Software engineer Jobs in Chicago, IL

Overview
See how Epsilon powers connected marketing by unlocking the full potential of data and identity.

About this role
At Epsilon, we help leading brands use data, identity, and technology to drive measurable business outcomes. Our Clean Room product enables privacy-first data collaboration, audience intelligence, and activation at scale, combining modern cloud architecture with data-rich capabilities for marketers, analysts, and data scientists. As our platform evolves, we are also investing in agentic and AI-powered capabilities that help users automate complex workflows, accelerate insight generation, and interact with data and systems more intelligently and efficiently.

Why this role
Epsilon is looking for a Lead Software Engineer to drive the design, delivery, technical strategy, and execution of key capabilities within Epsilon Clean Room , our privacy-first data collaboration platform. In this role, you will lead through technical expertise, partner closely with Product, Architecture, and Engineering stakeholders, and build scalable, secure solutions that enable enterprise clients to collaborate on and derive value from data while preserving privacy. You will play a pivotal role in advancing the platform's Clean Room Insights capabilities while maintaining the highest standards of privacy, security, and data governance.

Responsibilities

• Deliver and evolve large-scale cloud-native data platforms on AWS, leveraging REST APIs, microservices, and event-driven architectures to build resilient, secure, and high-performing systems.

• Work hands-on across frontend, API, backend, and data platform layers to design, build, and operate solutions that power Clean Room capabilities.

• Partner closely with global engineering, product management, architecture, and business stakeholders to align technical solutions with strategic business objectives.

• Own the end-to-end software development lifecycle, including requirements gathering, solution design, development, deployment, observability, and documentation.

• Lead product-wide technical initiatives focused on scalability, performance optimization, reliability, security, governance, and cost efficiency.

• Mentor and guide junior engineers, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, collaboration, and technical excellence.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Technology, or a related technical field.

• Experience: 8+ years of software engineering and/or data engineering experience designing, building, and operating large-scale production systems and platforms.

• Architecture: Proven experience leading the architecture and technical design of large-scale distributed systems, modern web applications, microservices, event-driven platforms, and APIs, with a strong focus on scalability, reliability, security, and maintainability.

• Application Engineering: Strong experience building end-to-end applications across frontend, API, and backend layers using modern JavaScript/TypeScript technologies, including frameworks such as React, Next.js, Node.js, Express.js, NestJS, or Fastify. (Experience with frontend frameworks like React or Next.js is optional but a plus)

• Data & Messaging: Comprehensive experience with messaging technologies (Kafka, RabbitMQ, SNS/SQS) and relational and NoSQL databases (PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Aurora, DynamoDB, MongoDB, Redis) supporting scalable, high-throughput applications.

• Data Engineering: Proven experience designing and building large-scale data platforms and batch/streaming data pipelines using technologies such as Spark/PySpark, Databricks, and modern cloud-native data technologies.

• Infrastructure: Deep experience building cloud-native applications on a major cloud platform (AWS, Azure, or GCP), leveraging services for object storage, compute, API management, event routing, and data processing.

• DevOps: Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools such as Terraform or Ansible, CI/CD pipeline automation, observability, and comprehensive testing strategies.

• AI: Practical experience leveraging agent-assisted coding tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code) to improve engineering productivity and software delivery velocity while maintaining high standards of code quality.

Preferred Qualifications

• Data: Experience with lakehouse architectures, modern analytics platforms, or privacy-centric data collaboration environments such as Databricks, Snowflake, or similar technologies.

• AI: Practical exposure to Generative AI architectures, including Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and autonomous agentic systems.

Who Thrives Here
This is a strong opportunity for a lead engineer who enjoys solving complex technical problems, shaping platform direction through hands-on leadership, and mentoring others through example. If you are excited by the idea of building scalable, privacy-first data systems in a fast-moving environment, this role offers meaningful scope and impact.

Additional Information
When you join Epsilon, we'll create something EPIC together. We're a global leader in data and identity, with deep expertise in digital media, clean rooms, customer data platforms, loyalty and marketing services. Positioned at the center of Publicis Groupe, Epsilon helps brands deliver personalized experiences at scale and build lasting customer relationships by unlocking the full potential of data and identity. Epsilon operates in 30+ countries across EMEA, the Americas and APAC, with more than 8,000 employees.

Check out a few of these resources to learn more about what makes Epsilon so EPIC:

Our Culture: https://www.epsilon.com/us/about-us/our-culture-epsilon

Life at Epsilon: https://www.epsilon.com/us/about-us/epic-blog

Epsilon has five values that define our culture and guide us as we create value for our clients, our people and consumers. We seek candidates who align with our company values, demonstrate them and make them meaningful in their day-to-day work:

• Act with integrity. We are transparent and have the courage to do the right thing.
• Work together to win together. We believe collaboration is the catalyst that unlocks our full potential.
• Innovate with purpose. We shape the market with big ideas that drive big outcomes.
• Respect all voices. We embrace differences and foster a culture of connection and belonging.
• Empower with accountability. We trust each other to own and deliver on common goals.

Because You Matter
As an Epsilon employee, you deserve perks and benefits that put you, your family and your finances first. Our benefits encompass a wide range of offerings, including but not limited to:

• Time to recharge: Flexible time off (FTO), 14 paid holidays, paid sick time
• Family well-being: Parental/new child leave, childcare & elder care assistance, adoption assistance
• Extra perks: Comprehensive health coverage, 401(k), tuition assistance, commuter benefits, professional development, employee recognition, charitable donation matching, health coaching and counseling

Epsilon benefits are subject to eligibility requirements and other terms.

Epsilon is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Epsilon's policy is not to discriminate against any applicant or employee based on actual or perceived race, age, sex or gender (including pregnancy), marital status, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, mental or physical disability, religion, creed, color, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression (including transgender status), veteran status, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local law. Epsilon also prohibits harassment of applicants and employees based on any of these protected categories. Epsilon will provide accommodations to applicants who need accommodations to complete the application process. Please reach out to LeaveofAbsence@epsilon.com to request an accommodation.

For San Francisco Bay and Los Angeles Areas: Epsilon will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment in a manner consistent with the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance and San Francisco Police Code Sections 4901-4919, commonly referred to as the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. Applicants with criminal histories are welcome to apply.

#LI-NK1



Compensation Range: USD $98,000.00 - USD $182,000.00/Annually. This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on the skills, qualifications, and experience of the applicant along with the requirements of the position, and the Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. Temporary roles may be eligible to participate in our freelancer/temporary employee medical plan through a third-party benefits administration system once certain criteria have been met. For regular roles, the Company will offer medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401k, and paid time off. The Company anticipates the application deadline for this job posting will be 11/6/2026.