--- title: 'Lead Software Engineer at McMaster-Carr' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/lead-software-engineer-mcmaster-carr-chicago-6cbq567qn8kb' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-13' --- # Lead Software Engineer at McMaster-Carr - **Company:** McMaster-Carr - **Location:** Chicago, IL - **Posted:** 2025-12-22 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-13 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/mcmastercarr/jobs/4088249009 ## Job description ## About the job ## Who We Are McMaster‑Carr is a leading e‑commerce company that industrial customers have trusted for more than 120 years. Our products help customers restore manufacturing lines quickly, keep operations running smoothly, and prototype the next generation of innovative products. We earn that trust by offering the right products, making them easy to find, and delivering them fast--so customers can solve problems with speed, precision, and confidence. This role is a pathway to senior engineering management and technical leadership—your growth is determined by your impact, not by tenure. [Our Culture](https://www.builtinchicago.org/articles/what-its-build-tech-career-mcmaster-carr-ownership-and-long-term-growth) We intentionally cultivate a culture focused on clear execution and long‑term growth. We are responsible for building systems that endure for decades and support the company’s long-term growth. That responsibility means engineering work starts with a deep understanding of the problem and its impact, grounded in clear ownership, open communication, and direct feedback. Our teams are trusted to make thoughtful decisions about how work gets done, balancing a high bar for quality with practical execution. As an engineering leader here, you'll have significant autonomy with end-to-end ownership where you make product decisions while building things real people interact with directly. ## How You'll Make An Impact Our engineering teams operate within domains: distinct, high‑impact areas of our platform that let engineers dive deep, build expertise, and release work that matters. Right now, we’re actively growing in the following areas: - McMaster.ai: Build and scale our domain-expert AI assistant that turns McMaster’s product data and customer history into a continuously learning assistant—interpreting intent, narrowing options, explaining tradeoffs, and carrying context across sessions to make complex industrial work feel effortless. - Customer Navigation: build and evolve the systems that help our customers find, evaluate, and understand millions of industrial products across our digital publications, including improving search relevance with LLMs and simplifying navigation across our product offering. - Order-to-Payment Flow: design and evolve end‑to‑end ordering experiences that reduce friction from checkout to mobile ordering. - Product Merchandising: strengthen the internal platforms that power sourcing, inventory planning, receiving, and supplier relationships, helping the company make disciplined investments and scale responsibly. - Fulfillment & Automation: lead development of software that integrates with warehouse operations, fulfillment, delivery, and customer service to reduce manual work and get orders to customers faster. ## What You’ll Do - The first 30 days are about learning with purpose: understanding our goals, getting a clear picture of the customer journey, and building fluency in the codebase. As you onboard, you'll design and implement features that are small enough to help you ramp quickly, but substantial enough to matter. - After you’ve delivered your first features, you’ll start taking on less‑defined challenges where you’ll sharpen requirements and produce thoughtful, durable solutions that meaningfully improve the customers experience. In doing so, you'll create clarity and momentum that enables you and your teammates to deliver exceptional experiences. ## What You Bring - 4+ years of professional fullstack or backend software engineering experience (see our [Software Engineer II](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/mcmastercarr/jobs/4053357009) role for earlier career experience) - Experience in delivering proof‑of‑concepts and resilient production systems, contributing from early research and architectural design to development, launch, and iterative refinement. - Ability to write high-quality, maintainable, and scalable code with Systems Design and SOLID principles. - Experience improving system architecture, testing, and monitoring to ensure reliability and performance. - A commitment to developing others; using code reviews, coaching, and shared best practices to help the team deliver its best work. - Ability to collaborate cross-functionally with operations, product, and UX teams to ensure business value and user impact. - A track record of designing platforms and customer experiences that will endure over years while remaining close to the details of execution. Technologies We Use - Backend: NET, .NET 10, ASP.NET Core, C#, Python - Frontend: React, Typescript, JavaScript, CSS - Database: MongoDB, Elasticsearch, SQL, Db2, Redis - Testing: Selenium, Playwright, Xunit, Jest - Infrastructure: Kubernetes, Jenkins, Gitlab, Azure, Linux, VMWare, IIS - LLMs: OpenAI, Copilot, Claude, Gemini, Grok, perplexity, deepseek - Applied AI: RAG, Embeddings, Vectorization, Machine Learning, Computer Vision - Dev Tools: Swagger, Git - Messaging /Data Streaming: Kafka, MQ Cash Compensation - Total cash compensation is generally around $235,000 to $310,000 and includes a profit sharing based on company profitability. - You will also receive a relocation stipend (if applicable) and signing bonus. ## Benefits Growth & Learning - 100% tuition reimbursement - Informal and formal mentorship - Employee resource groups Health & Wellbeing - Medical, dental, pharmacy, and vision plans with no monthly premiums - Inclusive, all-gender benefits Family & Future - Paid parental leave for all new parents - Adoption and surrogacy assistance - First-time home buyer assistance - Industry-leading company-funded retirement accounts Time Off - Paid vacation and personal time ## Who You Are We’re looking for curious, driven engineers who thrive in collaborative environments and love solving hard problems. Ideal candidates will have: - Experience designing and delivering large-scale, service-oriented systems. - Strong proficiency in compiled languages such as C#, Java, C++, or Rust. - A thoughtful, analytical approach to problem-solving and software design. - Clear, confident communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences. - Interest in mentoring, coaching, and growing as a leader. ## Equal Opportunity Employer We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and dedicated to providing employees a workplace with reasonable accommodations and free of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. At McMaster-Carr, we do not make employment decisions based on age, ethnicity, citizenship status, military status, gender identity and expression, race, religion, disability status, marital status, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected group. This position is not eligible for work authorization sponsorship by McMaster-Carr. Data We Collect We may collect professional, education and employment-related data, and any assessments made throughout the recruiting process, to evaluate candidacy for employment. To communicate with job applicants, we may collect applicant names, contact information, and other personal identifiers, including those outlined in the California customer records statute. Through voluntary disclosure, we may also collect protected classifications under federal or California law (e.g., race, gender, etc.). For additional details about the personal information we collect and its uses, please click [here](https://www.mcmaster.com/cpra_job_applicant_notification/). ## About McMaster-Carr ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: McMaster-Carr is a privately held e-commerce and catalog company that supplies over 600,000 industrial products to businesses for maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO). - **Entity Type**: Private (family-owned, bootstrapped) - **Headquarters**: Elmhurst, Illinois, USA - **Founded**: 1901 - **Founders**: Not publicly disclosed (family‑owned business) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Industrial supplies & equipment distribution (MRO) - **Target customers**: B2B – engineers, maintenance teams, purchasing agents, and manufacturing/construction firms (small businesses to large enterprises) - **Mission / purpose**: To be the complete, one‑stop source for industrial supplies, delivering high‑quality products with fast, reliable service. (Paraphrased from the company’s stated focus on “handpick[ing] every product” and shipping 98% of orders from stock the same day.) ## Products & Services - **Industrial Supply Catalog**: Over 600,000 SKUs covering fasteners, raw materials, plumbing, electrical, safety equipment, precision tools, and more. Offered as a SaaS‑like web platform with CAD downloads, material certificates, and 3D models. - **Same‑Day / Next‑Day Delivery**: 98% of orders ship from stock at standard rates, with same‑day or next‑day delivery to many U.S. locations. - **In‑House Software & Technology**: Custom‑built e‑commerce engine, inventory management, distribution automation, and mobile applications developed by internal engineering teams. ## Market Standing - **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company) - **Key Metric**: Annual revenue is not publicly reported; industry estimates often place it in the $3–5 billion range, but the company does not confirm figures. - **Notable Investors**: None (family‑owned; no external funding raised) - **Growth Signals**: - Active hiring across six U.S. facilities (Chicago, Atlanta, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Princeton, Fort Worth) for roles in software engineering, distribution automation, customer solutions, and management. - Expanding its technology team with focus on automation, data centers, and mobile app development. - Recently posted openings for “Automation Engineering Manager” and “CMMS Engineer,” indicating investment in warehouse and process automation. ## Competitive Advantages - **Massive Catalog & Fast Fulfillment**: Unmatched breadth of inventory (600k+ products) combined with near‑universal in‑stock availability and same‑day shipping—a difficult combination for competitors to replicate. - **In‑House Technology**: All software (e‑commerce, distribution, logistics) is built and maintained internally, giving McMaster‑Carr tight integration and the ability to rapidly iterate. - **Strong Supplier Relationships & Quality Control**: Products are hand‑picked and verified; material certificates and traceability are standard. - **Engineering‑First Culture**: Technology teams are highly autonomous and work on challenging projects (warehouse robotics, high‑performance web apps, data center design). ## Strategic Focus - **Automation & Distribution Efficiency**: Investing heavily in automated material handling, robotics, and facility reliability to maintain speed and accuracy as order volumes grow. - **Technology Talent Development**: Growing the software engineering and IT teams to support custom development of internal tools, customer‑facing platforms, and infrastructure. - **Geographic Expansion**: Operations centers in five major U.S. regions (plus the Chicago HQ) to provide fast delivery nationwide; newer facilities in Fort Worth and Princeton signal continued geographic scaling. ## Why Work Here - **Culture & Values**: Emphasizes “capability, not skill”—hiring curious people who can grow across roles. Strong inclusion and diversity programs, prayer/meditation spaces, all‑gender restrooms, mentoring groups. - **Work Model**: Hybrid for many tech roles (typically 3 days on‑site per week); distribution and customer‑facing roles are generally on‑site. Remote flexibility varies by position. - **Compensation & Benefits**: - No‑monthly‑premium medical, dental, pharmacy, and vision plans for employees and dependents. - Generous profit sharing and company‑funded retirement accounts. - 100% tuition reimbursement, adoption/surrogacy assistance, paid parental leave. - First‑time home‑buyer assistance, financial counselors, and college assistance for dependents. - **Engineering Culture**: Engineers work on diverse projects (web, mobile, data centers, automation) with support for learning through reading groups, guilds, and technical leadership tracks. ## Sources 1. [mcmaster.com/careers](https://www.mcmaster.com/careers) 2. [mcmaster.com](https://www.mcmaster.com/) 3. [builtin.com/company/mcmaster-carr](https://builtin.com/company/mcmaster-carr) 4. 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