Distinguished Software Engineer

Credit Acceptance

. Set the company’s multi-year technical strategy as the senior-most individual contributor in Technology, reporting to the Chief Technology Officer .

Posted 9/30/2026full-timeWashington • United StatesSeniorLead💰 $232,500 - $341,000 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

Use this summary to align your resume positioning with the role.

Demonstrates expertise in defining and executing multi-year technical strategies, particularly in distributed systems architecture and enterprise-scale migrations. Proficient in AI-native software practices, performance instrumentation, and ensuring compliance with security and regulatory standards.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Multi-Year Technical StrategyDistributed Systems ArchitectureAWS and Databricks MigrationAI-Native Software PracticesRegulatory Compliance Experience

ATS Keywords

Tailor your resume

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills

Software EngineeringEnterprise ArchitectureChange-Data-Capture IngestionReal-Time Pricing ArchitecturePerformance InstrumentationAgent Identity and AuthorizationStreaming ArchitectureLarge-Scale ExperimentationGoverned Tool/Data AccessLegacy-to-Modern Systems Migration

Soft Skills

Influence Without AuthorityStrong Written CommunicationStaff Development

Tools & Technologies

Model Context ProtocolAWSDatabricksIncident AnalysisDesign Reviews

Certifications & Qualifications

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer ScienceCouncil for Higher Education Accreditation

Industry Keywords

Consumer LendingAuto FinanceInsurancePaymentsHigh-Stakes Distributed Systems

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSDistributed Systems

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Set the company’s multi-year technical strategy as the senior-most individual contributor in Technology, reporting to the Chief Technology Officer
Define and publish enterprise target architecture across originations, servicing, marketplace, data, and AI
Own enterprise agent architecture and common agent foundation across business and engineering workflows
Establish governed agent access to capabilities, data, and tools using Model Context Protocol
Define agent identity, authorization, observability, evaluation, cost controls, audit records, and human-decision boundaries
Set strategy for migrating transactional workloads to AWS and analytical workloads to Databricks
Own resilience and recovery architecture for the target state
Define change-data-capture ingestion, streaming, and modern warehouse architecture
Architect real-time pricing, credit-model serving, scorecard updates, and large-scale experimentation
Own unified vehicle inventory, consumer search, and lead-routing architecture
Define AI-native software specification, generation, review, testing, and deployment practices
Own performance instrumentation, one-second page response standards, peak readiness, and degradation levers
Move systems toward owned platforms with explicit contracts and incremental delivery
Participate hands-on in design reviews, proofs of concept, code reviews, and incident analysis
Develop staff and principal engineers and raise technical standards across the organization
Ensure security, privacy, auditability, and regulatory obligations are design inputs

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or closely related field of study; or equivalent work experience
Minimum 10 years of software engineering experience or comparable depth of experience
Track record of setting and delivering multi-year technical strategy at enterprise scale as an individual contributor
Depth in distributed systems architecture and at least two specified technical domains
Production architecture ownership of agentic or LLM-based systems, including governed tool/data access, evaluation, and failure modes
Demonstrated ownership of legacy-to-modern systems migration with sequencing, cost case, failure modes, and production revenue at stake
Current hands-on technical work, including reading code, writing proofs of concept, design reviews, and incident analysis
Influence without authority across organizational boundaries, including executive-level direction changes
Strong written communication and technical architecture documentation
Ability to develop staff and principal engineers and raise the technical bar of non-direct reports
Experience delivering in a regulated industry or working within audit, security, and compliance constraints
Required degrees must be earned at institutions accredited by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation or equivalent
Preferred: recognized external contributions, consumer lending/auto finance/insurance/payments or high-stakes distributed systems experience, Model Context Protocol or comparable standards, AWS and Databricks at production scale, experimentation platforms, AI-native development practices, marketplace/search/inventory systems

Benefits

Comp & perks

Annual variable bonus of cash and equity, between 20-60%
401(K) match
Adoption assistance
Parental leave
Tuition reimbursement
Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits
Nonstandard benefits
Work-life balance
Professional development and continuous improvement opportunities
Casual work environment
Great Place to Work culture