How to hire a software engineer-team lead

How to hire a software engineer-team lead, step by step

Here's a step-by-step software engineer-team lead hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a software engineer-team lead job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new software engineer-team lead
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a software engineer-team lead do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your software engineer-team lead job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a software engineer-team lead for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

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   A software engineer-team lead's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, software engineers-team lead from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of software engineers-team lead.

   Type of Software Engineer-Team Lead	Description	Hourly rate
   Software Engineer-Team Lead	Software developers are the creative minds behind computer programs. Some develop the applications that allow people to do specific tasks on a computer or another device... Show more	$44-79
   Lead Software Developer	A lead software developer is responsible for creating and designing software applications and systems to support business functions and client requirements. Lead software developers analyze specifications to build efficient applications, conduct multiple quality testing, and enhance the user's interface... Show more	$41-72
   Team Lead Engineer	A team leads engineer is in charge of spearheading and overseeing the efforts of an engineering team, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Although the duties may depend on one's industry of employment, it typically includes designing and developing systems according to project requirements, setting objectives and construction guidelines, delegating tasks, managing budgets and schedules, and monitoring the workflow, performing corrective measures as needed... Show more	$40-75

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Java
   • Architecture
   • Software Development
   • Web Application
   • Database
   • Scrum
   • GIT
   • API
   • Ruby
   • Application Development
   • C
   • C++
   • Code Reviews
   • SVN

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage code builds and server deployments over multiple test and production environments using Jenkins.
   • Manage a team of developers responsible for development, testing debugging, and maintenance of the PBUSE software application.
   • Incorporate existing technology such as Win32 API, C++ pointer to gain performance and to save project time line.
   • Co-Le UNIX C++ infrastructure software maintenance team.
   • Develop programs to post-process Linux cluster reservoir simulation jobs and create HDF5 files.
   • Facilitate daily scrum meetings, sprint planning, sprint reviews, and sprint retrospectives.

   More software engineer-team lead duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your software engineer-team lead job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A software engineer-team lead salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a software engineer-team lead in Nebraska may be lower than in California, and an entry-level software engineer-team lead usually earns less than a senior-level software engineer-team lead. Additionally, a software engineer-team lead with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average software engineer-team lead salary

   $124,741yearly

   $59.97 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level software engineer-team lead salary

   $93,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 18, 2025

   Average software engineer-team lead salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$150,142	$72
   2	Washington	$136,800	$66
   3	New York	$136,239	$66
   4	Massachusetts	$128,933	$62
   5	Oregon	$124,698	$60
   6	Ohio	$121,903	$59
   7	Colorado	$118,091	$57
   8	Virginia	$117,918	$57
   9	New Jersey	$116,339	$56
   10	Texas	$115,433	$56
   11	Vermont	$115,264	$55
   12	North Carolina	$114,889	$55
   13	Utah	$114,816	$55
   14	Michigan	$113,401	$55
   15	Pennsylvania	$113,312	$54
   16	Maryland	$109,958	$53
   17	Connecticut	$106,986	$51
   18	Georgia	$105,168	$51
   19	Illinois	$103,414	$50
   20	Minnesota	$99,353	$48

   Average software engineer-team lead salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Roku	$180,828	$86.94	20
   2	Integral Ad Science	$167,220	$80.39	10
   3	Xandr	$158,912	$76.40
   4	Sophos	$153,601	$73.85
   5	Palantir	$153,532	$73.81	140
   6	Toast	$148,764	$71.52	16
   7	Citi	$148,239	$71.27	17
   8	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$146,860	$70.61	1,229
   9	Amazon	$146,032	$70.21	1,099
   10	Ford Motor	$145,377	$69.89	581
   11	Orbitz	$144,286	$69.37
   12	Nike	$141,637	$68.09	24
   13	Indeed	$138,817	$66.74
   14	Genentech	$137,185	$65.95	38
   15	Groupon	$136,188	$65.47
   16	Motion Recruitment	$136,174	$65.47	36
   17	Parsons	$135,001	$64.90	85
   18	Hudl	$134,423	$64.63	13
   19	Sharethrough	$132,792	$63.84
   20	Randstad North America, Inc.	$132,737	$63.82	19

4. Writing a software engineer-team lead job description

   A software engineer-team lead job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a software engineer-team lead job description:

   Software engineer-team lead job description example

   Do you have prior embedded software development experience and find that you naturally gravitate to managing scope, schedule and budget for the team? If so, we are looking for an enthusiastic, organized, and driven software project leader to join our team!
   
   As a hands-on Software Engineering Team Lead, you will be responsible for cost and schedule performance of one or more software engineering projects in accordance with contract requirements. Working with a technical subject matter expert (SME), you will plan, monitor, and drive a small to medium sized software development team through all phases of software development to achieve project milestones and deliverables.Major functions:Essential Functions:
   
   In this role, you are expected to manage the software development performance against the plan, and to have a feel for how future performance will look. You will be responsible for managing and reporting this progress information to Engineering Management to inform and solicit help to keep the program on track and to look for opportunities to exceed expectations wherever possible.
   
   This is an excellent opportunity to impact software engineering programs while working closely with technical leads in software, systems, and across engineering disciplines in the Secure Communications and Information Assurance (IA) domain.Technical/Functional skills: Education/Experience/Licenses etc.:Requirements:
   * Bachelor's degree (Engineering, Computer Science, Math, or Physics)
   * 5+ years relevant work experience as a software developer
   * 2+ years project management experience, leading software development teams of 3 or more engineers
   * Responsibility to project stakeholders for delivering a software project's objectives within scope, schedule, cost, and quality
   * Identifying, monitoring, and appropriately managing project Risk and Opportunities
   * Strong leadership, organizational, and skills including risk management, project scheduling
   * Present project execution status to internal leadership and external customers
   * Must have an ACTIVE US security clearance at Secret level
   Preferred Additional Skills:
   * Advanced Degree in engineering, technology management or business administration
   * Experience in the Information Assurance (IA) or Cyber Security domain is a plus
   * Experience with project management tools such as Microsoft Project or Primavera
   * Experience with Waterfall and Agile development methodologies and Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)
   * Experience with Earned Value Management System (EVMS) planning, monitoring and reporting
   * Experience as a Control Account Manager (CAM)
   * Development of proposals and Basis of Estimates (BOEs) for software components
   * Knowledge and experience of different contract types including Cost Plus (Incentive Fee, Award Fee and Fixed Fee), Time & Material (T&M), and Firm Fixed Price (FFP) efforts

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find software engineers-team lead for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your software engineer-team lead job on Zippia to find and recruit software engineer-team lead candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting software engineers-team lead requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   While interviews are great, you will only sometimes learn enough from a conversation with a software engineer-team lead applicant. In those cases, having candidates complete a test project can go a long way in figuring out who's the most likely to succeed in the role. If you aren't a technical person and don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new software engineer-team lead

   Once you've decided on a perfect software engineer-team lead candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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