**Career Area:** Technology, Digital and Data **Job Description:** **Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.** When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it. Lead Software Engineer is a strategic, hands‑on technical role that leads the design and implementation of complex AI‑driven architectures, partnering with engineering and product teams to deliver secure, scalable, production‑ready solutions. **Job Duties** The role spans multiple functional areas, driving innovation through new program initiatives and the assessment of cutting-edge technologies and architectural frameworks for our advanced digital platform. The individual will partner closely with architecture and engineering teams to ensure seamless integration and alignment of cross-functional objectives. **Key Responsibilities** • Perform programming, project management, and development assignments independently; typically handle the most complex aspects of systems work. • Lead complex projects spanning multiple system components and domains. • Design prototypes and POCs to demonstrate solution feasibility and value. Provide architecture solutions. • Research, design, build, and train innovative applications of LLMs to solve complex real-world problems. • Work with custom datasets, utilizing techniques like chunking and embeddings, to train and fine-tune models. • Engage in all phases of the product lifecycle, including technical requirements definition, project planning and dependency management, system architecture and development. • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure smooth deployment and integration of AI solutions. • Apply advanced knowledge and skills to solve highly complex engineering problems. • Work independently on critical systems or infrastructure components used by multiple applications. • Drive application development focused on delivering business value. • Mentor and guide software engineers, providing technical assistance and leadership. • Maintain high standards of software quality through best practices. • Demonstrate leadership on medium to large-scale projects impacting strategic priorities. • Adapt to shifting priorities and timelines using strong analytical and problem-solving skills. • Effectively prioritize, delegate, and execute tasks in high-pressure environments. • Stay updated with the latest advancements in AI and machine learning technologies. **Preferred Qualifications** • Good exposure in AI/ML/NLP/LLM technologies. • Strong experience with LLM APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, Azure OpenAI) and hands-on experience with LLM frameworks (LangChain or similar). • Proficiency in prompt engineering, RAG implementation, and Vector databases. • Strong knowledge of Generative AI techniques for summarization, chatbots, and data embedding using AWS, Microsoft Azure OpenAI, and open-source LLM models. • Experience with AWS services (ECS, KDA, Kinesis, OpenSearch, DynamoDB, CloudWatch, Lambda, API Gateway, etc.). • Expertise in ML model deployment, AWS SageMaker Studio, Generative AI models, LLM vector stores, and LLM observability. • Hands-on experience with ML methodologies, advanced analytics tools (R, Python), and frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, Keras). • Knowledge of Natural language processing (NLP) for text generation projects like text parsing, sentiment analysis, and the use of transformers like GPT (generative pre-trained transformer) models. • Ability to translate innovative ideas into POC/POT and pilot/reference production deployments. • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a passion for exploring new technologies. • Proven experience in data engineering (batch and streaming) and API development frameworks. • Strong foundation in machine learning, deep learning, and computer science. • Good knowledge in any of the cloud-based platforms and services, such as Azure or AWS. **Posting Dates:** February 5, 2026 - February 18, 2026 Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply Not ready to apply? Join our Talent Community (http://flows.beamery.com/caterpillarinc/talcom) .