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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.

The Lead Software Engineer – Product Information Management (Akeneo) is responsible for providing technical leadership, solution design, platform strategy, and delivery oversight for Caterpillar's Product Information Management capabilities. This role serves as the primary technical leader for the Akeneo platform, enabling scalable and governed product information solutions that support Caterpillar's digital commerce, customer experience, and enterprise data initiatives.

The position combines deep hands-on expertise in Akeneo PIM or similar PIM platform with architecture leadership, team development, operational ownership, and strategic planning. The Lead Software Engineer works closely with Business Partners, Product Managers, Enterprise Architects, Data Governance teams, and external vendors to deliver solutions that address complex business challenges while continuously improving platform capabilities and operational efficiency.

This role is expected to influence platform direction, identify innovation opportunities, establish technical standards, and lead a team of software engineers responsible for day-to-day delivery and support of Caterpillar's PIM ecosystem.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Solution Architecture

• Lead the design and implementation of scalable Product Information Management solutions using Akeneo and related enterprise platforms.
• Translate business requirements into secure, maintainable, and scalable technical solutions aligned with Caterpillar's enterprise architecture standards.
• Define architecture patterns, integration strategies, data models, and platform roadmaps.
• Conduct architecture and design reviews, ensuring adherence to non-functional requirements including performance, scalability, security, availability, and operational readiness.
• Provide technical guidance for complex product data, workflow, and integration challenges.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend opportunities to improve platform capabilities and business outcomes.

Akeneo Platform Ownership

• Serve as the primary technical owner for Caterpillar's Akeneo platform.
• Establish standards and best practices for catalog design, taxonomy management, attributes, asset management, reference entities, workflows, and governance processes.
• Drive platform optimization initiatives focused on performance, usability, maintainability, and scalability.
• Lead platform upgrades, release planning, and adoption of new Akeneo capabilities.
• Partner with business stakeholders to maximize the strategic value of Akeneo across Caterpillar's digital ecosystem.

Enterprise Integrations & Data Strategy

• Lead integration architecture between Akeneo and enterprise systems including MDM, SDM, DAM, ERP, eCommerce platforms, analytics solutions, and AWS-based services.
• Define enterprise integration standards utilizing APIs, event-driven architecture, cloud-native services, and data synchronization frameworks.
• Drive data quality, product data governance, and master data management initiatives.
• Ensure product information is consistently and reliably distributed across customer-facing and internal business platforms.

Delivery Leadership

• Lead end-to-end delivery of Akeneo-related projects, enhancements, and operational initiatives.
• Guide engineering teams through solution design, development, testing, deployment, and support activities.
• Establish engineering practices that improve quality, reliability, security, and maintainability.
• Manage technical risks, dependencies, and escalation paths across cross-functional teams.
• Collaborate with Product Owners to prioritize work and align technical investments with business objectives.

Operational Excellence

• Own platform reliability, operational readiness, and production support processes.
• Establish monitoring, alerting, incident management, and root-cause analysis practices.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that reduce technical debt and improve service performance.
• Ensure compliance with enterprise security, governance, and operational standards.
• Lead resolution efforts for critical production incidents and business-impacting issues.

Team Leadership & Capability Development

• Lead and mentor a team of software engineers and developers supporting the PIM platform.
• Foster a culture of continuous learning, innovation, accountability, and technical excellence.
• Develop technical career growth plans and skill development roadmaps for team members.
• Promote knowledge sharing, best practices, and engineering standards across teams.
• Support hiring, onboarding, mentoring, and succession planning activities.

Innovation & Strategic Growth

• Identify opportunities to expand the value of Akeneo within Caterpillar's digital ecosystem.
• Partner with business teams to explore new use cases, automation opportunities, AI-driven capabilities, and product data innovations.
• Develop business cases for platform enhancements and strategic investments.
• Champion modern engineering practices, cloud adoption, and digital transformation initiatives.
• Drive long-term platform evolution aligned with Caterpillar's digital strategy.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or equivalent experience.
• 11+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• 5+ years of experience leading enterprise Product Information Management (PIM) implementations or platforms.
• 3+ years of technical leadership experience leading software development teams.
• Demonstrated experience designing and delivering enterprise-scale solutions and integrations.
• Strong experience with Java and/or Python development.
• Expertise with REST APIs, web services, and distributed system integrations.
• Experience working within AWS cloud environments.

Top Candidates Will Also Have

• Deep expertise with Akeneo PIM platform architecture and administration.
• Experience with Informatica P360, Master Data Management, or Supplier Data Management platforms.
• Experience designing event-driven and cloud-native architectures.
• Strong understanding of product data governance and enterprise data management principles.
• Experience in digital commerce, customer experience, or manufacturing product information ecosystems.
• Experience leading globally distributed teams and vendor partners.
• Knowledge of Agile, DevOps, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code, and modern software engineering practices.

Critical Skills & Knowledge

Leadership & Architecture

• Technical Leadership
• Solution Architecture
• Enterprise Integration Design
• Strategic Technology Planning
• Stakeholder Management
• Delivery Leadership

Technical Skills

• Akeneo PIM
• AWS Cloud Services
• Java and/or Python
• API Design & Development
• Event-Driven Architecture
• Data Modeling
• CI/CD and DevOps Practices
• Product Data Governance
• System Reliability & Observability

Professional Skills

• Problem Solving
• Business Acumen
• Influencing Without Authority
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Continuous Improvement
• Team Development & Mentoring

Posting Dates:

Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply

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