Senior Technical Lead

Not available for C2C engagements | Will not respond to 3rd party vendors. Vendors who call or email about this role will be removed from my list and blocked. Must be local to St. Louis and available for hybrid in office work Senior Technical Lead Location: St. Louis, MO (Hybrid: 3 days in office, 2 days remote) Employment Type: Contract-to-Hire About the Role We're seeking an innovative Senior Technical Lead to drive the future of in-store automation, smart devices, and digital shelf technology. This role serves as the technical leader within our Emerging Technologies team, working closely with Enterprise Architecture and cross-functional partners to define and execute the technical roadmap. You'll translate vision into scalable, sustainable solutions while mentoring developers and leading strategic initiatives. What You'll Work On Our team oversees cutting-edge retail technology including: • Autonomous robots for in-store data collection and insights • Electronic Shelf Labels (ESLs) and Smart Scales • Item maintenance, retail pricing, and attribution systems Key Responsibilities • Serve as technical lead and mentor for developers and analysts • Partner with Enterprise Architect to define technical strategy, architecture standards, and modernization initiatives • Design, develop, and maintain integrations and applications using .NET Core, Python, Talend, RESTful APIs, Oracle, and GCP • Lead POCs and pilot projects for next-generation retail technologies • Evaluate and implement new frameworks, platforms, and methodologies • Define best practices for cloud architecture, CI/CD pipelines, testing automation, and API governance • Collaborate with business stakeholders to align technology strategy with operational goals • Ensure scalability, security, and reliability of all systems and integrations • Foster a culture of innovation, knowledge sharing, and continuous learning Required Qualifications • 8+ years of professional software development experience • 3+ years in a technical leadership or solution design role • Strong expertise in: • .NET Core / C# (Python nice to have) application development • Talend or similar ETL/data integration platforms • RESTful API / Web Services design and development • Relational Databases (Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL) • Cloud platforms (preferably GCP) • Proven ability to lead complex, cross-functional initiatives from concept through deployment and ongoing support • Excellent communication, documentation, and mentoring skills • Must be eligible to work in the US without visa sponsorship Preferred Skills Candidates who stand out will bring working knowledge or strong interest in: • Microservices and event-driven architectures • Containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes) • API management and GraphQL • AI/ML • IoT / Edge Computing • Modern data engineering • Serverless computing and cloud-native frameworks • Automation and robotic process integration • Retail technology innovations (digital shelves, smart sensors, robotics, intelligent store infrastructure) Team Structure You'll join a team of 10-15 professionals working in an Agile environment, collaborating closely with Product Managers and Business Analysts. This role involves a mixture of hands-on development, architecting new systems, leading discussions with business stakeholders, and managing the work of others (no direct reports).