Tech Lead

Grainger is North America’s leading Maintenance Repair & Operating provider and we are the 10th largest North American E-commerce player with over 50% of our revenue coming from online transactions. We deliver technology solutions across the enterprise including our call centers, branch network, sales, and our various digital channels. The team supports over 1000 applications across the network and operates in an agile environment to deliver complex solutions quickly and seamlessly. 

Primary Function 

The Endpoints Technical Lead provides design, technical guidance, enablement, education, and best practices to drive specific technical and architectural principles into the engineering team. This role serves as the foremost endpoint expert who partners with engineering teams, leaders, and product owners to provide consultative guidance, insight, and feedback as new endpoint technologies are explored.  They act as the hands-on leader, teacher and guides to coach and upskill individual engineers and teams in modernizing secure endpoint solutions. The Endpoints Technical Lead is responsible for the analysis, evaluation, and execution of an ideal secure endpoint design that integrates development activities, security, and the automated release methods within CI/CD pipeline.  Ultimately, the successful candidate has a strong sense of endpoint services solutions, development lifecycles, software defined designs, and secure endpoint concepts, all accompanied by a highly personable and engaging communication approach.  

*This role typically is located in our Lake Forest office, but due to COVID-19 will be fully virtual until further notice.  Once this office location has a return to work plan, the team member will be required to be on-site. 

Responsibilities: 

From an endpoint perspective, this role is expected to fully grasp the concepts behind secure endpoint evolution and how they apply to an application development approach to infrastructure, and CI/CD environments.  This individual is accountable for identifying opportunities to evolve the enterprise endpoint designs while defining methods to achieve an evolved design via automation or highly efficient means that further support timely delivery and minimal overhead.

• Define and publish Secure endpoint standards and ensure compliance with security controls when designing such standards 
• Critical thinking and analysis in the endpoint and security space is essential, as this role will have the responsibility of designing and implementing enterprise endpoint solutions that can evolve using automation, while providing a highly optimal secure endpoint experience for the enterprise 
• Teach, enable, and advocate key Architecture and Technical principles and implementation across all engineers inside the Endpoint engineering teams 
• Research for innovation, continuous improvement, knowledge sharing with engineers and development of strategic endpoint roadmap
• Organizing training to improve engineer’s knowledge and skills for future organizational growth as it relates to secure endpoint designs and technologies
• Drive innovation of new solution and integration-level patterns, tools, and practices, managing risk and controlling technology sprawl
• Contribute to talent acquisition and upskilling in area of expertise 

Qualifications:

• Familiarity with software development lifecycle (SDLC) practices which incorporate continuous integration and design practices and testing
• Experience in implementing and operating endpoint services solutions

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science (related) or equivalent experience as a hands-on endpoint architect and engineer 
• Proven leadership/influence style, customer-service oriented demeanor, problem-solving, effective reporting via metrics and indicators, and strong communications are all essential to this role 

• Highly technical and analytical expertise, with a proven deep background in endpoint/VDI technology design, implementation, and delivery
•  This individual must be comfortable providing metrics, analysis, and quantitative/qualitative evidence when necessary to drive outcomes 
• The ability to code is a mandatory skill (this qualification is non-negotiable) the ability to work with Delivery tools (e.g. Terraform, Ansible) and knowledge of programming languages (e.g. Python, C#, Java) a plus

• Demonstrated understanding of good software design/architecture principles
• Demonstrated coaching/teaching skills for small teams and individuals 

• Ability to create training plans and materials for technical people 
• Ability to work independently, plan, and prioritize work to meet commitments aligned with organizational goals 
• Mindset to continuously improve the technical knowledge of engineering partners  
• Focus on continual self-improvement to maintain expertise  

Additional: 

• The Tech lead will engage with Engineering leaders, Architects, Administrators, Engineers, Project, and Program managers to educate, coach, advise, and improve the skills of people across the organization

• Usually functions with high autonomy; require occasional guidance 
• Requires a high level of initiative. Provides technical guidance and consultation to other architects and engineers
• Sponsors or facilitates Communities of Practice and Centers of Enablement 
• Informs better decision making at all levels of the technology organization 
• Reports directly to the Director of Connectivity and Endpoints

• Demonstrated experience with geographically distributed teams in a matrixed environment
• Additional insights, experience, or background in any of the following are also of great value: VDI, Micro-Services, CI/CD Pipelines, Agile, Sprints / Scrum Masters, GitHub, Jira, Docker, Endpoint services design, and other related focuses

Grainger is an Equal Opportunity Workplace and an Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.