Lead Software Engineer
Explore Tech
San Diego, CA · From $220k a year · Posted October 5, 2026
More in California job market · Technology & Software · Engineering jobs
Pay compared with the market
This listing pays about $220,000 a year. Across 61 open lead software engineer listings that state pay, the middle half runs $170,000 to $192,500 and the median is $186,000. That is 18% above the median, above the middle half of those listings.
Listed pay is what employers advertise, not what people are paid.
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About the job
Careers Lead Software Engineer
About the Company
Our mission is to discover the raw materials needed to create a prosperous world for the next 1000 years. With modern software and hardware, we aim to reduce mineral discovery timelines from 10 years to 1 year. Founded in 2023 by lifelong geoscientists, ExploreTech is a venture-backed business that develops technology and uses it to explore for minerals all over the world.
About the Role
We’re accelerating the pace of mineral discovery. Our AI drill targeting software has gone 8 for 8 hitting mineralized targets, a significant improvement over industry standards. We are now making the product bullet-proof for enterprise deployment so we can scale up mineral discovery at a global scale. In this role, you’ll set the technical direction for the engineering team and lead the transition from an early product with traction into the platform the world’s biggest mining companies use to discover new minerals.
This is not a CRUD app – you’ll architect software for rugged and remote parts of the world, from APIs that orchestrate massive cluster computing systems to interfaces that work in an arctic snowstorm in January. You’ll make the calls that decide whether the system holds up at 10x scale. The best part - you’ll help build and lead a world-class team of scientists, engineers, and explorers that live and breathe this work every day.
What You’ll Do
Own the architecture of the platform across web, mobile, data, and compute
Set the technical direction for the engineering team, and mentor and grow it as we scale
Design high-performance computing architectures to orchestrate hundreds of thousands of parallelized physics simulations
Lead development of agentic AI systems that automate mineral exploration workflows
Build the systems that connect 3D AI geological models to the people who use them
Make the product enterprise-ready: security, reliability, observability, deployment
Work directly with scientists, geologists, and customers to turn field problems into roadmap
About You
Bachelor’s in computer science or equivalent experience
8+ years professional software engineering experience, including 2+ years leading engineers or owning the architecture of a system at scale
Fluent in Python, Go, and Javascript (or similar languages)
Proven track record taking a product from early traction to enterprise-grade
Deep experience with distributed systems and cloud infrastructure
Able to travel to remote parts of the US and world
Location
San Diego, California Field deployments as needed
Salary
Starting at $220,000 + equity
Benefits
100% healthcare coverage (medical, dental, vision)
If you’re ready to accelerate critical mineral discovery across the world, we encourage you to apply!
Apply Now