Software Engineer II – AMIR

Client: Sempra
Project: AMI Replacement (AMIR)
Location: Monterey Park, CA or Remote
Experience: 5+ years
Employment Type: Contract

Important Notes

• This role supports the AMI Replacement (AMIR) project, a multi-year technology transformation focused on modernizing Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and meter data management capabilities.
• The position works closely with the HeadEnd Software Lead, technology teams, vendors, and the System Integrator.
• Candidates should have strong experience with complex application troubleshooting, software/integration issues, system performance, data quality, and production support.
• Strong SQL skills are preferred, particularly for troubleshooting, query optimization, data-quality analysis, and operational reporting.
• Experience with AWS, DevOps, GitHub, REST/SOAP APIs, streaming technologies, Datadog, and Splunk is preferred.
• Experience with utility AMI environments, HeadEnd systems, or Meter Data Management (MDM) is highly relevant.
• The role involves supporting testing, migration, cutover, and post-cutover stabilization activities.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, MIS, or a related field is preferred; equivalent education/experience may be considered.

Job Summary

We are looking for a Software Engineer II to support the AMIR project for Sempra. The engineer will own and support complex software subsystems, contribute to technical and design decisions, troubleshoot application and integration issues, and help ensure system performance, reliability, scalability, and maintainability.

The role will focus on configuring and supporting the vendor-provided HeadEnd application, resolving high-severity defects, developing operational scripts and monitoring capabilities, and supporting integration, testing, migration, cutover, and stabilization activities.

The ideal candidate will be comfortable working across application, platform, hardware, vendor, and business teams and will be able to independently analyze complex technical problems and drive them toward resolution.

Key Responsibilities

Software Engineering & System Design

• Own and provide technical leadership for complex subsystems and components.
• Lead technical execution across requirements, design, integration, testing, cutover, and stabilization activities.
• Design and implement moderately to highly complex software components and services.
• Define thread models, resource lifecycles, failure-handling approaches, and system behavior.
• Define subsystem interfaces and integration strategies.
• Develop sequence diagrams, state models, and technical design documentation.
• Establish and enforce appropriate interface and versioning standards.
• Review and approve technical designs and code for correctness, reliability, resilience, and maintainability.
• Establish quality gates and acceptance criteria for software changes.

Troubleshooting & Production Support

• Troubleshoot complex application, interface, integration, performance, and data-quality issues.
• Lead resolution of high-severity software defects and production issues.
• Analyze system performance, reliability, resource utilization, and application behavior.
• Investigate root causes and develop sustainable technical solutions.
• Work independently while coordinating with application, platform, hardware, and infrastructure teams.
• Evaluate vendor-provided code, configurations, test results, and proposed solutions.
• Identify technical risks and develop appropriate mitigation strategies.
• Maintain a technical risk register for assigned subsystems.

Automation, Monitoring & Operational Visibility

• Create scripts and automation to reduce manual operational tasks.
• Develop alerts, dashboards, and monitoring solutions to improve system visibility.
• Implement proactive issue-detection capabilities.
• Use monitoring and analytics tools to identify system trends, exceptions, performance issues, and operational problems.
• Support operational readiness and system stabilization following migrations and cutovers.

Testing & Validation

• Support and guide software validation and testing strategies.
• Define appropriate stress, endurance, performance, and fault-injection testing approaches.
• Establish measurable pass/fail criteria for validation activities.
• Support integration testing and defect resolution.
• Review test results and work with vendors and System Integrators to address issues.
• Support migration, cutover, and post-cutover stabilization activities.

Technical Leadership & Collaboration

• Lead small technical initiatives or feature areas.
• Coordinate tasks, track progress, and communicate outcomes.
• Influence technical implementation decisions within the project team.
• Collaborate with:
  • Technology teams
  • Application and platform teams
  • Hardware teams
  • Vendors
  • System Integrators
  • Business stakeholders
• Evaluate alternative implementation approaches and recommend technically sound solutions based on project and business requirements.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

Education

• 4-year degree in a relevant field or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Management Information Systems, or a related field is preferred.

Experience

• Typically 5+ years of relevant software engineering experience.
• Experience troubleshooting complex:
  • Applications
  • Software interfaces
  • Integration issues
  • Data-quality issues
  • Performance issues
• Experience working with cross-functional project teams, vendors, and business stakeholders to deliver software changes.

Required Technical Skills

Candidates should have demonstrated ability in:

• Software engineering and system component development
• Complex application troubleshooting
• Performance and reliability analysis
• Resource-usage analysis
• System/software architecture concepts
• Failure handling and fault analysis
• Operating systems and runtime environments
• Hardware/software interaction
• Platform constraints
• System integration
• Technical design and implementation
• Software testing and validation
• Technical risk identification and mitigation
• Development effort and complexity estimation
• Technical documentation
• Cross-functional technical collaboration

Preferred Technical Skills

Database & Data

• Advanced SQL
• SQL query development and troubleshooting
• Query optimization
• Data-quality analysis
• Data analytics and reporting
• Exception-pattern analysis
• Operational trend analysis

Cloud & DevOps

• AWS
• DevOps practices
• GitHub
• CI/CD and software delivery concepts

APIs & Integration

• REST APIs
• SOAP APIs
• Streaming technologies
• API integration
• Enterprise application integration

Monitoring & Observability

• Datadog
• Splunk
• Application monitoring
• Performance monitoring
• Alerting and dashboards
• Production observability

Utility / AMI Domain

Experience or familiarity with:

• AMI – Advanced Metering Infrastructure
• AMI HeadEnd systems
• Meter Data Management (MDM)
• Meter data environments
• Utility technology platforms
• AMI operations
• HeadEnd-to-MDM integrations
• AMI migration and cutover activities