Been in a similar situation. I was a lead with almost 20 years experience, and I got laid off right before the pandemic.
It takes a bit of patience. One thing that I learned is that ageism really isn't a thing, but that most openings really are for people with a little less experience than us. This is because a lot of companies are willing to take a chance on someone who costs less; but set the bar exceptionally high for someone who costs more.
To keep sane, I worked on learning projects and only hunted for jobs about 50% of my day-to-day time. My general pattern was to spend a few mornings or afternoons hunting through the "who's hiring" Hacker News thread, and then spend the remainder of the month seeing where it went. By the end of the month I was ready to hit the next "who's hiring" thread.
It took me almost a year. Thankfully pandemic unemployment kept me from digging into savings.
Some things to keep in mind:
I recently worked with someone brilliant who told me he had lots and lots of interviews before finding the job. He occasionally rubbed me the wrong way. I suspect he may have habitually rubbed people the wrong way in interviews, too.
Another time I rejected a candidate who was hired against my recommendation, who then went to be a lead. At times he was very difficult to work with, although he generally did the job well. My questions weren't hard, in this case, he interviewed for a job in C# and didn't know how to use a dictionary in a whiteboarding coding session... The interview just got... awkward.
Finally, don't forget that getting this kind of job is always a numbers game. Keep trying. Really. Just keep trying.