Senior/Staff/Principal Software Engineer, Fullstack

About Skylight

Skylight is a digital consultancy using design and technology to help government agencies deliver better public services. We're at the forefront of a civic movement to reinvent how all levels of government serve families, patients, and many others in today's digital world. If you want to play a part in driving this critical movement forward, we'd love for you to join our growing team of public interest technologists. The work we do matters.

About the job

At Skylight, software engineers design, implement, and maintain software systems to improve government services for users. This software is built to meet the needs of regular users of government services as well as Skylight's partners in government.

As a full stack engineer, you'll design, build, and maintain software end-to-end --- from accessible, Section 508-compliant interfaces to the APIs and services behind them --- that keeps secure data exchanges reliable and performant. You'll work as part of a cross-functional team to deliver software that is reliable, secure, and meets federal security standards, and you'll help grow the team's engineering capacity through coaching and knowledge sharing.

What you'll do

• Engineer a software product end-to-end --- frontend and backend --- as part of a cross-functional team that includes researchers, designers, product managers, and other engineers
• Build accessible, Section 508-compliant interfaces and the APIs and services behind them, keeping secure data exchanges reliable and performant
• Achieve technical excellence by advocating for and adhering to lean-agile engineering practices such as API-first design, simple design, continuous integration, version control, and automated testing
• Build secure, compliant software that meets federal security standards and defends against common vulnerabilities
• Analyze systems to identify technical debt, instability, and other opportunities for improvement, then design, document, and communicate solutions
• Mentor other engineers and share knowledge to strengthen the team's engineering practice

What we're looking for

Minimum qualifications

• Ability to write clean, working, and reusable code across both frontend and backend
• Can produce high-quality code by adhering to good practices such as automated testing
• Possess a foundational understanding of data engineering, including how to use various datastores to handle persistent data in software systems
• Familiar with how to build secure, compliant software and defend against common vulnerabilities
• Understand the different pieces of software systems and how to fit them together, while keeping performance, reliability, and availability in mind
• Understand the importance of always putting users at the center of your work, including thinking through the impact and implications of any code that you write
• Experience mentoring engineers and setting technical direction across a team or product (staff and principal levels)
• Ability to work successfully within a professional services environment (e.g., can communicate effectively with clients)
• Passionate about creating better public outcomes through great government services
• A mindset and work approach that aligns with our core values
• Ability to travel for work from time to time

Nice-to-have qualifications

• Experience working with databases and/or cloud infrastructure
• Familiarity with CI/CD best practices
• Experience with infrastructure as code (e.g., Docker, Terraform)
• Experience building software that handles sensitive personal data (e.g., tax, financial, or benefits information)
• Prior experience working in the civic tech space
• Experience working in a remote-team environment

Don't meet every qualification but think you can do the job? We'd still love to hear from you. If you're excited about the role, apply. We consider candidates with a range of backgrounds and experiences.

Other requirements

• All work must be conducted within the U.S., excluding U.S. territories.
• You must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. now and in the future without sponsorship.
• As a government contractor, you may be required to obtain a public trust or security clearance.
• You must complete a company background check successfully.
• Some of our available roles are on federal contracts that require a degree or additional years of experience as a substitute.

Position type

This is a full-time, exempt position.

Location

This role is fully remote.

Care package

Salary

We want to give you the most competitive salary possible. After all, you deserve it! To that end, we use the results of our interview process to determine what salary is most appropriate given your current level of seniority. For a Software Engineer at Skylight, the current salary ranges are as follows:

• Associate Software Engineer: $90,000-$125,000
• Software Engineer I: $120,000-$140,000
• Software Engineer II: $135,000-$160,000
• Senior Software Engineer: $150,000-$185,000
• Staff Software Engineer: $170,000-$203,000
• Principal Software Engineer: $180,000-$230,000

Benefits

Your well-being is important to us, so we focus on supporting you in a variety of ways:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability, life and AD&D insurance
• Dependent care FSA, healthcare FSA, health savings account
• 401(k) match up to 10% with no vesting
• Flexible PTO (approx. 25 days) + 11 federal holidays
• 12 weeks paid parental leave
• Performance rewards, bonuses, and stock options
• Annual professional development and tech allowances
• Flexible, remote-friendly work environment

Interview tips

• Visit our join page to learn more about our interview process.
• Check out our Career Pathways framework.
• For reasonable accommodations, contact [email protected].

We participate in E-Verify. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.