[Hiring] Principal Software Engineer @Code for America

Role Description

Code for America is looking for a talented Principal Software Engineer who will help define the technical standards and practices that our engineering discipline builds on — driving reliable, high-quality software delivery across multiple teams and projects that make public services more accessible and effective for the people who need them most.

In this position you will:

• Technical Delivery
  • Craft new features that help users more easily navigate government services and receive a dignified experience.
  • Drive solutions to technical problems that are ambiguous or undefined.
  • Own architecture and data-modeling decisions for systems that span multiple services or teams.
  • Work iteratively to prove out approaches, then engineer what works into durable, reusable capabilities.
  • Support Engineering's culture of writing by producing documentation, technical decision records, and learning materials.
• Technical Leadership & Mentorship
  • Set and document technical direction for your domain.
  • Mentor Staff and Senior Software Engineers on technical judgment and engineering practice.
  • Partner with Engineering Managers, Directors, and cross-functional peers to translate technology, policy, and organizational trends into technical strategy.
  • Set shared engineering standards and reference architectures for your domain.
  • Share what works across projects back into engineering-wide practices.
• Organizational Technical Strategy
  • Partner with Engineering Managers, Directors, and cross-functional peers to translate technology, policy, and organizational trends into technical strategy.
  • Explore emerging technologies and engineering approaches.
  • Represent Engineering's technical perspective in cross-discipline planning and decision-making.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, with deep expertise in system architecture, data modeling, web technologies, and API design.
• Demonstrated track record of defining technical standards or patterns that were adopted across multiple teams.
• Experience framing and solving ambiguous, previously undefined technical problems.
• Expertise across multiple languages, frameworks, and tech stacks.
• Demonstrated ability to use AI coding tools judiciously.
• Experience with Agile software development models like Scrum, XP, TDD, or BDD.
• Demonstrated technical leadership across team boundaries.
• Experience with cloud infrastructure and IaC tooling.
• Experience collaborating across disciplines and mentoring engineers.
• Truly excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• A deep commitment to Code for America's mission.

Requirements

• Deep expertise in one or more specific technology or domain areas relevant to Code for America's product portfolio.
• Personal or professional experience with the social safety net or other mission-relevant government services.
• Experience as a tech lead, engineering manager, or similar leadership role prior to moving into a Principal IC track.
• Experience building and integrating AI-powered features in production systems.

Benefits

• Salary range from $143,884 to $176,138 annually.
• Comprehensive benefits package including:
• Laptop provided.
• A one-time $700 payment for remote environment setup.
• Cell phone and/or internet reimbursement of $50 per month.
• $500 annual stipend towards professional development.
• Training/guidance for staff required to utilize AI.
• 100% employer match on the first 3% of contributions to retirement plans.
• At least one no-cost health insurance option for full-time employees.
• Open personal time off, a minimum of 14 paid holidays, and an org-wide closure from Christmas Day through New Year's Day.
• Paid sick time; up to 96 hours annually.
• 17 weeks of paid parental and family leave.
• 3 weeks of paid sabbatical after 5 years of service.