[Hiring] Senior Software Engineer @Skylight

Role Description

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. Legacy modernization engineers specialize in migrating, refactoring, or replacing legacy government systems with little to no downtime.

In this role, you’ll refactor and migrate aging Air Force web applications while keeping them running for the people who depend on them, and you’ll explain the technical tradeoffs clearly enough that government stakeholders can make good decisions.

What you’ll do

• Refactor and migrate legacy web applications onto a DoD software factory, with little to no downtime for users
• Engineer software as part of a cross-functional team of researchers, designers, product managers, and other engineers
• Achieve technical excellence by advocating for and adhering to lean-agile engineering practices such as simple design, continuous integration, version control, and automated testing
• Analyze systems to identify technical debt, instability, and other opportunities for improvement, and design, document, and communicate solutions
• Explain technical tradeoffs clearly to non-technical stakeholders and help them make decisions in a complex, multi-vendor environment
• Pair with and coach government engineers and incoming military developers so modern practices stick after we leave

Qualifications

• Ability to write clean, working, and reusable code
• Can produce high-quality code by adhering to good practices such as automated testing
• Familiar with how to build secure, compliant software and defend against common vulnerabilities
• Possess a foundational understanding of data engineering, including how to use various datastores to handle persistent data in software systems
• 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 shipping production software in a modern web stack, including refactoring or migrating legacy web applications
• Experience working in a government or regulated environment with formal security authorization (ATO)
• Experience working on cross-functional teams (product, design, engineering, ops) in iterative delivery
• A track record of staying aligned and accountable on remote teams
• A mindset and work approach that aligns with our core values

Nice-to-haves

• Angular experience
• Experience migrating applications to the cloud or a DoD software factory (Cloud One, MDaaS, Platform One, or similar)
• Experience testing COTS-based systems such as Esri or IBM TRIRIGA
• Experience writing automated tests and working in CI/CD, ideally GitLab CI
• Experience using AI-assisted development tools, paired with disciplined code review
• Experience delivering technology in government, regulated industries, or other public-benefit settings

Other requirements

• Some of our available roles are on federal contracts that require a degree or additional years of experience as a substitute.
• All work must be conducted within the U.S., excluding U.S. territories.
• This contract requires U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment.
• You must be able to obtain a Common Access Card (CAC) and any special access required for this contract.
• You must complete a company background check successfully.

Logistics

• Position type: This is a full-time, exempt position.
• Location: This is a fully remote position.
• Travel: This role includes occasional travel to Montgomery, AL, and other U.S. Air Force bases.
• Expected start date: We’re targeting a start date of November 30, 2026, pending contract award.

Benefits

• Medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Life and AD&D insurance
• Dependent care FSA, healthcare FSA, health savings account
• Dollar-for-dollar 401(k) match up to 10% of your salary with no vesting period
• Flexible paid-time-off policy (generally around 25 days per year), plus 11 paid federal holidays
• Up to 12 weeks paid-time-off for all eligible new birth, adoption, or foster parents
• Performance rewards, including annual salary increase, annual performance bonus, spot bonuses, and stock options
• Business development / sales bonuses
• Referral bonuses
• Annual $2,000 allowance for professional development
• Annual $750 allowance for tech-related purchases
• Annual swag budget of $100 to display your Skylight pride with some merchandise (hoodies, hats, and more)
• Flexible, remote-friendly work environment
• An environment that empowers you to unleash your superpowers for public good