Software Engineer
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Role details
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Job description
You’ll assess legacy systems, shape the technical strategy for modernizing them, and pair directly with government engineers to raise the bar on how software gets built. Expect to spend your time in architecture reviews, working sessions with vendors and Air Force teams, and hands-on demonstrations of modern, AI-assisted engineering practices. What to know going in
Your first 30 days are about working with the Skylight team and government personnel, learning the client’s domain and organization, and enabling your government partners. Access to users varies from team to team, so you’ll need to get creative about how you reach them. The client is early- to mid-transformation, so expect organizational and operational change along the way.
This role is contingent on Skylight being awarded the underlying contract. If we’re not awarded the contract, we’ll let you know promptly and discuss whether there are other opportunities that fit. What you’ll do
- Assess legacy applications and their technical environments to identify technical debt, instability, and other opportunities for improvement, then design, document, and communicate solutions
- Own the modernization strategy, technical direction, architectural decisions, and test strategy for the modernization, in collaboration with government engineers and partner vendors but accountable for the result
- Advocate for and model lean-agile engineering practices such as API-first design, simple design, continuous integration, version control, and automated testing
- Guide teams toward secure, compliant software that meets federal security standards and defends against common vulnerabilities
- Pair with and coach government engineers so modern practices, including AI-assisted development, stick after you’ve moved on
- Collaborate with product managers, researchers, and designers so technical recommendations serve user and mission needs
Requirements
- Ability to write clean, working, and reusable code
- Understand the different pieces of software systems and how to fit them together, while keeping performance, reliability, and availability in mind
- Familiar with how to build secure, compliant software and defend against common vulnerabilities
- Experience evaluating existing systems and communicating technical findings and recommendations to both engineers and non-technical stakeholders
- Comfort holding architectural decision rights on a multi-vendor engagement, and making the tradeoffs legible to non-technical stakeholders
- Experience working in agile software development
- Interest in mentoring, coaching, and pairing with government partners so they can carry the work forward
- Experience working on cross-functional teams (product, design, engineering, ops) in iterative delivery
- A mindset and work approach that aligns with our core values
Nice-to-haves
- Military or government experience
- Experience leading legacy modernization efforts or reverse-engineering legacy applications where the code, the documentation, and stakeholder knowledge don’t agree
- Experience with web-based tech stacks (e.g., Java/React) and cloud infrastructure
- Experience coaching other engineers on the failure modes of AI-assisted development
- Experience delivering technology in government, regulated industries, or other public-benefit settings
- A track record of staying aligned and accountable on remote teams, * 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 and maintain a Common Access Card (CAC), which requires a favorable background check.
- You must complete a company background check successfully.
Benefits & conditions
Posted 9 Hours Ago Remote Hiring Remotely in United States 90K-230K Annually Expert/Leader Remote Hiring Remotely in United States 90K-230K Annually Expert/Leader Lead legacy application assessments and modernization strategy for U.S. Air Force systems. Own architectural decisions, technical direction, and test strategy while collaborating with government engineers, vendors, product managers, researchers, and designers. Promote secure, compliant, agile engineering practices; coach government teams; evaluate technical environments; communicate recommendations; and demonstrate modern AI-assisted development practices. The role is fully remote, requires U.S. citizenship and CAC eligibility, and involves occasional quarterly travel to Air Force bases. The summary above was generated by AI About Skylight, 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, Your well-being is important to us, so we focus on supporting you in a variety of ways:
- 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 $2000 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
Interview tips
Our process includes a preliminary screen, a skills interview, a behavioral interview, and a reverse interview where you meet your potential team - usually four conversations across two to three weeks. Here are some tips to help you prepare for a successful interview:
- Visit our join page to learn more about how our interview process works.
- Check out our Career Pathways framework to learn more about the different roles within Skylight and the skills needed to do them.
- Browse our case studies to learn more about our work., 75K-113K Annually Mid level 75K-113K Annually Mid level Artificial Intelligence * Automotive * Greentech * Information Technology * Machine Learning * Software * Cybersecurity Manages a regional portfolio of automotive dealership clients, focusing on relationship management, product adoption, revenue retention, upgrades, upselling, and client performance improvement. Identifies risks, develops corrective action plans, analyzes account trends, provides product guidance and training, and collaborates internally to address client needs. The role is remote with occasional onsite visits and may support workshops, webinars, vendor events, and new-hire training. Top Skills: MS OfficeScreen-Sharing SoftwareWeb-Based Systems
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- Number of Tech Workers: 260,000; 8.5% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
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About the company
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.
A consulting software engineer focuses on advisory engagements where the deliverable is guidance, assessment, or technical strategy rather than delivering code.
Skylight has partnered with the U.S. Air Force across multiple legacy modernization efforts. The work spans modernization of legacy systems, new capability development in multi-vendor environments, iteration on established platforms, all inside an agile transformation and broader organizational change.
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