Senior/Staff Software Engineer (U. S. Air Force) at Skylight

<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">About Skylight</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Skylight is a digital consultancy using design and technology to help government agencies deliver better public services.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The work we do matters.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">About the job</span></h2> <p>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.</p> <p>In this role, you’ll partner with a mission-critical organization within the U.S. Air Force Special Operations community to design, build, and maintain secure, scalable software systems that support highly specialized operations. You’ll apply modern engineering practices to improve complex workflows, integrate with existing defense systems, and deliver resilient solutions that enhance usability, operational efficiency, and mission readiness. Working in close collaboration with cross-functional teammates and government partners, you’ll help modernize legacy environments while ensuring performance, security, and reliability at scale.</p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">What you’ll do</span></h2> <ul> <li>Engineer mobile software products as part of a cross-functional team, which includes user experience researchers and designers, product managers, engineers, and other functional specialists</li> <li>Achieve technical excellence by advocating for and adhering to lean-agile engineering principles and practices such as API-first design, simple design, continuous integration, version control, and automated testing</li> <li>Select and use the right tools, frameworks, languages, and technologies for the job, with a preference for open-source solutions</li> <li>Analyze systems to identify technical debt, instability, unreliability, and other opportunities for improvement, as well as design, document, and communicate solutions</li> <li>Coordinate with government partners to ensure seamless integration with their existing tools and processes</li> </ul> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">What we're looking for</span></h2> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Minimum qualifications</span></h3> <ul> <li>Ability to write clean, working, and reusable code</li> <li>Experience with Full-stack, mobile app dev experience (e.g., iOS/Android, React Native, Swift, Kotlin)</li> <li>Mobile application development in a system of systems</li> <li>Can produce high-quality code by adhering to good practices such as automated testing</li> <li>Familiar with how to build secure, compliant software and defend against common vulnerabilities</li> <li>Possess a foundational understanding of data engineering, including how to use various datastores to handle persistent data in software systems</li> <li>Understand the different pieces of software systems and how to fit them together, while keeping performance, reliability, and availability in mind</li> <li>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</li> <li>Experience delivering products in defense or similarly regulated environments</li> <li>Ability to work successfully within a professional services environment (e.g., can communicate effectively with clients)</li> <li>Passionate about creating better public outcomes through great government services</li> <li>A mindset and work approach that align with Skylight’s <a href="https://skylight.digital/company/values/">core values</a></li> <li>Ability to travel for work from time to time</li> </ul> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nice-to-have qualifications</span></h3> <ul> <li>Familiarity with software engineering best practices</li> <li>Consulting experience, and mentoring/coaching personnel</li> <li>Edge computing and experience with AI/ML is helpful</li> <li>Experience with multiple programming languages and/or full-stack development</li> <li>Prior experience working in the civic tech space</li> <li>Experience working in a remote-team environment</li> </ul> <p><em>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.</em></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Other requirements</span></h2> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">All work must be conducted within the U.S., excluding U.S. territories. This role requires U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">As a government contractor, you may be required to obtain a public trust or security clearance, up to Top Secret.&nbsp;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">You may be required to complete a company background check successfully.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some of our available roles are on federal contracts that require a degree or additional years of experience as a substitute.</span></li> </ul> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Position type</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is a full-time, exempt position.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Location</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is a fully remote position.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Care package</span></h2> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Salary</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Associate Software Engineer: $90,000–$125,000</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Software Engineer I: $120,000–$140,000</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Software Engineer II: $135,000–$160,000</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Senior Software Engineer: $150,000–$185,000</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Staff Software Engineer: $170,000–$203,000</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Principal Software Engineer: $180,000–$230,000</span></li> </ul> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Benefits</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Your well-being is important to us, so we focus on supporting you in a variety of ways:</span></p> <ul> <li>Medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance</li> <li>Short-term and long-term disability insurance</li> <li>Life and AD&amp;D insurance</li> <li>Dependent care FSA, healthcare FSA, health savings account</li> <li>Dollar-for-dollar 401(k) match up to 10% of your salary with no vesting period</li> <li>Flexible paid-time-off policy (generally around 25 days per year), plus 11 paid federal holidays</li> <li>Up to 12 weeks paid-time-off for all eligible new birth, adoption, or foster parents</li> <li>Performance rewards, including annual salary increase, annual performance bonus, spot bonuses, and stock options</li> <li>Business development / sales bonuses</li> <li>Referral bonuses</li> <li>Annual $2,000 allowance for professional development</li> <li>Annual $750 allowance for tech-related purchases</li> <li>Annual swag budget of $100 to display your Skylight pride with some merchandise (hoodies, hats, and more)</li> <li>Dollar-for-dollar charity donation matching, up to $500 per year</li> <li>Flexible, remote-friendly work environment</li> <li>An environment that empowers you to unleash your superpowers for public good</li> </ul> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Interview tips</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We want you to have a great interview experience with us! Here are some tips to help you prepare for a successful interview:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Visit our</span><a href="https://skylight.digital/careers/join/"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></a><a href="https://skylight.digital/careers/join/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">join page</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to learn more about how our interview process works.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Check out our</span><a href="https://skylight.digital/careers/career-pathways/"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Career Pathways framework</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to learn more about the different roles within Skylight and the skills needed to do them.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you’d like to request reasonable accommodations during the application or interviewing process, please contact our recruiting team at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></li> </ul> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">We participate in E-Verify and upon hire, will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you’re authorized to work in the U.S.</span></em></p> <p><em>We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, veteran status, or any other category protected by applicable law.</em></p>