Staff/Principal Software Engineer

Skylight is a digital consultancy focused on enhancing public services through technology and design. The role of Staff/Principal Software Engineer involves designing, building, and operating production systems to improve the reliability and accessibility of government services, while also sharing knowledge and practices with federal teams.

Responsibilities:

• Deliver production-ready software and own services through build, deployment, and operations
• Apply lean-agile engineering practices — including API-first development, trunk-based workflows, continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD), version control, and automated testing
• Standardize and automate environments with infrastructure as code (IaC) and policy as code to create secure, repeatable delivery
• Improve reliability and performance with observability practices such as metrics, logs, and traces, guided by service level objectives (SLOs)
• Modernize and integrate systems across cloud platforms and enterprise services, with a preference for open source where it fits
• Build in security, privacy, and accessibility from day one — including evidence automation for compliance and adherence to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 508)
• Identify and reduce technical debt by analyzing stability and operability, then designing and communicating remediation plans
• Help federal teams sustain improvements by delivering training and enablement, and by leaving behind reusable resources such as templates, playbooks, and decision records

Requirements:

• Experience writing clean, reliable, and reusable code for large-scale production systems
• Familiarity with modern delivery practices — CI/CD, automated testing, code review, and operating services in cloud environments
• Hands-on experience with IaC and environment automation
• Understanding of secure software practices and how to integrate compliance into delivery
• Knowledge of data persistence and patterns for building resilient, observable services
• Clear communication skills with executives and cross-functional teams
• Commitment to equipping federal teams with documentation, training, and mentoring to sustain improvements
• Ability to work effectively in a professional services environment
• Passion for improving public outcomes through great government services
• A mindset and work approach that align with Skylight's core values
• All work must be conducted within the U.S., excluding U.S. territories. Some federal contracts require U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment
• 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 may be required to 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
• Experience with containers and orchestration tools (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes)
• Background in application or cloud modernization, integrations, or data-intensive products
• Familiarity with compliance environments such as Authority to Operate (ATO), the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), or the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA)
• Experience in civic tech, government, or other highly regulated environments
• Experience working effectively on hybrid or distributed teams