Staff/Principal Software Engineer (HHS)

About Skylight

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, build, and operate production systems that make government services more reliable and accessible for the people who depend on them.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is launching one of the most ambitious transformations in government — and this is a rare chance to be part of it. You’ll join a high-impact team of product managers, researchers, designers, engineers, and security experts working side-by-side with HHS leadership to modernize the systems people rely on to access healthcare, strengthen cybersecurity that protects personal data, launch digital services used by tens of millions every day, and integrate data and AI responsibly into daily work across the department so teams at every level can make smarter, safer decisions.

As a software engineer on this project, you’ll deliver production-ready software as part of a cross-functional team and support services through build, deployment, and operations. You’ll apply modern engineering practices, build secure and resilient systems, and reduce technical debt to improve stability. Just as importantly, you’ll prepare federal teams to sustain these improvements by sharing knowledge and practices that last — from training and enablement to reusable tools like templates, playbooks, and decision records.

What you’ll do

• 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

What we're looking for

Minimum qualifications

• 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
• Ability to travel for work from time to time

Nice-to-have qualifications

• 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

Don’t meet every qualification but think you can do the job? We’d still love to