Senior Software Engineer - City Environmental Quality Review

Job Description

THIS POSITION IS TEMPORARILY FUNDED THROUGH DECEMBER 2027 WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF FURTHER EXTENSION.

THE AGENCY
The Department of City Planning (DCP) plans for the future of New York City, working to create thriving and dynamic neighborhoods with access to housing and jobs, resilient infrastructure, and a vibrant public realm. The Department engages communities to develop inclusive plans, expands housing access and economic opportunity, and plans for long-term sustainability.

DCP supports the City Planning Commission in its annual review of hundreds of land use applications. The Department also advises on citywide strategic and capital planning, analyzes data, conducts policy analysis, and creates open data and civic engagement tools.

The Department of City Planning offers staff meaningful opportunities to help shape the future of New York City and address some of its most pressing challenges. The Department values public service, collaboration, and creativity, and supports professional development. Learn more about DCP and view current job openings at www.nyc.gov/planning.

THE DIVISION
Information Technology Division’s (ITD) vision is to become a dynamic and vibrant technology delivery organization of the New York City government that leads business transformations and technology innovations to enable citizen-centric smart urban planning, while promoting a culture of collaboration, talent development, and equity. ITD is responsible for developing technology solutions to support agency needs and citywide requests, including City Charter mandates, grant funding requirements, and citywide geospatial services, and maintaining systems infrastructure and endpoint assets, to optimize operational efficiency, promote innovation, and collaborate with other city agencies to enhance service accessibility to citizens. The division provides necessary computing infrastructure and productivity-enhancing technology tools in a hybrid mode (on premise and in the cloud), to support DCP’s interdisciplinary staff across five boroughs, including planners, urban designers, project managers, and executive management. The division is comprised of experienced and talented software engineers, geographic specialists, service engineers, and technology leaders who specialize in managing system infrastructure, cyber security, geospatial data engineering, application services, and portfolio management.

Within ITD, the Geographic Data and Engineering (GDE) unit consists of application engineering, data engineering, geographic information systems, and geographic research teams, responsible for creating and implementing the agency’s data strategy and data governance policy, updating and maintaining core citywide datasets in support of 911 dispatch and critical city operations, improving the creation, use, and availability of geospatial datasets within the agency, and providing data products and map-based visualization systems for the agency, other agencies, and the public.

THE ROLE
GDE is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to join the Application Engineering team that consists of motivated, team-oriented, full-stack developers responsible for developing and maintaining web applications used by the agency and the public. The applications make data more accessible and understandable, facilitate better planning decisions, support essential public services provided by the agency, and leverage agile development processes, rapid prototyping, and human-centered design through collaboration with other teams and stakeholders. The selected candidate will participate in all aspects of web application development, ranging from building complex geospatial UIs, to designing and implementing APIs and relational databases, to improving our CI/CD pipelines and workflows.

Under supervision and general direction, with considerable latitude for the exercise of independent judgment, the Senior Software Engineer’s responsibilities include, but may not be limited to:
- Building complex geospatial frontend applications using modern JavaScript frameworks such as React or Ember.
- Building RESTful APIs using frameworks such as Nest.js, Ruby on Rails, or Django.
- Applying a thorough understanding of web accessibility best practices and implementation.
- Writing effective, reliable unit and end-to-end tests.
- Possess a deep understanding of Git and platforms such as Gitlab or GitHub for collaboration.
- Writing full stack Typescript and showing proficiency with all aspects of the JavaScript ecosystem including npm module publishing, ES6, and build tools such as Webpack, Parcel, or Vite.
- Designing and building relational databases, particularly with PostgreSQL, and knowledge of relational database best practices and domain modeling.
- Proficiency with spatial data and modern web mapping technologies, including PostGIS, D