The R&D Department is made up of different disciplines including software and database engineers, quality, technical implementation. R&D designs and develops requested product features, fixes bugs within our platform, provides technical analysis and estimation, ensures successful integration installations, manages and monitors the health of our platform, and develops automation and tooling for efficient and reliable software development processes. R&D works cross-functionally with many other departments in the organization as a team to fulfill Findhelp’s mission of connecting all people in need and the programs that serve them with dignity and ease.
As a Staff Software Engineer, you will be a technical leader within a cross-functional team, driving the architecture and end-to-end delivery of major, high-impact platform features that directly serve our mission. This role requires applying deep technical expertise to solve complex, ambiguous engineering challenges and mentor the team to raise the overall quality bar.
Responsibilities and Duties:
Design and Implement full-stack features from initial concept through deployment, prioritizing an intuitive and efficient end user experience.
Drive the planning and design of new services and platform components, with a keen focus on scalability, security, and maintainability across the entire system.
Explore and integrate machine learning and data science techniques to enhance service matching, platform search capabilities, and operational efficiency.
Deliver high-quality, well-tested code and engage in rigorous peer code reviews and pair programming sessions to uphold team standards and best practices.
Take full ownership of features, including monitoring in production, diagnosing issues, and driving iterative improvements post-launch.
Lead efforts to improve platform health by proactively identifying and executing on refactoring and modernization opportunities.
Collaborate closely with Product Managers, Designers, and other engineering teams in a highly cross-functional environment, often serving as the primary technical contact.
Qualifications:
5-7 years of progressive professional experience as a Software Engineer.
Demonstrated ability to design, plan, and lead the technical execution of large-scale, cross-team projects with significant business impact.
Proven capacity to elevate the technical proficiency of the team, serving as a primary reviewer, technical lead, and mentor for engineers at all levels.
Expertise in architecting, documenting, and leading the implementation of new services and complex system components, emphasizing performance and longevity.
Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, for technical collaboration and documentation.
Deep expertise in relational databases (e.g., SQL, ORMs) and practical experience with non-relational databases.
Expertise in web performance strategies, optimization techniques, and observability/monitoring for mission-critical systems.
Strong experience with our primary stack: Python (or similar backend language) and ReactJS (or similar modern frontend framework).
Extensive practical experience designing and operating services within a microservices architecture or distributed system.
Direct experience with cloud platforms, specifically GCP (Google Cloud Platform), including managed services, security, and deployment (e.g., Kubernetes, Cloud Functions).
Physical demands and work environment
This job is based on-site in Austin, TX or Madison, WI with the opportunity to work remotely on Fridays.
This is largely a sedentary role.
Limited travel may be required.
Standard office equipment is used, such as laptops, monitors and headsets, if needed.
