Staff Software Engineer – Extensibility and Integration

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Arizona, +27 more states.

📋 Description

• Architect and spearhead database modernization initiatives, enhancing large-scale systems for optimal efficiency and reliability while protecting sensitive donor data through advanced data management and retention methodologies.

• Oversee the design and execution of scalable data solutions and robust APIs, ensuring seamless data integration, high availability, and alignment with business objectives for maximum performance during critical fundraising moments.

• Drive the technical implementation of significant cross-team projects, collaborating with multiple engineers to devise and implement solutions that balance high-impact opportunities with effort, scope, and technical trade-offs.

• Decompose initiative-level tasks across various epics and contribute technical insights to influence the team's roadmap prioritization.

• Proactively address database performance, refining schemas and improving data retrieval processes while establishing strategic integrations for vendor APIs to enhance system interconnectivity.

• Act as a technical advisor and primary resource for engineers across teams on complex architectural decisions, system design, and best practices — especially regarding extensibility, integrations, and data exchange.

• Promote comprehensive monitoring systems and software quality standards, implementing best practices that foresee and accommodate future scalability and maintenance requirements.

• Acknowledge the necessity of confronting technical debt directly. Your proactive stance will ensure our systems remain nimble and adaptable, positioning us for future success.

• Exhibit technical leadership by producing documentation, establishing effective testing and monitoring processes, and encouraging clear and audience-centered communication.

• Mentor and coach engineers within your team, creating professional development opportunities and collaborating with engineering managers to identify sponsorship and growth avenues for your colleagues.

• Demonstrate effective feedback during code reviews, articulating the "why" in an easily comprehensible manner, and create environments where individuals feel engaged, valued, and heard.

⛳️ Requirements

• 6-8 years of pertinent professional experience, showcasing the ability to provide technical leadership for multi-quarter initiatives with complex requirements, strategic thinking, and cross-team collaboration.

• Extensive experience in developing and maintaining large monolithic server-side web applications, including modifying APIs to successfully implement features.

• Comprehensive understanding of a range of technology stacks; expert knowledge of dependencies, requirements, impacts, and risks across technical domains. While our team primarily focuses on the back end, an ideal candidate would possess experience and understanding of the entire technological landscape.

• Profound understanding of performance, scalability, and security best practices, with the capability to recommend system-level enhancements to address concerns for extensive systems. Recognized as a go-to consultant that engineers seek for guidance in these areas.

• Experience in designing and integrating third-party APIs and constructing extensible systems that cater to diverse downstream tools and data consumers.

• Proven experience in creating frameworks that foster a culture of defensive testing; consistently debugging complex issues across the stack, irrespective of the environment, identifying root causes or viable workarounds.

• A history of effective collaboration with engineers to develop abstractions and patterns that simplify the process of building reliable software.

• Willingness to explore and refactor legacy code — we have been undertaking this for some time and require an engineer with an empathetic yet forward-thinking approach to navigating an older codebase.

• Ability to communicate effectively with non-technical stakeholders and collaboratively translate business requirements and strategic objectives into technical solutions, adapting communication style to suit the audience.

• Experience in coaching engineers on mentoring others; nurturing a culture of delivering specific praise and constructive feedback.

• Capable of providing support and stability during urgent situations; contributing holistic solutions during post-mortems.

• An inclusive and generous working style: you enjoy mentoring, collaborating, and uplifting your team by supporting peers, offering coaching and guidance to multiple team members, and anticipating where your assistance would be beneficial.

🏝️ Benefits

• Flexible work schedules and an unlimited time-off policy

• Fully paid and trans-inclusive health, dental, and vision insurance for employees and their families; plus fully-paid health reimbursement arrangement for out-of-pocket expenses and fully-paid short- and long-term disability

• Fully paid basic and AD&D life insurance along with a voluntary supplemental life insurance option

• Dependent and health care flexible spending account options

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) benefits for employees

• Automatic 2% employer-paid 401K contribution, plus up to an additional 6% match on employee contributions

• A minimum of three months paid medical, family, and parental leave (for all new parents, including adoptions)

• Commuter or home-office benefits, including a $1,000 home-office setup allowance for all new full-time remote employees

• Additional perks including quarterly snack deliveries and digital subscriptions to the Boston Globe & New York Times