Senior Software Engineer

Higher Ground Labs; Austin (TX); Remote; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to join their innovative team. In this remote-first role, you will build and maintain scalable web applications that empower progressive candidates and organizations. Your contributions will drive civic engagement and promote democratic participation. The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-paced environment, possesses strong back-end development skills, and is passionate about using technology for the public good. Join a mission-driven team that values diversity and collaboration, and make a meaningful impact in the realm of democracy and civic participation.

Benefits

Medical, Vision, & Dental Insurance

401(k) plan

Employee Stock Options

Employer-paid Life Insurance

Flexible Time Off & Paid Company Holidays

Professional Development Stipend

Flexible Schedules

Qualifications

• 6+ years of software engineering experience with a strong focus on back-end development.
• Experience with modern JavaScript frameworks for dynamic front-end features.

Responsibilities

• Design and maintain web-based applications that empower progressive organizations.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver impactful features.

Skills

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)

JavaScript

React

TypeScript

Cloud Environments

Data Analysis

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Google Cloud Platform

Entity Framework

GitLab CI

PostgreSQL

BigQuery

Job description

Civitech is a public benefit corporation dedicated to creating a fairer and more equitable democracy by building the tools and infrastructure needed to increase civic participation, empower Democratic candidates to win, and support the success of progressive causes. Since its founding in 2019, over 500 partners -- a range of nonprofit organizations, national political committees, and individual campaigns -- have utilized Civitech’s tools to reach tens of millions of voters to help create a more equitable and progressive democracy.

The Senior Software Engineer will be responsible for building and maintaining front-end and back-end solutions for desktop and mobile web applications that empower progressive candidates and organizations. Civitech is a remote-first company hiring within our current footprint of 24 states (AK, CA, CO, DC, DE, FL, HI, IL, MA, MD, MN, ND, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OH, SD, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI, WY); Civitech does have an office in Austin, TX.

About Our Engineering Team:

The Engineering team is focused on building scalable, secure, and user-friendly applications that empower progressive organizations, drive civic engagement, and promote democratic participation, while working closely with product, design, and data teams to deliver impactful solutions.

The Senior Software Engineer is on our Engineering Team, and reports to our Director of Web Applications.

It is important that our team reflects the diversity of the organizations we seek to serve. We strongly encourage women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, and others otherwise underrepresented in the technology sector to apply.

What You Will Do:

• Participate in the design, implementation, and maintenance of our web-based applications
• Build scalable, secure, and high-performing application features in a cloud environment
• Mentor other engineers, build an open and inclusive team, cultivate agile methodologies, and foster a culture of sustainable tech health
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product managers, designers, and analysts, to deliver impactful features.

About You:

• You thrive in a fast-paced startup environment, enjoy building software for the public good, and are passionate about democracy, civics, and politics
• You have at least 6 years experience in a software engineering role
• You have experience with back-end development, including a solid understanding of object-oriented programming (OOP) principles and working with object-relational mappers (ORMs) like Entity Framework or similar tools
• You can develop dynamic and user-friendly front-end features using modern JavaScript frameworks and libraries such as React, TypeScript, Tailwind, and JQuery
• You have hands-on experience working with cloud environments, particularly Google Cloud Platform (preferred), but Azure, or AWS are also valuable
• You prioritize writing maintainable and well-documented code, and you value collaboration by actively seeking and incorporating feedback from your team
• You are committed to leveraging data to elect Democrats and empower progressive organizations

Additional Qualifications (desired but not required):

• Proficiency in the ASP.NET Core ecosystem, including Entity Framework Core
• Familiarity with domain-driven design and experience working with frameworks like Volo ABP Framework
• Experience with continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) tools, especially GitLab CI
• Skilled in database administration, with a preference for PostgreSQL
• Experience working with cloud data warehouses, particularly BigQuery, to manage and analyze large datasets efficiently
• Knowledge of scaling and high-availability techniques to support performant and reliable systems
• Expertise in application server security practices, including cryptography, authentication, authorization, and data privacy
• Experience contributing to automated test suites and ensuring robust test coverage
• Familiarity with load testing tools to measure and optimize application performance
• Proficiency in Python for scripting, automation, or data-related tasks
• Adherence to Clean Code principles and a commitment to writing maintainable, well-structured code
• Experience with a developer tools like Insomnia, Postman, and Swagger for API testing and documentation
• Strong writing skills to produce clear and concise technical documentation
• Knowledge of U.S. elections administration and/or campaign operations is a plus

Why Work at Civitech:

• Medical, Vision, & Dental Insurance
• 401(k) plan
• Employee Stock Options
• Employer-paid Life Insurance
• Optional Short/Long Term Disability Insurance
• Flexible Time Off & Paid Company Holidays
• Flexible Spending Account
• Parental Leave
• Flexible Schedules
• Professional Development Stipend
• Monthly Office Upkeep Stipend

Civitech's Values:

• We act with Integrity – At Civitech, we hold ourselves to the highest standards and value open and transparent communications with all of our stakeholders. Our rigorous approach to product design, testing, and data science leads to accurate assessments of our outcomes and challenges us to constantly improve our tools.
• We are Changemakers – As a team, Civitech seeks to make transformational change in our democracy by eliminating obstacles meant to hamper contribution from every member of the community.
• We are Collaborators - Buoyed by our mission, we look for opportunities to partner with everyone committed to making democracy easier to participate in. We seek to understand the challenges our partners face and use our skills and creativity to help them solve them.
• We are Bold – We recognize that disruptive change won’t come with doing business as usual. Civitech seeks to revolutionize civic participation by bringing innovation and creativity to politics.

Civitech is not able to provide visa sponsorship at this time.

Civitech provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws.

No recruiters or agencies, please!