Senior Software Engineer – AI-Powered GovTech (Hybrid NYC)

Kaizen; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health & Insurance

One Medical membership

401(k) company match

Parental leave

Job summary

Kaizen, based in New York City, seeks a senior engineer to shape AI-native features across a government-focused platform used by millions. This hybrid role requires residency or commutable access to NYC and involves influencing technical direction, mentoring peers, and delivering end-to-end capabilities with a focus on reliability and performance.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years of engineering experience, strong React/Next.js and Node.js/TypeScript/Postgres skills, and a track record of

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional engineering experience, with a track record of owning complex features and systems.
• Deep fluency in React / Next.js and Node.js / TypeScript / Postgres — fast, not just functional
• AI coding tools (Cursor, Copilot, Claude) are already baked into how you work. You’ve shipped with them, and you move measurably faster because of it
• You’ve built something real — a product, an open source project, a system you designed and stood behind
• Proven ability to operate in ambiguity: you define the problem as often as you solve it, and you don’t stall waiting for the answer to come to you
• A genuine orientation toward the end user, the person on the other side of the screen isn’t an abstraction to you

Responsibilities

• Architect and ship full-stack features end-to-end — from scoping and technical design through build, iteration, and production
• Lead the development of AI-powered product surfaces: intelligent intake flows, real-time constituent assistants, automated case routing, agency operator dashboards
• Set technical direction and raise the bar on code quality. Your decisions become the patterns the rest of the team builds on
• Engage directly with federal agency stakeholders to translate messy real-world requirements into clean, shippable product
• Own platform reliability and performance at government scale — real SLAs, real users, no abstraction layer between you and accountability
• Mentor earlier‑career engineers through code review, pairing, and direct technical feedback

Skills

React

Next.js

Node.js

TypeScript

Postgres

AI tools

Tools

Cursor

Copilot

Claude

Job description

Kaizen, based in New York City, seeks a senior engineer to shape AI-native features across a government-focused platform used by millions. This hybrid role requires residency or commutable access to NYC and involves influencing technical direction, mentoring peers, and delivering end-to-end capabilities with a focus on reliability and performance.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years of engineering experience, strong React/Next.js and Node.js/TypeScript/Postgres skills, and a track record of