Senior/Staff Fullstack Engineer

Selara; Time (IL); On-site; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Selara is hiring full-stack engineers to work on VA.gov, the front door for the Department of Veterans Affairs. You’ll build features across a React frontend and Ruby on Rails API, shipping from user forms to background jobs.

This posting covers two levels, with staff level including architectural direction and mentorship. You’ll design, implement, and deliver accessible, reliable experiences, collaborate across distributed teams, and improve CI and testing.

Qualifications

• Proven experience shipping production software with a JS frontend and Rails backend.
• Deep React and TypeScript expertise with modern patterns.
• Strong Rails API design, PostgreSQL, and background processing with Sidekiq.
• Ability to design for accessibility and reliability with upstream systems.
• Strong testing instincts across the stack and CI.
• Clear written communication in a remote, distributed team.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and ship features end-to-end across VA.gov React frontend and Rails APIs.
• Write modern React with function components, hooks, and TypeScript; migrate patterns.
• Build Rails API endpoints, service objects, and Sidekiq jobs with performance and security.
• Integrate with VA systems of record and handle failure modes to avoid data loss.
• Ensure accessibility from the VA Design System meeting WCAG 2.1 AA and 508.
• Improve test coverage and contribute to CI and observability.
• Provide guidance at staff level and mentor engineers across teams.

Skills

React

TypeScript

Ruby on Rails

API design

Accessibility (WCAG)

Testing

CI/CD

GitHub collaboration

Communication

Architecture leadership

Tools

GitHub

Job description

About The Role

Selara is hiring fullstack engineers to work on VA.gov, the digital front door for the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA.gov pairs a large React frontend with a Ruby on Rails API layer that brokers requests to the systems of record behind Veterans' benefits, health care, and claims. You will ship features across that whole path, from the form a Veteran fills out to the API and background jobs that carry it through.

About The Role

Selara is hiring fullstack engineers to work on VA.gov, the digital front door for the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA.gov pairs a large React frontend with a Ruby on Rails API layer that brokers requests to the systems of record behind Veterans' benefits, health care, and claims. You will ship features across that whole path, from the form a Veteran fills out to the API and background jobs that carry it through.

This is one posting for two levels. We calibrate senior against staff during the interview process based on the scope you have owned and the impact you have driven.

What you'll do

• Design, build, and ship features end to end across the VA.gov React frontend and its Rails APIs
• Write modern React with function components, hooks, and TypeScript, and help migrate older patterns toward that standard
• Build and maintain Rails API endpoints, service objects, and Sidekiq background jobs with performance, reliability, and security in mind
• Integrate with upstream VA systems of record and design for their failure modes, so a Veteran's submission is never silently lost
• Ship accessible interfaces from the VA Design System that meet WCAG 2.1 AA and Section 508
• Strengthen test coverage across RSpec, component tests, and browser‑level end‑to‑end tests
• Review code, improve CI and observability, and share context generously with a distributed team
• At the staff level, set technical direction across teams, mentor senior engineers, and drive cross‑service migrations

What we're looking for

• Deep experience shipping production software across a JavaScript frontend and a Rails backend
• Strong, current React and TypeScript skills, with modern patterns as your default
• Strong Ruby on Rails skills, including API design, ActiveRecord against PostgreSQL, background processing with Sidekiq, and testing with RSpec
• Sound judgment about where logic belongs across the client, the API, and asynchronous jobs
• A track record of building accessible, resilient user experiences over imperfect upstream systems
• Strong testing instincts across the whole stack
• Comfort with Git‑based collaboration, code review, and CI on GitHub
• Clear written communication in a remote, distributed team
• For staff, a history of leading architecture decisions that span services and teams

Nice to have

• Experience with VA.gov, the vets‑website or vets‑api codebases, or another large civic‑tech platform
• Familiarity with the US Web Design System or another mature design system
• Experience running Rails workloads on AWS
• Federal delivery experience, including working under a Public Trust

Location and eligibility

This role is fully remote within the United States. Work on VA.gov requires the ability to obtain and maintain a federal Public Trust suitability determination, which includes a background investigation.

About Selara

Selara is a Veteran‑led digital services company. We build modern, accessible software for the public sector, and we hold our own work to the same standard we set for the services Veterans rely on.