Senior Staff Software Engineer

Vaco by Highspring; Waukesha (WI); Remote; USD 140,000 - 185,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company is seeking a Senior Staff Software Engineer to lead a high-performing team in modernizing systems from Azure to AWS. This role balances technical leadership and hands-on development, focusing on cloud architecture and innovative solutions. The ideal candidate will have extensive AWS experience and a proactive approach to problem-solving, driving quality and process improvements within the team.

Benefits

401K Matching

Full Benefits

PTO

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience.
• Proven AWS cloud development expertise, including migrations from Azure.
• Solid grasp of Agile methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Lead migration of legacy applications from Azure to AWS.
• Design and implement APIs and back-end logic.
• Mentor software engineers on AWS best practices.

Skills

AWS

Microservices

React

Agile

Problem Solving

Tools

Terraform

Docker

Azure DevOps

Job description

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This range is provided by Vaco by Highspring. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

Base pay range

$140,000.00/yr - $185,000.00/yr

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Senior Director of IT Delivery & Recruitment

Job Title: Senior Staff Software Engineer

Location: 100% Remote

Employment Type: Direct Hire

Compensation: $140,000 - $175,000 Base + 10%-15% Bonus

Benefits: 401K Matching, Full Benefits & PTO

No third-party companies - direct applicants only.

Sponsorship is not available now or in the future.

Job Summary

We seek a Senior Staff Software Engineer with strong AWS cloud engineering expertise to lead and mentor a high-performing software development team. This role is an even split between technical leadership (50%) and hands-on full-stack software development (50%), focusing on modernizing and migrating our systems from Azure to AWS.

You will collaborate with Product Owners, Software Developers, and QA Engineers to drive innovation and improve business processes. Your role will involve making strategic decisions about cloud architecture, database solutions, and technology stacks, tailoring them to specific business needs while providing scalable and maintainable options.

Important: Experience migrating workloads from Azure to AWS is highly desirable.

Note from the Hiring manager

It's a full stack position but it's a disqualifier if the person isn't a high level React developer. This person should have experience working in AWS. They don't need to be a certified architect but they should be able to build an API and deploy it via Terraform and understand the how and why we would use a particular AWS component. Initially, I'd expect the breakdown to be 75 / 25 front end / back end. The hope is that this person can upskill the team so that they can tackle the real difficult stories while the team handles smaller, less complex work.

Key Responsibilities

• Led the migration of legacy applications from Azure to AWS, following AWS best practices.
• Evaluate AWS services and design scalable, secure, and cost-effective cloud solutions.
• Select appropriate AWS services based on business scenarios (e.g., using RDS for managed relational databases vs. DynamoDB for high-performance NoSQL solutions).
• Provide multiple solution options for infrastructure design, detailing pros and cons (e.g., ECS vs. EKS for container orchestration).

Software Development:

• Modernize legacy systems using microservices and event-driven architectures.
• Design and implement APIs and back-end logic, focusing on scalability and performance.
• Front-end development using React for a dynamic user experience.

Technical Leadership & Mentorship:

• Mentor and guide software engineers on AWS best practices, cloud-native development, and architecture decisions.
• Conduct code reviews to uphold high-quality standards.
• Advocate for test-driven development (TDD) and CI/CD best practices.

Strategic Decision Making:

• Recommend the most suitable database solutions based on use cases (e.g., transactional systems with PostgreSQL/MySQL on RDS vs. real-time applications with DynamoDB).
• Analyze trade-offs between different AWS services and architectural approaches.
• Balance cost, performance, and scalability in solution designs.

Quality & Process Improvement:

• Champion a culture of continuous improvement and quality.
• Develop and maintain unit and integration tests.
• Participate in Agile ceremonies and contribute to sprint goals.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience.
• Proven AWS cloud development expertise, including migrations from Azure.
• Understanding of microservices and event-driven architectures.
• Experience with domain-driven design.
• Solid grasp of Agile methodologies (e.g., Scrum).
• Strong problem-solving, design, and debugging skills.
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps, Git, etc.).
• Experience with DevOps tools like Terraform and Docker.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with environments subject to HIPAA and PCI compliance.
• Background in SaaS, actuarial science, or insurance underwriting.
• Certified Scrum Developer (CSD).
• Understanding of DevSecOps principles.
• Experience modernizing on-prem applications for AWS.

What You Bring to the Table

• A proactive approach to solving complex technical problems.
• Strong collaboration and mentorship skills.
• The ability to balance hands-on coding with technical leadership.
• A deep understanding of AWS services and how they map to different business needs.
• A "solutions-first" mindset with the ability to present multiple options, complete with pros/cons.
• Excellent communication skills and a passion for continuous learning.

Desired Skills & Technologies

• CI/CD, Terraform, Docker, DevSecOps
• Event-driven architectures

Join us to drive transformative cloud projects, lead a talented team, and help shape the future of our AWS ecosystem!