Software Engineer - Platform Engineering (Contractor Position)

Kappaalphapsi1911; Boston, Northern (MA, KY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 165,000; Part time

Job summary

MBTA in Boston is seeking a Software Engineer—Platform Engineering contractor—to deliver end-to-end features, improve code quality, and drive reliability. You will work across the tech stack, refine requirements with Product Managers, and contribute to platform tooling and infrastructure-as-code initiatives using AWS and related tech.

This is a term-limited, project-specific role; hybrid work requires in-office presence at least two days per week, with on-call rotations and collaboration with UX

Qualifications

• Two (2) years of relevant professional experience in software engineering.
• Experience delivering features end-to-end.
• Experience with monitoring, on‑call, incident response, and reliability engineering.
• Strong debugging and investigative skills.
• Experience with CI/CD.
• Ability to translate business requirements into technology.
• Strong communication skills.
• Ability to pass job-related technical assessments.
• Ability to participate in on‑call rotation of technology systems and services.

Responsibilities

• Perform a wide variety of software engineering tasks in the relevant languages.
• Deliver and maintain well-architected features from design through implementation.
• Contribute to on-call rotations and address routine incidents.
• Follow engineering standards, including code reviews, documentation, and testing.
• Participate in team rituals and collaborate with UX/PMs to refine requirements.

Skills

End-to-end delivery

On-call experience

Debugging

Code reviews

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Elixir

AWS

Terraform/OpenTofu

Pulumi

Job description

At the MBTA, we envision a thriving region enabled by a best-in-class transit system. Our mission is to serve the public by providing safe, reliable, and accessible transportation. MBTA’s core values are built around safety, service, equity, sustainability, culture, and accessibility, and each employee that works for the MBTA performs their roles based on our vision, mission, and values. This includes attendance, participation, and contribution in local safety committee meetings as needed.

Job Summary

The Software Engineer is an independent contributor who delivers features end-to-end, contributes to team-level improvements, and operates effectively across multiple parts of the tech stack. The position shapes technical solutions, refines requirements with Product Managers, and improves code quality and code maintainability leveraging software engineering principles and practices.[PLATFORM ENGINEERING]The Platform Engineering specialization focuses on building and maintaining shared tooling, pipelines, platform capabilities, and infrastructure-as-code resources that improve developer productivity and system reliability across MBTA technology teams. This specialization enables product and application teams to adopt best-practice standards for quality, security, observability, deployment automation, cost efficiency, and operational resilience. Platform Engineers develop infrastructure-as-code models to use AWS-based resources and create other tools, patterns and automation that strengthens MBTA's overall software engineering ecosystem.This is a term-limited and project-specific contractor position that is not employed directly by the MBTA. This hybrid position requires being in the office at least two (2) days per week.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Perform a wide variety of software engineering tasks in the relevant languages.
• Deliver and maintain well-architected features from design through implementation.Demonstrate strong fundamental coding and debugging skills by writing reliable, maintainable code while demonstrating a strong understanding of possible tradeoffs to meet deadlines by effectively articulating impacts and proposing solutions.
• Contribute to on-call rotations and address routine incidents.
• Follow engineering standards, including code reviews, documentation, and testing.
• Participate and offer constructive feedback to improve.
• Improve maintainability and reduce complexity through refactoring.
• Investigate defects and lead feasibility assessments to identify improvements.
• Protect data security, compliance, and privacy across all work activities by following secure coding practices.
• Participate in team rituals (stand‑ups, planning, retros).
• Work collaboratively with UX and PMs to refine requirements for difficult problems and reduce unnecessary scope.
• Participate in on‑call rotation of technology systems and services.
• Perform all other duties and projects that may be assigned.
• Additional responsibilities may include a focus on one or more departments or locations.See applicable addendum for department or location‑specific functions.

Physical Demands and Working Conditions

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Available to work any and all shifts and/or locations as assigned or directed.

Available to work as per assignment by the MBTA twenty‑four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week as directed by supervisory staff for severe weather conditions, emergencies or any other circumstances that may potentially impact service or the safety of service.

Supervision

No direct reports.

Minimum Education

Bachelor degree from accredited institution.

Minimum Requirements & Qualifications

• Two (2) years of relevant professional experience in software engineering.
• Experience independently delivering features end-to-end to solve problems.
• Experience applying software engineering principles and practices to quickly and creatively achieve team or project goals.
• Experience with monitoring, on‑call, incident response, and reliability engineering.
• Strong debugging and investigative skills.
• Experience with software testing best practices and CI/CD.
• Demonstrated ability to translate business requirements into technology.
• Strong communication skills.
• Demonstrated proficiency in at least one or more programming languages.
• As part of the selection process, candidates will be asked to complete and pass job‑related technical assessments, which may include a software design diagramming exercise and/or a timed coding exercise.
• Ability to participate in on‑call rotation of technology systems and services.

Preferred Experience & Skills

• More than four (4) years of relevant professional experience in software engineering.
• Solid understanding of APIs, data flows, and failure modes.
• Experience with Elixir.
• Experience with AWS.
• Experience in public sector, transportation agency, and/or civic technology team.
• Experience with Terraform / OpenTofu / Infrastructure as Code tools.
• Experience in agile software development practices.
• Knowledge of transit data standards (such as GTFS, GTFS‑RT, TODS, TIDES).
• [PLATFORM ENGINEERING] Experience building or maintaining platform‑level tools that support development productivity, CI/CD workflows, or automated testing.
• Experience with AWS services used in platform or infrastructure automation.
• Experience using Infrastructure‑as‑Code tools (Terraform, OpenTofu, Pulumi) to manage cloud resources.
• Experience operating or building pipeline, orchestration, or observability tooling.
• Experience developing automation that improves reliability, deployment frequency, or operational consistency across multiple engineering teams.
• Experience implementing secure coding, cost‑management, or resiliency patterns at the platform layer.

Substitutions

A High School Diploma or GED with an additional seven (7) years of directly related experience substitutes for the bachelor's degree requirement.An associate degree from an accredited institution an additional three (3) years of directly related experience substitutes for the bachelor's degree requirement.A master's degree in a related subject substitutes for two (2) years of general experience.A nationally recognized certification, or statewide/professional certification in a related field substitutes for one year of experience.

Job Conditions

Adhere to rules, regulations, collective bargaining agreements (if applicable) and policies of the MBTA including the EEO, anti-discrimination, anti‑harassment, and anti‑retaliation policies.

Ability to pass a Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check, background screening, and the MBTA's medical requirements, including a physical examination and drug and alcohol screening.

Have a satisfactory work record for the two (2) years immediately prior to the closing date of this posting, including overall employment, job performance, discipline, and safety records (infractions and/or offenses occurring after the closing of the posting and before the filling of a vacancy may preclude a candidate from consideration for selection).

• Ability to effectively read, comprehend, communicate, and respond to instructions, orders, signs, notices, inquiries, etc. in English.
• Be at least eighteen (18) years of age, except if participating in an approved high school internship / co‑op program.
• Ability to commute to assigned work locations in the Boston, MA metro area, as required by the role.
• Ability to provide internal and external customers with courteous and professional experiences.
• Ability to work effectively, independently, and as part of a diverse workforce team (or supervise, if required).
• Ability to uphold the rights and interests of the MBTA while building and maintaining effective relationships with employees and co‑workers.
• Ability to adhere to rules, regulations, collective bargaining agreements (if applicable), and policies of the MBTA, including the EEO, anti‑discrimination, anti‑harassment, and anti‑retaliation policies.
• Have a satisfactory work record for the two (2) years immediately prior to the closing date of this posting (unless if current student or recent graduate), including overall employment, job performance, discipline, and safety records (infractions and/or offenses occurring after the closing of the posting and before the filling of a vacancy may preclude a candidate from consideration for selection).
• Ability to pass a Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check, comprehensive background screening, and / or medical Clinic screening, potentially including physical examination and drug and alcohol screenings.
• Ability to work all shifts and / or locations assigned, directed, or necessary for this position, including (for some transit / operations roles) up to twenty‑four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week as necessary to accommodate severe weather conditions, emergencies, or any other circumstances that may potentially impact service or the safety of service.

Work Eligibility

All employees must be legally authorized to work in the United States and on an unrestricted basis.The MBTA does not have an employer work sponsorship program. However, if you have unrestricted work authorization, or are sponsored by a separate entity, you are welcome to apply.Further, all persons hired will require a U.S. Social Security Number prior to starting the position and employees will be required to complete a Form I‑9 to verify their identity and eligibility to work in the U.S.

Interviews

Candidates should ensure they arrive on time, are prepared, can remain for the duration, and if remote, are in a quiet place without distraction, for the interview. Candidates who do not attend their interview without advance authorization, including an email confirmation of a rescheduled time/date from Human Resources, will be considered a no-show and disqualified from consideration for the position. Related to rescheduling, on a one‑time basis, and due to something emergent, you may be allowed to reschedule the interview. In addition, Human Resources may require documentation supporting the request. However, should you need to reschedule, you will need to contact your Recruiter directly by email.

Safety Sensitive Positions

Employees working in this classification will be subject to periodic physical examinations plus random drug and alcohol testing.

On-call or 24/7 Positions

Employees working in this classification must be available to respond to page / text / call and report to work as determined by assigned department or the Authority.

Essential / Emergency Staff

During declared "states of emergency," employees working in this classification are required to report to work for their assigned work hours or as directed by management.

ADA Accommodations

The MBTA makes reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. If you require an accommodation during this process, please contact the MBTA's ADA Unit at 617‑222‑5751 or [e-mail].

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The MBTA is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. For terms, descriptions, and definitions related to diversity, equity, inclusion, veteran status, and immediate family members that you may find on the application form, please visit mbta.com/careers-app-definitions.

Intern / Co-Op Benefits

Employees taking part in an internship orco‑opat the MBTA are eligible to receive accrued paid sick leave as well as a monthly transportation pass, based on the city from which the intern / co‑opcommutes to work,at no cost. However, no additional benefits are currently offered for interns orco‑ops.