Technical Lead, Drupal

For People; Yorktown (VA); Remote; USD 130,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

For People seeks a Technical Lead to own the engineering of the CMS data website for a U.S. government platform. You will guide architecture decisions, keep Drupal up-to-date, and lead a remote, federal-focused engineering team.

The role emphasizes reliability, security, ATO compliance, and open data standards, with 6+ years in Drupal and React, plus occasional travel to CMS HQ (Baltimore) 2–3 times per year.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of Drupal development, including 3+ years on Acquia hosting and 3+ years building custom Drupal modules.
• 3+ years with MySQL and SQLite databases.
• ~6+ years of web development, including 3+ years React and 3+ years connecting React with Drupal.
• Experience building and running software for the federal government with FISMA and CMS ATO knowledge.
• Experience with CDNs (Akamai or similar) and cloud hosting.
• Ownership of a team's full testing practice (functional, performance, security, 508).
• Leadership in agile teams for public-facing data/content platforms and open data standards.
• US citizenship and ability to pass a government public trust background check.

Responsibilities

• Lead the engineering for the agency’s public data website, built on Drupal with a React front end; own architecture decisions and coding standards.
• Maintain reliability and security with 99.5% uptime, including release management, monitoring, and incident response.
• Lead migration to new hosting/platform architectures without gaps in the CMS ATO.
• Provide CMS offices with self-publishing capabilities in Drupal.
• Set engineering standards: code reviews, automated tests, security scans, accessibility testing.
• Move data from other CMS sites onto the platform and guide responsible AI use.
• Collaborate with CMS product owners, data owners, and partner firms; explain trade-offs in plain language.

Skills

Drupal

Acquia hosting

MySQL/SQLite

React

React integration

Open data standards

Agile leadership

FISMA compliance

ATO knowledge

CDN experience

Cloud hosting

Security testing

508 testing

Job description

For People is improving government digital services for the disadvantaged population. We work directly with government agencies to modernize software, systems, and platforms so that they better serve people. They are researchers, reporters, policy staff, and health care providers. When the data is hard to find, a file is too large to post, or a column quietly changes its name between releases, their work slows down or goes wrong.

This project supports the website where the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes that data for the public. It holds a large catalog of datasets, lookup tools, and dashboards from many parts of the agency, available as downloads, interactive tools, and a public API. As Technical Lead, you will be the top technical authority for the team that builds and runs it. You will keep the site fast, secure, and accessible, and you will lead the engineering behind its next stage, including larger data files, self-service publishing for the CMS offices that own the data, and bringing CMS data that is now spread across other agency websites onto one site.

This position is a full-time position contingent on For People being awarded a federal contract. That means picking a child up from school during the day or going for a mid-day walk is okay!

This position is 100% remote. Our entire team is remote across the United States, from the West Coast to the East Coast. There will never be a return-to-office, as we have none! Occasional travel to CMS headquarters in Baltimore, MD (2-3 times per year) is required. This full-time position’s published base salary range is between $130,000 and $160,000 annually. For People pays 100% of Gold-tier employee health insurance premiums) and annual company profit sharing.

On the project, you will:

• Lead the engineering for the agency’s public data website, built on Drupal with a separate React front end. You will own architecture decisions, keep Drupal and its modules current, and be responsible for your team’s coding standards.
• Keep the site reliable and secure, with targets of 99.5% uptime. That covers release management, monitoring and alerts, incident response, and the security documentation that keeps the site’s Authority to Operate (ATO) current.
• Lead the research on new hosting and content delivery options. Lead out the migration to any new platform architectures without a gap in the site’s ATO.
• Give the CMS offices that own the data a way to publish and update it themselves in Drupal.
• Set the team’s engineering standards, including code reviews, agentic coding tools, automated tests, security scans, and accessibility testing before every release.
• Lead the technical work of moving data from other CMS websites onto the platform, and look for responsible uses of AI.
• Work closely with CMS product owners, data owners across the agency, other CMS contractors, and teammates from our partner firms, and explain technical trade-offs in plain language.
• 6+ years of Drupal development, including 3+ years on managed Drupal hosting such as Acquia, 3+ years building custom Drupal modules, and 3+ years with MySQL and SQLite databases.
• ~6+ years of web development overall, including 3+ years of React and 3+ years connecting React front ends to Drupal.
• ~ Experience building and running software for the federal government, including work on CMS systems. You have kept a codebase in line with federal security requirements (FISMA) and you know how the CMS ATO process works.
• ~ Experience with content delivery networks (Akamai or similar) and cloud hosting, including planning and carrying out a move from one hosting environment to another.
• ~ Experience owning a team's full testing practice, including functional, performance, security, and accessibility testing, and building websites that meet Section 508 requirements.
• ~ Experience leading engineers on an agile team for a public-facing data or content platform, and working knowledge of open data standards.

You will be working on a United States government platform, and they have a few basic requirements for contractors like ourselves. In addition, you must be a United States citizen and be able to pass a government-performed public trust background check.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetics, and/or veteran status.