Skylight is looking to modernize government services by improving their reliability and accessibility for citizens through the application of modern engineering practices and secure defaults. The role will focus on driving a major modernization effort at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Requirements
- Ability to write clean, reliable, and reusable code for large-scale production systems
- Experience with modern delivery — continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD), automated testing, code review, and operating services in cloud environments
- Hands-on experience with infrastructure as code (IaC) and environment automation
- Strong understanding of secure software practices and how to integrate compliance into delivery
- Working knowledge of data persistence and patterns for building resilient, observable services
- Experience with containers and orchestration, such as Docker or Kubernetes
- Background in application or cloud modernization, integrations, or data-intensive products
Responsibilities
- Deliver production-ready software as part of a cross-functional team and own services through build, deployment, and operations
- Apply lean-agile engineering practices — API-first, simple design, trunk-based development, continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD), version control, automated testing
- Standardize and automate environments with infrastructure as code (IaC) and policy as code to create secure, repeatable delivery
- Improve reliability and performance with meaningful observability — metrics, logs, traces — and use service level objectives (SLOs) to guide engineering work
- Modernize and integrate systems across cloud platforms and existing enterprise services, with a preference for open source where it fits
- Build in security, privacy, and accessibility from day one — evidence automation for compliance, defense against common vulnerabilities, and Section 508 accessibility standards
- Identify and reduce technical debt by analyzing stability and operability, then designing and communicating clear remediation plans
Other
- Commitment to capacity building — mentoring, documenting, and transferring knowledge so teams can continue improving after you
- Ability to communicate clearly with executives and cross-functional teams in a professional services environment
- Passion for creating better public outcomes through great government services
- A mindset and work approach that align with Skylight's core values
- Ability to spend time on-site at HHS in Washington, DC — either by being based locally or by traveling periodically for in-person collaboration
