Senior Software Engineer (W-2) Save

Compiler is a small, woman-owned software consultancy. Compiler helps service-oriented government agencies build open source, human-centered, secure, agile solutions to support the delivery of government services that increase equity of opportunity.

Our team specializes in building software applications that put both user and developer experience as top priorities. We write open source, well-tested and well-documented code by default. We stick to writing performant and accessible HTML and CSS with thoughtful use of JavaScript, and build robust experiences using progressive enhancement. In addition to custom web application and website development, our team’s portfolio includes: data standards development, data engineering, data cleaning, extract transform and load (ETL) workflows and pipelines, custom application programming interface (API) development and integration, data analytics, and data science. Our subject matter expertise in digital identity and transportation from the user experience of riders, operators, transit agencies, and more provides depth and quality to the services we design and the applications we build.

Our clients have included: City of Los Angeles, City of West Hollywood, CicLAvia, LA2050, Caltrans, California Department of Technology, County of Los Angeles, Southern California Association of Governments, MobilityData, and the California Community Foundation. Our recent work includes building and integrating payment and digital services technologies for public transportation agencies using Docker, Python/Django/Flask, and Azure.

We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer to support a range of new and ongoing client projects. You’ll report directly to Kegan Maher and collaborate closely with a small team of product managers, designers, and engineers. You’ll have access to additional external support for data privacy, data security, accessibility, and internationalization, as well as modern tools to help you get your work done in a remote environment.

This is a full-time, salaried position (W-2) with benefits. Full-time employment at Compiler is thirty (30) hours per week.

Responsibilities

• Design and build open source software that streamlines the delivery of public services with a focus on equity and active harm reduction
• Interact with clients, product, and project managers to iteratively gather requirements, refine scope, and demo progress
• Rigorously document your work, including asynchronous communications, to inform internal and client teams
• Coordinate with product, design, and engineering to deliver delightful products and services that meet current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
• Pair program, code review, contribute to architecture decisions, help create standard patterns and practices for all aspects of development, DevOps, and service maintenance
• Self-direct and time-manage across multiple client and internal projects with varying levels of complexity, demand, and constraint

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of four (4) years of full-time, paid software development experience working on production code in a team environment
• Experience developing performant and accessible front-end web interfaces that meet WCAG standards, using semantic HTML and modern CSS
• Experience working with or in proximity to local, state, and/or federal government technical or product teams
• Experience implementing or familiarity with the fundamentals of public sector open source design systems, such as the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS), and California’s State Web Template and Design System.
• Experience designing, building, testing, and maintaining web applications that support internationalization (i18n) and localization (L11n)
• Experience using modern, high-level programming languages such as Python or JavaScript to build web applications, API services, or similar
• A personal and professional commitment to bring anti-racist principles into your work
• Must be currently legally authorized to work in the United States (ie: US citizen, green card holder, etc.)

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with technical copy writing and strong written communication skills; familiarity with Markdown as a format for technical writing
• Experience implementing progressive enhancement for the user experience without reliance on heavy JavaScript frameworks
• Experience collaborating with product managers, UI/UX designers, and remote teams
• Experience and appreciation of writing automated unit, integration, and quality assurance tests for code and user processes
• Experience using Docker and containers to manage reproducible environments
• Experience deploying and scaling production applications and services in cloud environments such as Azure, AWS, and GCP, preferably with Infrastructure as Code systems such as Terraform and CDK
• Knowledge of Git / GitHub-based development workflows and open source project management
• Experience building websites using templating languages and frameworks like Jinja, Liquid, and Mustache; and static site generators like Eleventy, Jekyll, and Pelican.
• A love of public transportation
• Preference given to candidates located in California, and specifically Los Angeles

Education

• Per company policy, this position has no formal educational requirements

Start date

• September or early October 2025

Compensation

• Expected salary range is $100,000 - $120,000 annually based on qualifications and experience
• Paid time off: fifteen (15) days paid time off (PTO) and ten (10) sick days annually, federal holidays, and annual holiday closure between December 23 and January 1
• 100% Company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance premiums for employees; 50% Company-paid insurance premiums for employees’ dependents
• 100% Company-paid short- and long-term disability insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Paid bereavement leave
• Company 401(k) contribution
• Company-paid in-person retreats twice a year
• Company-provided laptop
• Discretionary budget for home office and/or professional development

Location and Work Hours

• This position is 100% remote
• Los Angeles-based staff have the opportunity to work from our office at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) in downtown Los Angeles, CA
• Flexible working hours; expect an overlap with the Pacific time zone. The current team is spread across Pacific, Central, and Eastern time zones in the U.S.

To Apply

• Applications accepted Tuesday, June 17 - Monday, June 30, 2025
• Using the linked form, please briefly introduce yourself and upload your resume as a PDF
• Cover letters are not expected, and extra weight in scoring will not be given to those that include them