Principal Solutions Architect at Code for America

Code for America believes government can work for the people, by the people, in the new digital age, and that government at all levels can and should work well for all people. For more than a decade, we’ve worked to show that with the mindful use of technology, we can break down barriers, meet community needs, and find real solutions.

Our employees build and transform government and community tools and services, making them so good they inspire change. We merge the best parts of technology, nonprofit, and government to help support the people who need it most.

With a focus on transparency and fairness, and deep empathy for partners in government and community organizations and the people that our partners serve, we’re building a movement of motivated change agents driven by meaningful results and lasting impact.

At Code for America, you contribute to exciting work while learning and developing in a supportive and flexible environment. Our compensation and benefits are holistic and thoughtfully curated to represent our employees and our mission. Help us drive real generational change that lasts.

Code for America is looking for a talented Principal Solutions Architect who will collaborate with government partners and deliver technical guidance to transform the way government delivers services to communities in need.

About the Role: 

In this role, you’ll work with a team of designers, researchers, engineers, product managers, and policy experts across our program portfolios. You will spend time with key government agencies to build rapport with their technical team, understand their technical needs, and develop a shared understanding of the role that this program can play in helping them achieve their goals. This will involve identifying and designing technical solutions to improve access to their programs.

Solutions Architects at Code for America are an integral component of all of our program areas. There are currently three program areas at Code for America:

• Criminal Justice, which focuses on Automatic Record Clearance,
• Tax Benefits, which focuses on free trustworthy tax services and simplified tax filing,
• And the Social Safety Net. Focus areas in this portfolio include food benefits, integrated benefits applications, and training & capacity building.

This role will report to the Senior Director of Solutions Engineering and is expected to travel no more than 10% of the time.

In this Position You Will:

• Solutions Development:
• Lead technical advisement, implementation, migration and integration projects for government safety net services.
• Assist in project planning and drafting statements of work and technical requirements.
• Work with government partners to assess AI readiness and develop implementation roadmaps
• Build and maintain relationships and develop technical champions within government and partner organizations.
• Implement proof-of-concept applications, software installations, and custom development projects.
• Design and implement flexible open source solutions to challenges involving data quality, normalization and spread.
• Strategic Leadership:
• Work closely with cross-functional government partners to clarify problems and understand system constraints, and offer feasible and high-value technical solutions that consider the needs of all stakeholders.
• Provide technical perspectives and expertise in service of improved government services for government agencies, organizational stakeholders, and other key audiences.
• Evaluate the technical landscape and partner capacity for prospective new state engagements, drafting assessments and recommendations.
• Assist in documenting and communicating technical best practices and in the framing of government RFPs.
• Estimate project scope and rough project plans for government initiatives.
• Partnerships & Collaboration
• Assist in project planning and drafting statements of work: work closely with clients to build out detailed technical requirement and specification documents.
• Build and maintain relationships and develop technical champions within government and partner organizations.
• Work closely with cross-functional government partners to clarify problems and understand system constraints, and offer feasible and high-value technical solutions that consider the needs of all stakeholders.
• Participate in calls with government partners and provide written resources to communicate complex technical concepts.
• Mentoring, Organizational Influence & Other Duties as Assigned

About You:

This position is a perfect fit for someone with the technical skills to tackle engineering problems, the social skills to face human-factors problems, and the judgment to differentiate between the two. The ability to communicate complex technical concepts in straightforward language to non-technical audiences will be critical to your success.

• 10+ years of experience as a Software Engineer, Solutions Engineer, or Solutions Architect with experience leading projects and interacting with customers.
• 4+ years of experience coding backend systems and data infrastructure in an industry-standard language (Python, Ruby, Java, Scala, Kotlin, etc).
• 2+ years of experience in applying or integrating emerging technologies (e.g., generative AI models) into existing workflows or new solutions
• Ability to engage in research to learn about current systems and architecture, and then incorporate this knowledge to design new solutions and new architectures.
• Strong self management skills and a proven ability to manage multiple engagements simultaneously.
• Fundamentally curious and empathetic; able to thoughtfully balance partner, user, and team needs and identify solutions that move the work forward towards greater impact.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, with exceptional attention to detail.
• Tenacity and adaptability; able to navigate relationships, ambiguity, and technical challenges and unblock yourself and your team.
• Passion for our mission of making government services better for people who need them most.
• Fast learning curve and capacity to get up to speed in new tech stacks whenever needed.

It’s a Bonus if You Have: 

• Experience working with or in government.
• Personal experience with or professional experience working within the justice system, social safety net or other mission-relevant government services.
• Experience automating with Large Language Models, machine learning, RAG, natural language processing or entity resolution technologies.
• Experience with government procurement processes
• Experience with Salesforce or Robotic Process Automation software
• Active contribution to open source projects.

What You’ll Get

Salary: 

Code for America’s salary provides visibility into our salary bands as part of our commitment to transparency and fairness. As part of our practices, we aim to target the midpoint of the 2nd quartile of the range for all new hires.

Offer targets vary based on market / geographic location. The offer targets for this role range from $143,884 to $176,138, annually.

Benefits and Perks: 

• Values:
• Leadership and teammates who share a strong work ethic and values, and who respect and care for one another
• A collaborative, cross-functional, hardworking, and joyful environment
• Employee Enablement Support: 
• Laptop provided
• $700 remote environment setup; $200 stipend and up to $500 reimbursement, in accordance with our equipment policy
• Cell phone and/or internet reimbursement of $50 per month 
• Professional Development:
• $1000 annual (per calendar year) stipend towards professional development; prorated at time of hire
• Up to $1000 of professional development funds can be rolled over each year, up to a maximum of $2000
• Retirement & 401k Plans:
• Employees under 3 years are eligible for a 100% employer match of up to 3% of employee contribution
• Employees with 3+ years are eligible for an additional 50% employer contribution over 3%, to a maximum of 5%
• Medical:
• Full benefits package with options up to 100% coverage toward select medical, dental, and vision plans
• Employer contributes up to 80% of the cost towards dependent and family coverage
• Remote Work:
• Code for America employees may work remotely across the US
• Code for America employees main residence must be within the US
• Full-time employees work 40 hours per week, Monday - Friday
• Collaborative working hours: we aim to hold all internal meetings between 10 AM - 3 PM PT. We expect all Code for America staff to be available during these set working hours
• Time Off: 
• Open personal time off, a minimum of 16 paid holidays, and an org-wide closure from Christmas Day through New Year's Day
• Paid sick time; up to 96 hours annually
• Competitive paid parental and family leave
• 4 weeks of paid sabbatical after 4 years of service, with an option of up to 4 additional weeks of unpaid time away

 

Equal Employment Opportunity: 

Code for America is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will not be discriminated against because of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, citizenship status, disability, ancestry, marital status, veteran status, medical condition or any protected category prohibited by local, state or federal laws.

Code for America Workers United:

This position is not covered by a Collective Bargaining Agreement between Code for America and Code for America Workers United, affiliated with OPEIU, Local 1010. The agreement was ratified on October 27, 2023, and is currently in effect.

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