Principal Software Engineer Position - Join Team Raft

Location: U.S. based | Hybrid (San Diego, CA) | Up to 50% on-site

Clearance Requirements: Active Secret with ability to obtain and maintain Top Secret clearance

About Raft

Raft () is a customer-obsessed, non-traditional small business focused on Distributed Data Systems, Platforms at Scale, and Complex Application Development. Headquartered in McLean, VA, we serve innovative federal and public agencies with cutting-edge technology and a cloud-native ecosystem. Our digital solutions impact millions of Americans' lives.

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Principal Software Engineer to support our customers and join our passionate team of high-impact problem solvers. In this role, you'll be instrumental in building a real-time data platform for the Department of Defense (DoD), enhancing situational awareness for critical events.

Key technologies: Kafka, Kafka Streams, Pinot, Java, Scala, Kubernetes.

Key Responsibilities

• Build data infrastructure and platforms using streaming frameworks like Apache Kafka, Flink, and Kafka Streams.
• Develop Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) pipelines for comprehensive data operations.
• Apply software engineering principles to architect, develop, and implement large-scale streaming applications.

What We're Looking For

• 14+ years of relevant industry experience.
• Experience building and managing fault-tolerant, data-intensive platforms using popular streaming technologies like Kafka, Pinot, or Flink.
• Proficiency with large-scale relational and non-relational databases like PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, and Elasticsearch.
• Experience in data management, including ETL processing, data governance, and data storage.
• Experience with cloud-native software development and deployment.
• Proficiency with package managers like Maven, Gradle, and NPM.
• Deep knowledge of software design and architecture patterns.
• Ability to obtain Security+ certification within the first 90 days of employment.

Highly Preferred Skills

• Experience with Kubernetes.
• Experience with monitoring tools (Prometheus, Grafana) and logging systems (Fluentbit, Kibana, Loki) in cloud-native environments.
• Knowledge of Helm Charts.
• Understanding of service mesh technologies like Istio.
• Experience with enterprise Cloud applications or infrastructure support.
• Proficiency in automation languages like Python or GoLang.

Work Type

Hybrid in San Diego, CA | Up to 25% Travel Required

Salary Range

$160,000 - $240,000 based on experience, skills, and qualifications.

What We Offer

• Highly competitive salary
• Comprehensive healthcare, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Flexible PTO policy + 11 paid holidays
• Education & training benefits
• Annual budget for tech/gadgets
• Monthly snack box
• Remote, hybrid, and flexible work options
• Team off-site events in fun locations
• Generous referral bonuses
• And more!

Company Vision

We bridge the gap between humans and data through radical transparency and our obsession with the mission.

Our Customer Obsession

We treat every deliverable like a product and adopt a customer-obsessed mentality. Our culture, driven by this mindset, helps us scale and translates to exceptional interaction with our clients and team integrations.

Our Goal

Modernizing the public sector is crucial for a better world. At Raft, we strive to innovate and solve complex problems, enabling future generations to live in a delightful, efficient, and accessible world where