Staff Software Engineer

This position is based in the U.S.

All candidates must be U.S. citizens and all work must be conducted within the continental U.S.

About Us

is a customer-obsessed, non-traditional small business with a dedicated focus on Distributed Data Systems, Platforms at Scale, and Complex Application Development. Headquartered in McLean, VA, we serve innovative federal and public agencies by leveraging design thinking, cutting-edge technology stacks, and cloud-native ecosystems. Our digital solutions impact millions of Americans' lives.

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Staff Software Engineer to join our team of high-impact problem solvers and support our esteemed clients.

Role Summary

Raft is developing a real-time data platform for the Department of Defense (DoD), enhancing operators' awareness of critical events like the Chinese balloon and Cessna incidents over the White House. This data platform aggregates real-time data from over 750 sensors, enriches it, makes it queryable, and presents it as a common operational picture for timely and relevant decision-making. Our system processes over a billion events daily with millisecond-level latency using technologies such as Kafka, Kafka Streams, Pinot, Java, Scala, and Kubernetes. In this role, you will collaborate with an accomplished team to drive excellence.

Key Responsibilities

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

Qualifications

We are looking for candidates with the following qualifications:

• 9+ years of relevant industry experience.
• Experience building and managing fault-tolerant, data-intensive platforms using technologies such as Kafka, Pinot, or Flink.
• Experience with large-scale relational and non-relational databases like PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, and Elasticsearch to handle low-latency requirements.
• Experience in data management, including ETL processing, data governance, and data storage.
• Experience building and releasing software in cloud-native environments.
• Proficiency with package managers such as Maven, Gradle, and NPM.
• Deep knowledge of software design and architecture patterns.
• Obtain Security+ within the first 90 days of employment.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with Kubernetes.
• Experience with monitoring tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana) and logging solutions (e.g., Fluentbit, Kibana, Loki).
• Solid understanding of Helm Charts.
• Familiarity with service mesh technologies, such as Istio.
• Experience in supporting enterprise Cloud applications or infrastructure.
• Proficiency in automation languages like Python or GoLang.

Clearance Requirements

Active Secret clearance with the ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance.

Work Type

Remote (Preference for local candidates in Washington, DC or San Diego, CA). May require up to 25% travel.

Salary Range

$130,000 - $210,000. Compensation is based on experience, skill, and demonstrated abilities.

Benefits

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

Our Vision

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