Mid/Senior Software Engineer

Azavea is a civic technology firm based in Philadelphia that uses geospatial data to build software and data analytics for the web. As a B Corporation, our mission is to use advanced geospatial technology for civic, social, and environmental impact. Most of our work deals with local governments, non-profit organizations, and academic or federal research projects.  We build custom web applications, perform geospatial analysis, and contribute to open source projects. Our engineers work across the technology stack, from modern browser-based front-ends to robust service-based backends residing on scalable infrastructure. Find out more at Azavea: What We do.

We are looking for a Software Engineer 3 (advanced mid-level) or a Senior Software Engineer who is passionate about building applications that will have a positive impact. Ideal candidates are interested in public service, but not necessarily in working for a government or a non-profit organization.

• At the Engineer III level, an individual will demonstrate expert competency within their primary area of expertise; own large, cross-cutting features or entire projects with minimal oversight; build relationships with and consensus amongst various stakeholders; and clearly communicate complex technical concepts to a wide range of audiences.
• At the Senior Engineer level, an individual is consistently assembling solutions to ambiguous problems and debugging the most complex issues. They are also frequently operating at a level that maximizes the effectiveness of others around them. In addition to being self-sufficient in their engineering responsibilities, engineers at this level are sought after by peers to support a variety of different initiatives such as recruiting at hiring events, presenting in sales meetings, and navigating client complexities.

We’re excited about what we do, we’re growing, and we hope you will join us.

As a  Software Engineer at Azavea, you’ll be working alongside other engineers, project managers, and user experience designers to develop custom web software for our clients. Lately, we’ve been developing tools to model national water quality, monitor honeybee health across the country, and bring transparency to supply chains in the global apparel industry. We also maintain DistrictBuilder, an open-source, collaborative redistricting tool that will support redistricting using 2020 Census data, and theCicero API, an Azavea product that provides access to a comprehensive database of elected officials and legislative districts.

Our applications are mostly written in JavaScript (React), Python (Django), TypeScript (React, Angular) and C# (.NET WebAPI). Almost all of our work revolves around maps and spatial data. If you haven’t worked with spatial technology before, don’t worry, many of our colleagues hadn’t when they joined us.

All remote colleagues are expected to be available for collaboration between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. EST.

What you'll do:

• Write code to create APIs and web applications based on visual designs.
• Create interactive data visualizations in our applications using maps, charts, and graphs.
• Model relational data and develop data processing pipelines.
• Engage in multidisciplinary work that applies an agile process.
• Work across front-end and back-end development.
• Contribute to technical designs, identify risks and tradeoffs in decisions.
• Own large, cross-cutting features and entire medium sized projects with minimal oversight.
• Build relationships with and consensus amongst various stakeholders.
• Effectively communicate complex technical concepts to a wider range of audiences.
• Contribute to both a growing company and to the open source communities that support our work.
• Collaborate with other engineers and support knowledge-sharing.

You should:

• Have experience building applications using a modern web backend framework like Django, Rails, or Express.
• Demonstrate proficiency with core web technologies (HTML/CSS/JS) and a contemporary web frontend framework like React, Vue, or Angular.
• Have experience using and querying relational databases like PostgreSQL or MySQL.
• Be comfortable with the command line and working in a UNIX environment.
• Have a growth mindset and be excited to learn new technologies and skills.
• Be interested in working with small teams on meaningful projects.
• Have effective communication skills.
• You write clean and understandable code.
• Have experience with a GitHub based workflow that includes pull requests and code reviews.
• Have experience working in an Agile development environment.

Additional experience we find valuable (but not required):

• Familiarity with open source or commercial GIS software like Leaflet, Mapbox GL JS, PostGIS, or ArcGIS Server.
• Delivering and operating applications using cloud platforms like AWS, GCP or Heroku.
• Working with virtualization technology or containers. 
• Understand concepts of cloud automation, and CI/CD. 
• Making technical decisions and owning outcomes.

A note on hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic

The majority of our colleagues have historically worked out of our Philadelphia office, but during the pandemic we transitioned the entire company to remote work. While many of our colleagues are continuing to work remotely for the time being, the office is now open and we can accommodate either in-person or remote interviews depending on the health and safety concerns of you and our team. We have made arrangements for remote onboarding, including shipping relevant materials and a laptop to your home. We are fortunate to have invested in meaningful work-from-home tools and processes over the years and have been able to continue providing a secure, flexible, and safe work environment for all of our colleagues. We ask for your patience as we adapt our hiring process as well, and are happy to answer any questions or concerns about the process.

Office and Benefits

Our Philadelphia headquarters is located in a brightly lit office on the 5th floor of a converted factory building in the Callowhill neighborhood, a short walk from Center City, the Reading Terminal Market, and SEPTA subway and regional rail stations. For bicyclists, we have in-house bike parking, showers, and lockers. The office itself is arranged as an open office plan with many smaller rooms for team meetings and concentration time. You get your own desk with a high-end Linux workstation or Apple laptop and extra monitors. We have flex-time to deal with personal stuff, and most people work a 40 - 45 hour week on a regular schedule. After the first six months, our staff can also spend up to 10% of their time on an open source, professional development, or R&D project. Recent 10% time projects include experiments with machine learning, React Native, and various forms of serverless processing with Amazon Lambda.

We offer a salary commensurate with skills and experience. Azavea's salary for the role ranges from $104,400 to $130,000.

Our benefits package includes:

• Fully subsidized health care, dental, prescription plan, including for spouse/partner and children 

• Fully subsidized life and long term disability insurance, plus voluntary short term disability insurance 

• Medical reimbursement plan to cover what the health insurance does not 

• Retirement plan with matching percentage 

• Almost 4 weeks paid vacation plus sick/personal time off 

• Family and medical leave 

• Flexible work schedule 

• Paid maternity and paternity leave 

• Child care subsidy 

• Paid time off for voting and volunteering 

• Education assistance plan 

• Student loan assistance 

• Public transit and biking reimbursement plans 

• Monthly lunches on the house

• 10% time for Research or Training Projects 

• Profit-sharing bonus plan 

• Financial transparency through an open book policy 

• Kind, capable, and thoughtful colleagues 

We welcome qualified candidates from all walks of life and value diversity in our company. We prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, veteran status, military service, disability, marital status, or domestic partner status.