About Skylight

Skylight is a digital consultancy using design and technology to help government agencies deliver better public services.

We’re at the forefront of a civic movement to reinvent how all levels of government serve families, patients, and many others in today's digital world.

If you want to play a part in driving this critical movement forward, we’d love for you to join our growing team of public interest technologists.

The work we do matters.

About the job

At Skylight, tech leads combine hands-on technical expertise with leadership across multiple teams. They set direction, guide engineering practices, and create the conditions for technical delivery that is secure, resilient, and scalable.

You’ll join a contract supporting a federal agency in the health and civilian space, and set technical direction across squads while staying hands-on. You’ll mentor engineers, uphold modern engineering and security standards, and partner closely with product managers, designers, and researchers to deliver secure, user-centered solutions. You’ll embed compliance and security into delivery from day one and help  sustain improvements through training, reusable tools, and shared patterns.

In this role, you’ll also serve as a people manager. As a manager, you’ll keep growing in your craft and contributing to client work, while also taking on responsibility for the people you manage — their development, their performance, and the conditions that help them do their best work.

What you’ll do

• Manage and mentor engineers across squads, including those specializing in DevOps, security, and data
• Provide architectural guidance and technical oversight for cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure) and the secure data exchanges at the core
• Standardize engineering practices across squads, including CI/CD, infrastructure as code, automated testing, and secure DevOps
• Partner with product managers, designers, and researchers to ensure technical delivery aligns with user needs and priorities
• Embed compliance and security into delivery from day one, supporting evidence automation and continuous Authority to Operate (ATO) practices
• Translate direction from program leadership into practical, secure technical solutions
• Help staff sustain improvements by providing training, mentoring, and reusable tools and patterns

What we're looking for

Minimum qualifications

• Experience leading engineering teams that delivered complex, production systems at enterprise scale, including direct people management of engineers and/or tech leads
• Hands-on skills in modern engineering practices: CI/CD, automated testing, infrastructure as code, and observability
• Deep knowledge of at least one major cloud platform (e.g., AWS, Azure)
• Experience partnering closely with product managers, designers, and researchers in a cross-functional delivery model
• Ability to mentor engineers, provide architectural direction, and uphold the engineering bar
• Clear communication with both executives and cross-functional delivery teams
• Ability to work successfully within a professional services environment (e.g., can communicate effectively with clients)
• Passionate about creating better public outcomes through great government services
• A mindset and work approach that aligns with our core values
• Ability to travel for work from time to time

Nice-to-have qualifications

• Experience building software that handles sensitive personal data (e.g., tax, financial, or benefits information)
• Familiarity with secure software practices and compliance frameworks (e.g., FedRAMP, NIST 800-53, FISMA)
• Experience with containers and orchestration (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes)
• Background in platform engineering, application modernization, or enterprise shared services
• Familiarity with continuous ATO and evidence automation
• Prior experience working in the civic tech space
• Experience working in a remote-team environment

Don’t meet every qualification but think you can do the job? We’d still love to hear from you. If you’re excited about the role, apply. We consider candidates with a range of backgrounds and experiences.

Other requirements

• All work must be conducted within the U.S., excluding U.S. territories.
• You must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. now and in the future without sponsorship.
• As a government contractor, you may be required to obtain a public trust or security clearance.
• You must complete a company background check successfully.
• Some of our available roles are on federal contracts that require a degree or additional years of experience as a substitute.

Position type

This is a full-time, exempt position.

Location

This is a fully remote position.

Care package

Salary

We want to give you the most competitive salary possible. After all, you deserve it! To that end, we use the results of our interview process to determine what salary is most appropriate given your current level of seniority. For an Engineering Lead at Skylight, the current salary ranges are as follows:

• Senior Engineering Lead: $150,000–$185,000
• Staff Engineering Lead: $170,000–$203,000
• Principal Engineering Lead: $180,000–$230,000

Benefits

Your well-being is important to us, so we focus on supporting you in a variety of ways:

• Medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Life and AD&D insurance
• Dependent care FSA, healthcare FSA, health savings account
• Dollar-for-dollar 401(k) match up to 10% of your salary with no vesting period
• Flexible paid-time-off policy (generally around 25 days per year), plus 11 paid federal holidays
• Up to 12 weeks paid-time-off for all eligible new birth, adoption, or foster parents
• Performance rewards, including annual salary increase, annual performance bonus, spot bonuses, and stock options
• Business development / sales bonuses
• Referral bonuses
• Annual $2,000 allowance for professional development
• Annual $750 allowance for tech-related purchases
• Annual swag budget of $100 to display your Skylight pride with some merchandise (hoodies, hats, and more)
• Dollar-for-dollar charity donation matching, up to $500 per year
• Flexible, remote-friendly work environment
• An environment that empowers you to unleash your superpowers for public good

Interview tips

We want you to have a great interview experience with us! Here are some tips to help you prepare for a successful interview:

• Visit our join page to learn more about how our interview process works.
• Check out our Career Pathways framework to learn more about the different roles within Skylight and the skills needed to do them.
• If you’d like to request reasonable accommodations during the application or interviewing process, please contact our recruiting team at recruiting@skylight.digital.

We participate in E-Verify and upon hire, will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you’re authorized to work in the U.S.

We're an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, age, pregnancy, disability, work-related injury, covered veteran status, political ideology, marital status, or any other factor that the law protects from employment discrimination.