Software Engineer

Software Engineers own user‑facing features end‑to‑end: slick React/Next JS interfaces, performant Node APIs, and Postgres‑centric data models that keep up with petabyte‑scale content. One sprint you’ll prototype a semantic‑search UI backed by vector embeddings; the next you’ll build a real‑time collaboration layer that lets policy analysts co‑author annotations and compare version histories without ever refreshing the page.

As the Software Engineer, you will

• Ship vertical product slices (Figma wireframe, React component, Node handler, SQL/Mongo query,  and deployed on AWS via Docker and GitHub Actions).
• Design delightful data workflow such as instant search, real‑time diffing, collaborative annotation, and hiding terabytes behind sub‑200 ms interactions.
• Partner with the design and product management teams on thin‑slice scoping, experiment flags, and measurable customer outcomes.
• Instrument and iterate on dashboards, structured logs, Feature‑flag rollouts, and blameless post‑mortems.
• Evangelize product craftsmanship through storybook‑driven UI, shared design tokens, and code reviews that coach rather than gate‑keep.

Essential Qualifications for this position include:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or related field
• 1+ years of professional work experience as a full stack software engineer
• Professional work experience building product React/Next and Node/TypeScript applications
• Ability to translate abstract user problems into specific milestone and negotiate scope
• Ability to program in SQL and various scheme designs, such as Postgres, with the ability to utilize Mongo
• Ability to operate CI/CD (Docker and GitHub Actions) and infrastructure as code, with appropriate collaboration with the infrastructure team (Terraform/CDK)
• Ability to utilize LLM tools (Claude-Code, Cursor, Codex) to accelerate coding and debugging 

Preferred Qualifications for this position include: 

• Knowledge of search indexes or vector databases powering RAG/semantic workflows.
• Knowledge of SSR & ISR patterns in Next 14’s app‑router
• Knowledge of AI/ML concepts and the development of AI-driven features and models
• Professional work experience with data‑viz (D3, Recharts) or rich‑text editors (Slate, TipTap)
• Prior professional work experience in a start-up organization 

This is an onsite work opportunity and our teams operate from the Washington, DC office (located at L and 15th St. NW). State Affairs offers a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package to employees.

The annual salary range for this role as it is posted is $120,000 - $180,000 for candidates working from a State Affairs office. The final job level and annual salary will be determined based on the education, qualification, knowledge, skills, ability, and experience of the final candidate(s), and calibrated against relevant market data and internal team equity.  Benefits listed in this posting may vary depending on the nature of your employment with State Affairs.