Principal Software Engineer, Lead (U.S. Air Force)

Responsibilities

Lead the technical delivery of mobile and backend software for tactical users while managing a team of software engineers. Partner with cross-functional teams to build secure, resilient applications that function effectively in degraded or disconnected network environments.

Requirements

Requires hands-on technical leadership experience in full-stack delivery, distributed systems, and secure application development. Candidates must be U.S. citizens capable of obtaining a Common Access Card and working within the U.S.

Skills

• Software engineering
• Technical leadership
• Mobile application development
• Backend development
• Distributed systems
• Cloud deployment
• CI/CD
• Secure application development
• API development
• Relational databases
• AI-assisted development
• Mentoring
• Geospatial applications
• Real-time communication
• System architecture
• Cross-functional collaboration

Benefits

• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Short-term disability insurance
• Long-term disability insurance
• Life insurance
• AD&D insurance
• Dependent care FSA
• Healthcare FSA
• Health savings account
• 401(k) match
• Paid time off
• Paid federal holidays
• Paid parental leave
• Performance bonuses
• Stock options
• Professional development allowance
• Tech allowance

About this role

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.
We’re building a modernized Team Awareness Kit (TAK) application for the U.S. Air Force that works in a decentralized communications environment. The first release centers on push-to-talk with auto-transcribed transmission logs, secure direct and group messaging, offline maps, and user registration and login. The work may expand into other projects in the same portfolio. It’s full end-to-end product delivery for a tactical user base.
You’ll set the technical direction for mapping and communication mobile apps that have to keep working when the network doesn’t, and you’ll stay hands-on in the code while you do it.
What to know going in
You’ll join an existing team that’s already building and shipping. The team relies on AI-assisted, spec-driven development, so you should be comfortable working that way and holding the output to a high bar. You’ll manage two software engineers to start.
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
Lead technical delivery of mobile and backend software for tactical users, from architecture decisions through implementation and code review
Build secure applications that stay useful on degraded or disconnected networks, including real-time voice, messaging, and offline maps
Partner with product, design, and platform and security teams to resolve dependencies and explain technical tradeoffs to technical and non-technical stakeholders
Shape how the team uses AI-assisted development, pairing spec-driven practices with independent verification, automated testing, and security review
Build strong working relationships with the people you manage and actively support their development
Coach individuals through growth, feedback, and day-to-day challenges
What we’re looking for
Basic qualifications
Hands-on technical leadership of complex software delivery, including architecture decisions, implementation, code reviews, and mentoring engineers
Full-stack delivery across modern frontend or mobile applications, backend services, APIs, and relational databases, including becoming productive in unfamiliar languages and frameworks
Experience with distributed systems, real-time or asynchronous communication, and integration with external systems
Secure application development, including authentication, authorization, encryption, and secrets management, along with cloud or container deployment and CI/CD
Experience using AI-assisted development tools with independent verification, testing, and security review
Can produce high-quality code by adhering to good practices such as automated testing
Understand the importance of always putting users at the center of your work, including thinking through the impact and implications of any code that you write
Experience working on cross-functional teams (product, design, engineering, ops) in iterative delivery
A mindset and work approach that aligns with our core values
Nice-to-haves
Experience with Flutter and Dart, Go, PostgreSQL, SQLite, WebSockets, or WebRTC
Experience with geospatial applications, mapping, offline-first operation, or software for degraded or disconnected networks
Experience with AWS, Kubernetes (EKS), Helm, Argo CD, Terraform, Crossplane, or GitHub Actions
Experience delivering defense or regulated systems, including STIGs, RMF and ATO processes, CAC and PKI, or mTLS, plus familiarity with TAK and Cursor on Target (CoT) interoperability
Experience improving AI-assisted engineering workflows, such as specification-driven development, agent orchestration, automated testing, or review automation
Experience delivering technology in government, regulated industries, or other public-benefit settings
A track record of staying aligned and accountable on remote teams
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
Some of our available roles are on federal contracts that require a degree or additional years of experience as a substitute.
All work must be conducted within the U.S., excluding U.S. territories.
This contract requires U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment.
You must be able to obtain and maintain a Common Access Card (CAC) and any special access the contract requires.
You must complete a company background check successfully.
Logistics
Position type
This is a full-time, exempt position.
Location
This is a fully remote position.
Travel
This role may require occasional travel to Montgomery, Alabama, and other U.S. Air Force bases.
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 a Software Engineer at Skylight, the current salary ranges are as follows:
Associate Software Engineer: $90,000–$125,000
Software Engineer I: $120,000–$140,000
Software Engineer II: $135,000–$160,000
Seni...

About Skylight

IT Services and IT Consulting · 51-200 employees · headquartered in Sarasota, Florida · founded 2017