Who we are:

Raft (https://TeamRaft.com) is a customer-obsessed non-traditional small business with a purposeful focus on Distributed Data Systems, Platforms at Scale, and Complex Application Development, with headquarters in Reston, VA. Our range of clients includes innovative federal and public agencies leveraging design thinking, cutting-edge tech stack, and cloud-native ecosystem. We build digital solutions that impact the lives of millions of Americans.

We’re looking for an experienced Principal Software Engineer to support our customers and join our passionate team of high-impact problem solvers.

About the role:

As a Principal Software Engineer at our organization, you play a pivotal role in shaping the foundation of our software infrastructure. Your responsibilities extend beyond mere coding; you’re a navigator, leading multiple software teams through the complex labyrinth of production at an enormous scale.

Raft is building a real-time data platform for the DoD to better inform operators of events such as the Chinese balloon incident. As part of this data platform, we're collecting data from 750 sensors in real-time, enriching them, making them queryable, and presenting a cohesive operating picture to the operators to be able to take decisions at speed of relevance. We collect about billion events each day at millisecond latency. Technologies we utilize are: Kafka, Kafka Streams, Pinot, Java, Scala, Kubernetes. In this role you'll be hands on working with a team of high achievers.

What we are looking for: 

• Five to 6 years of experience being hands on engineer
• Java or Scala or Kotlin
• Experience with Kafka and Kafka Streams
• Experience creating web-socket and RESTFul APIs
• Work well with-in the team and be able to make decisions that align to the teams north stars
• Curious about time series and geospatial data
• Bachelors in Computer Science / Engineering / Physics / Mathematics background
• Obtain a Security certification within 90 days of employment with Raft

Highly preferred:

• Hands-on experience with time-series data in PostgreSQL or another SQL-flavored database

Clearance Requirements:

• Ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance

Work Type: 

• Remote
• May require up to 15% travel

Salary Range:

• $160,000 - $240,000 
• The determination of compensation is predicated upon a candidate's comprehensive experience, demonstrated skill, and proven abilities

What we will offer you:

• Highly competitive salary
• Fully covered healthcare, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) and company match
• Take as you need PTO 11 paid holidays
• Education & training benefits
• Annual budget for your tech/gadgets needs
• Monthly box of yummy snacks to eat while doing meaningful work
• Remote, hybrid, and flexible work options
• Team off-site in fun places!
• Generous Referral Bonuses
• And More!

Our Vision Statement: 

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

Our Customer Obsession: 

We will approach every deliverable like it's a product. We will adopt a customer-obsessed mentality. As we grow, and our footprint becomes larger, teams and employees will treat each other not only as teammates but customers. We must live the customer-obsessed mindset, always. This will help us scale and it will translate to the interactions that our Rafters have with their clients and other product teams that they integrate with. Our culture will enable our success and set us apart from other companies.

How do we get there? 

Public-sector modernization is critical for us to live in a better world. We, at Raft, want to innovate and solve complex problems. And, if we are successful, our generation and the ones that follow us will live in a delightful, efficient, and accessible world where out-of-box thinking, and collaboration is a norm. 

Raft’s core philosophy is Ubuntu: I Am, Because We are. We support our “nadi” by elevating the other Rafters. We work as a hyper collaborative team where each team member brings a unique perspective, adding value that did not exist before. People make Raft special. We celebrate each other and our cognitive and cultural diversity. We are devoted to our practice of innovation and collaboration.