What are the responsibilities and job description for the Modernization Tech Lead position at Nava Public Benefit Corp?
About Nava
Nava is a consultancy and public benefit corporation working to make government services simple and effective. Since 2013, federal, state, and local agencies have trusted Nava to help solve highly scrutinized technology modernization challenges.
As a client services company, we guide agencies constrained by legacy systems to a future with sharp user experiences built on secure, reliable, fault-tolerant cloud infrastructure. We bill for our time, offering our expertise and problem-solving approach to help our government partners enhance their digital products and services.
People are at the heart of our work, from members of the public who rely on benefit programs to government agency staff. Through human-centered design and modern engineering best practices, we help our government partners better understand user needs and deliver on their missions more effectively. This focus gives everyone at Nava the opportunity to do work that is meaningful, impactful, and deeply connected to public good.
Position Summary
As the Tech Lead for our modernization effort, you will define the technical strategy and lead the engineering team in transforming a mission-critical legacy system into a modern, scalable solution. You will coordinate across delivery teams, guide architecture and implementation, and ensure that the new system meets business needs, technical standards, and long-term maintainability goals.
What you'll do- Define the technical vision and modernization strategy in collaboration with clients and the delivery team
- Ensure that the modernized system maintains parity with essential legacy functions while introducing improvements
- Make key architectural decisions that balance long-term program goals with short-term delivery needs
- Prioritize technical tasks and manage trade-offs to align with client goals
- Coordinate with clients and stakeholders to capture critical business rules and constraints
- Serve as a technical counterpart to client engineering and IT teams, supporting alignment and trust-building
- Facilitate cross-functional and cross-delivery-team coordination to unlock dependencies and ensure steady progress across the modernization effort
- Proven experience leading end-to-end modernization efforts, including transitioning from legacy systems (e.g., mainframes, monoliths) to modern architectures (e.g., microservices, cloud-native)
- Strong architectural skills with the ability to design scalable, maintainable and secure systems
- Ability to guide technical direction while balancing short-term and long-term needs
- Advanced proficiency in modern programming languages and frameworks (e.g., Java, Python, Node.js, or equivalent)
- Experience with legacy system integration, interface development, and data migration strategies
- Familiarity with APIs, messaging systems, and event-driven architecture
- Strong understanding of DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code, and automated testing
- Able to travel up to 25% of the time to Trenton, NJ
Other requirements
All roles at Nava require the following:
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States.
Must meet any other requirements for government contracts for which candidates are hired.
Work authorization that doesn't require visa sponsorship, now or in the future.
May be subject to a government background check or security clearance, depending on the contract.
Perks working with Nava
Health coverage - Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans to support your overall health needs.
Time off - Vacation, holidays (including Juneteenth), and floating days to rest and recharge.
Company holidays- Enjoy 12 paid federal holidays each year on top of your regular PTO.
Annual bonus - When Nava meets goals, eligible employees receive a performance-based annual bonus.
Parental leave - Paid time off for new parents, plus weekly meals delivered to your home.
Wellness program - Full platform offering physical, mental, & emotional health resources & support tools.
Virtual care - See doctors online with no copay through UnitedHealthcare's virtual visit program.
Sabbatical leave - Earn extended paid leave after continuous service for personal growth or rest.
401(k) match - Nava matches 4% of your salary to support your retirement savings plan.
Flexible work - Remote-first environment with flexibility built around your schedule and responsibilities.
Home office setup - Company laptop & setup assistance provided via Staples for remote work needs.
Utility support - Monthly reimbursement to help offset eligible home office utility expenses.
Learning opportunities - Internal training programs and resources to help grow your professional skills.
Development budget - Annual allowance for courses, tuition, certifications, & LinkedIn Learning access.
Referral bonus - Get rewarded when you refer great people who join the Nava team.
Commuter benefits - Pre-tax commuter programs to support in-office travel when applicable.
Insurance coverage - Nava provides disability, life, and accidental death insurance at no cost.
Supportive culture - A collaborative and remote-friendly team environment where people genuinely care.
Location
We have fully remote options if you reside in one of the following states:
Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, DC, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.
*If you are not living in one of the states listed above, unfortunately, you will not be considered for a position at this time. Additionally, if employed with Nava, you must be based in the U.S. and cannot work from outside the country.
Stay in touch
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Please contact the recruiting team at recruiting@navapbc.com if you would like to request reasonable accommodation during the application or interviewing process.
We participate in E-Verify. Upon hire, we will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. This role requires you to work from the contiguous United States.
We care deeply about diversity and inclusion at Nava. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
