Staff Software Engineer, Public Sector

scaleai

San Francisco, CA; St. Louis, MO; New York, NY; Washington, DC · San Francisco

Posted Mar 31, 2026

Full-time
Public Sector Engineering

Job description

The Public Sector software engineers (SWEs) create the core product building blocks forward-deployed teams use to develop agentic capabilities that function across multiple domains. SWEs responsibilities include building the systems required to ingest and process federal datasets to support real-time decision-making in contested environments. We develop novel agentic enabling capabilities that includes:

Create multi-layered guardrails around agents
Optimize data retrieval for agents
Orchestrate fleets of asynchronous agents
Automatically alerts users to deviations in data
Illustrating how an agent reached a decision

As a Staff Software Engineer, you will orchestrate the implementation of vertical features and horizontal capabilities to include mentoring other engineers on defining requirements with stakeholders and communication tradeoffs of technical implementations on feature and capabilities until they are accepted by the stakeholders.

You will: Orchestrate feature implementation across the Federal engineering team to ensure architectural consistency.

Define technical strategy for agentic guardrails, explainability, and fleet orchestration.
Ensure system reliability and performance across multiple security classifications and network types.
Mentor engineers in the process of defining requirements with stakeholders and gathering acceptance.
Communicate high-level technical trade-offs and implementation strategies to senior government stakeholders and Scale C-Suite members.
Influence the long-term product strategy and technical roadmap for the Federal business unit.
Consult on the architecture of AI-powered solutions for large-scale federal contracts.

Ideally you will have:

Full Stack Development: Proficiency in front-end, back-end development and infrastructure, including experience with modern web development frameworks, programming languages, and databases
Cloud-Native Technologies: Familiarity with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) and experience in developing and deploying applications in a cloud-native environment. Understanding of containerization (e.g., Docker) and container orchestration (e.g., Kubernetes) is a plus
Data Engineering: Knowledge of ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes and experience in building data pipelines to integrate and process diverse data sources. Understanding of data modeling, data warehousing, and data governance principles
AI Application Integration: Familiarity with integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) and building agentic workflows. Understanding of prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and agent orchestration is beneficial.
Problem Solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to understand complex challenges and devise effective solutions. Ability to think critically, identify root causes, and propose innovative approaches to overcome technical obstacles
Collaboration and Communication: Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and customers. Ability to clearly articulate technical concepts to non-technical audiences and foster a collaborative work environment
Adaptability and Learning Agility: Willingness to embrace new technologies, learn new skills, and adapt to defining and evolving project requirements. Ability to quickly grasp and apply new concepts and stay up-to-date with emerging trends in software engineering

Compensation packages at Scale for eligible roles include base salary, equity, and benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position and may be inclusive of several career levels at Scale; it will be determined during the interview process based on work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, interview performance, and relevant education or training. Scale employees in eligible roles are also granted equity based compensation, subject to Board of Director approval. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process, and confirm whether the hired role will be eligible for equity grant. You'll also receive benefits including, but not limited to: comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, a learning and development stipend, and generous PTO. Additionally, this role may be eligible for additional benefits such as a commuter stipend.

Please reference the job posting's subtitle for where this position will be located. For pay transparency purposes, the base salary range for this full-time position in the locations of San Francisco, New York, Seattle is:

$252,000—$362,000 USD

The base salary range for this full-time position in the locations of Hawaii, Washington DC, Texas, Colorado is:

$227,200—$326,000 USD

The base salary range for this full-time position in the location of St. Louis is:

$188,800—$272,000 USD

PLEASE NOTE: Our policy requires a 90-day waiting period before reconsidering candidates for the same role. This allows us to ensure a fair and thorough evaluation of all applicants.

About Us:

At Scale, our mission is to develop reliable AI systems for the world's most important decisions. Our products provide the high-quality data and full-stack technologies that power the world's leading models, and help enterprises and governments build, deploy, and oversee AI applications that deliver real impact. We work closely with industry leaders like Meta, Ernst & Young, Mayo Clinic, Time Inc., the Government of Qatar, and U.S. government agencies including the Army and Air Force. We are expanding our team to accelerate the development of AI applications.

We believe that everyone should be able to bring their whole selves to work, which is why we are proud to be an inclusive and equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability status, gender identity or Veteran status.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with physical and mental disabilities. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation in the application or recruiting process due to a disability, please contact us at accommodations@scale.com. Please see the United States Department of Labor's Know Your Rights poster for additional information.

We comply with the United States Department of Labor's Pay Transparency provision.

PLEASE NOTE: We collect, retain and use personal data for our professional business purposes, including notifying you of job opportunities that may be of interest and sharing with our affiliates. We limit the personal data we collect to that which we believe is appropriate and necessary to manage applicants’ needs, provide our services, and comply with applicable laws. Any information we collect in connection with your application will be treated in accordance with our internal policies and programs designed to protect personal data. Please see our privacy policy for additional information.