Senior Software Engineer

Full Stack 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 Full Stack 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
• 5+ 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.

What We Do

The definitive platform for news analysis and intelligence software that state leaders policymakers and engaged citizens rely upon.