Software Engineer

Who we are:

Raft (https://TeamRaft.com) is a customer-obsessed non-traditional defense tech company dedicated to empowering U.S. military and government agencies with cutting-edge AI/ML and data solutions. We are a leader in autonomous data fusion and Agentic AI, with a purposeful focus on Distributed Data Systems, Platforms at Scale, and Complex Application Development. With headquarters in McLean, 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.

About the role:

As a Software Engineer specializing in test, you'll be the technical leader and authority responsible for setting the quality strategy and driving technical excellence. You will architect, implement, and maintain advanced testing frameworks and solutions for complex, large-scale systems. This role requires deep involvement in high-level architectural decisions, ensuring that quality is built in from the initial design phase. You will also play a critical role in mentoring and guiding QA and software engineers, fostering a culture of rigorous testing, continuous improvement, and technical growth. Your expertise will ensure that best practices in testing, automation, and release readiness are maintained at the highest level

Key Responsibilities: 

• Serve as the technical advisor for quality, providing guidance on testing strategies and quality-gates for highly scalable and resilient systems.
• Architect, design, and implement comprehensive, highly-scalable, end-to-end test automation frameworks using modern tools and technologies.
• Lead the high-level design and strategy for performance, load, stress, and security testing efforts, ensuring appropriate methodologies and tools are utilized.
• Provide expertise in Enterprise Quality Assurance practices and Cloud-native application quality to guide development and deployment processes.
• Develop, design, and maintain automated tests for APIs (RESTful and web-socket implementations), focusing on robustness, performance, and reliability.
• Mentor and guide senior and junior QA and software engineers, providing technical leadership and championing a culture of quality.
• Leverage deep hands-on expertise to contribute to and oversee the execution of complex testing, ensuring comprehensive test coverage and minimal production defects.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Design, Development, DevOps) to establish seamless quality integration, CI/CD pipelines, and release criteria.
• Stay current with industry trends in quality engineering, testing tools, and emerging technologies, making recommendations for their strategic adoption.

• 2+ years of hands-on experience in software development testing, delivering complex testing solutions across multiple platforms and technologies.
• Strong, demonstrable professional experience with one or more major automation tools/frameworks (e.g., Playwright, Cypress, or WebDriverIO) utilizing TypeScript/JavaScript.
• Expertise in designing and implementing scalable, secure, and efficient QA frameworks for Cloud-native, and Enterprise applications.
• In-depth knowledge of testing web-socket and/or RESTful APIs, with a focus on building high-performance, reliable automated test suites.
• Mastery of test automation design patterns and architecture, with the ability to implement them effectively across large-scale projects (e.g., Page Object Model, Data-Driven Testing).
• Experience with cloud platforms, particularly AWS and Kubernetes, with experience testing and validating cloud-native application deployments and scaling.
• Proven experience in mentoring and guiding QA teams, fostering technical growth and collaboration.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, or a related field.

Highly preferred:

• Passion for staying at the forefront of Quality Engineering advancements, with a focus on improving test efficiency, coverage, and the overall developer/QA workflow.
• Experience implementing quality-driven developer tooling (e.g., static analysis, test environment provisioning) to shift testing left and empower development teams.
• Experience with frontend and backend frameworks (e.g., React, Angular, Vue, Express, Next.js).

Clearance Requirements:

• US Citizen with ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance

Salary: $120,000.00-$140,000.00

Work Type:

• Hybrid - Remote and in-office in Colorado Springs. 

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
• 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.