Infrastructure Engineer (Software) - job 1 of 2

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 

You will work on small teams to build scalable infrastructure for government services that millions of Americans depend on. You care deeply about working on technology that improves people’s lives but doesn’t think technology is always the answer. You are passionate about making large-scale systems secure, scalable, and fast. 

You will be working within the government ecosystem, which means working, sometimes closely, with other government contractors and civil servants. Working with people outside of your company means you'll likely encounter different working styles and cultural norms. At the same time, working as part of a larger team allows us to deliver on projects of larger scale and complexity.

The government also imposes a level of bureaucracy that is typically not present in a company of our size in the private sector. We operate in a regulated environment, where checks and compliance are built into the process of building software. This can make the path to production slower and some decisions, such as tools and processes, lie outside of our control. You view these as challenges and can look for creative engineering solutions within existing constraints to provide the highest-leverage solutions to fulfill our mission.

You will be working with legacy systems. While we work to modernize government technology, we do that within an existing ecosystem. We always focus on providing real, short-term value while keeping our eyes on long-term goals. This usually means getting to know legacy systems, often with poor documentation and unreliable narrators, and trying to determine how to replicate the systems' behavior or how to integrate with these systems. This is a great opportunity for engineers who enjoy software archaeology. If you care deeply about how software systems work over time, and building systems for longevity and resilience, this work is for you.

• Work with a cross-functional team to deliver on project requirements
• Create and maintain CI/CD pipelines
• Code, manage, configure, and maintain services
• Update documentation and runbooks
• Join our on-call rotation as a first line of defense during production issues
• Take part in hiring activities (e.g., submitting referrals, conducting interviews, and attending interview debriefs), as needed
• Building and maintaining Terraform IaC and GitHub Actions workflows
• Working with other engineers to ensure the performance and reliability of the services running on our AWS infrastructure
• Identifying and proposing infrastructure solutions to address client needs
• Making infrastructure best practice recommendations to stakeholders

• Previous experience maintaining a medium or large-scale production system or COTS products using Infrastructure as Code
• Broad experience with Cloud offerings in AWS
• Significant experience in one or more of the following areas: Cloud infrastructure, Unix/Linux, Windows, Scripting
• Ability to automate procedural tasks using scripting in Python, Javascript, Ruby, or Bash
• Experience with Terraform and/or CloudFormation, Ansible, or other IaC and automation tools
• Tenacity to dive into problems and iterate in working code
• Equal parts systems thinker and advocate for users
• Highly resourceful, reliable, and detail-oriented
• Ability to think strategically around trade-offs and short-term vs. long-term benefits
• An adaptive, empathetic, collaborative, and positive mindset
• Excellent written and real-time communication, technical and otherwise

• Experience: Minimum of 5 years
• Education: Due to contractual requirements, this role requires a Bachelor's Degree (in any discipline) or 4 years of experience in lieu of a degree

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.

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Please contact the recruiting team at [email protected] 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.