Senior Software Engineer – phila.gov - City of Philadelphia

A best-in-class city that attracts best-in-class talent, Philadelphia is an incredible place to build a career. From our thriving arts scene and rich history to our culture of passion and grit, there are countless reasons to love living and working here. With a workforce of over 30,000 people, and more than 1,000 different job categories, the City of Philadelphia offers boundless opportunities to make an impact. 
As an employer, the City of Philadelphia values inclusion, integrity, innovation, empowerment, and hard work above all else. We offer a vibrant work environment, comprehensive health care and benefits, and the experience you need to grow and excel. If you’re interested in working with a passionate team of people who care about the future of Philadelphia, start here.

What We Offer:
•    Impact - The work you do here matters to millions. 
•    Growth - Philadelphia is growing, why not grow with it? 
•    Diversity & Inclusion - Find a career in a place where everyone belongs.
•    Benefits - We care about your well-being.
 

The Office of Innovation & Technology (OIT) is the central IT agency for the City of Philadelphia headed by the Chief Information Officer (CIO). OIT oversees all major information and communications technology initiatives for the City of Philadelphia - increasing the effectiveness of the information technology infrastructure, where the services provided are advanced, optimized, and responsive to the needs of the City of Philadelphia’s businesses, residents, and visitors. OIT responsibilities include: identifying the most effective approach for implementing new information technology directions throughout city government; improving the value of the city’s technology assets and the return on the city’s technology investments; ensuring data security continuity; planning for continuing operations in the event of disruption of information technology or communications services; and supporting accountable, efficient and effective government across every city department, board, commission and agency.

Over 7 million people visit the City of Philadelphia’s website, phila.gov, every year. Whether they’re looking for information on the Philadelphia Marathon, checking whether trash pickup is on-schedule, looking for after school activities, or applying for public assistance programs, for many Philadelphians, their experience on phila.gov represents the image they have of government. For the past few years, we’ve been working closely with content creators, City colleagues, and the public to rewrite service information and to design features that better meet the needs of City residents. You can see the progress at www.phila.gov.

This role sits within OIT’s reimagined Software Engineering group. Created in 2019, OIT Software Engineering team is a talented group of engineers reshaping how the City develops, procures, and maintains custom software. Our projects have a huge range and a huge impact - from operating and extending the front door to the City at phila.gov, to building the City’s Campaign Finance tracking system to building world class GIS applications like atlas.phila.gov. 

We’re developing more standards and frameworks for ourselves and for other developers to use; we use modern tooling (think AWS, GitHub, Docker, Terraform, etc.) and are a highly collaborative, productive team. 

As a Senior Software Engineer, you’ll join the City’s internal development shop and work on critical business and resident-facing applications. You’ll work alongside UX professionals, content strategists and other members of the Digital Services team. Your leadership will guide the implementation of City standards for phila.gov. You’ll be primarily responsible for building out new features on our WordPress platform using PHP and Vue.js, and following well-documented City standards, while contributing to new ones. You’ll get to work alongside stakeholders in a variety of different departments as you help design solutions – both from a tech and process perspective. As a Senior Engineer, you’ll be expected to help mentor other engineers who aren’t as far in their careers and provide a safe space for code reviews and help foster a collaborative work environment.

You’ll join a city government that has the largest GitHub organization among cities (github.com/CityOfPhiladelphia), works in the open, and leverages open-source tools and cloud infrastructure to improve the experience of interacting with City government online.

This job is primarily a full-stack role, with the opportunity to work across the stack to fill in gaps. You’ll be collaborating with other team members to design and develop new features and APIs for phila.gov as well as doing UI development. You’ll be responsible for reviewing the code of other team members in our Git flow process, writing unit tests, monitoring features you’ve launched, and supporting the WordPress platform you and others have contributed to. You’ll also be responsible for working with stakeholders at OIT and other departments as part of our agile software development process.

Competencies, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
The following are must haves:

• You have experience writing and establishing software patterns for an enterprise CMS
• Experience with PHP and PHP frameworks, and SQL or MySQL databases
• You have deep experience working alongside other developers using source control tools like Git & GitHub
• Experience with Vue.js a plus; most of our front-end development is in Vue. Alternatively, you can demonstrate experience in React / Angular
• You’re someone that loves to learn; you’re proud of your Google-fu when encountered with obscure error messages
• You’re able to see projects holistically and identify – and break through – roadblocks; you feel a sense of ownership in the projects you’re working on
• You’re able to take unclear / incomplete requirements and ask the right questions to develop solutions
• You believe that unless your code is tested, it doesn’t count
• You care about the other engineers on your team and work hard to ensure they are supported

It would be awesome if you: 

• Have experience deploying – and supporting – applications on AWS
• Can demonstrate your background writing clear technical documentation for other engineers
• Have strong opinions on the right way to do things – but an openness to change your mind as you encounter new information – and share these in your code reviews
• Have built, maintained or supported WordPress websites
• Know how to debug complex problems using logic and following a clear pattern

• We care more about what you can do than where you learned how to do it. That said, completion of a bachelor’s degree program at an accredited college or university with major course work in Computer Science, a related engineering field, or equivalent experience is a good foundation for the work. Boot camps or alternative pathways are also accepted and encouraged. 
• At least 3 years of experience developing modern web applications in a production environment.

Salary Not to Exceed: $900,000

Important: To apply, candidates must provide a cover letter and resume.

All applications should include the following: 
•    A one-page cover letter clarifying your interest and qualifications for the role. It really helps us understand why you’re interested in this position. We read every single one!
•    Your resume or curriculum vitae. 
•    Optionally, an online professional portfolio or public GitHub account.

We won’t accept or review incomplete applications.
 

Work Setting: in-person (onsite)

Discover the Perks of Being a City of Philadelphia Employee:
•    We offer Comprehensive health coverage for employees and their eligible dependents
•    Our wellness program offers eligibility into the discounted medical plan
•    Employees receive paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays
•    Generous retirement savings options are available
•    Pay off your student loans faster - As a qualifying employer, City of Philadelphia employees are eligible to participate in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Join the ranks of hundreds of employees who have already benefited from this program and achieved student loan forgiveness.
•    Enjoy a Free Commute on SEPTA - Starting September 1, 2023, eligible City employees will no longer have to worry about paying for SEPTA public transportation. Whether you're a full-time, part-time, or provisional employee, you can seize the opportunity to sign up for the SEPTA Key Advantage Program and receive free Key cards for free rides on SEPTA buses, trains, trolleys, and regional rails.
•    Unlock Tuition Discounts and Scholarships - The City of Philadelphia has forged partnerships with over a dozen esteemed colleges and universities in the area, ensuring that our employees have access to a wide range of tuition discounts and scholarships. Experience savings of 10% to 40% on your educational expenses, extending not only to City employees but in some cases, spouse and dependents too!
Join the City of Philadelphia team today and seize these incredible benefits designed to enhance your financial well-being and personal growth!

*The successful candidate must be a city of Philadelphia resident within six months of hire

Effective May 22, 2023, vaccinations are no longer required for new employees that work in non-medical, non-emergency or patient facing positions with the City of Philadelphia. As a result, only employees in positions providing services that are patient-facing medical care (ex: Nurses, doctors, emergency medical personnel), must be fully vaccinated.

The City of Philadelphia is an Equal Opportunity employer and does not permit discrimination based on race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, source of income, familial status, genetic information or domestic or sexual violence victim status. If you believe you were discriminated against, call the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations at 215-686-4670 or send an email to faqpchr@phila.gov.