Senior Full Stack Software Engineer (Ruby on Rails)

Senior Software Engineer - Full Stack

Ad Hoc is a technology company that empowers organizations to deliver scalable, impactful digital services. Using modern, agile methods, our team creates products that meet people’s needs and transform their experience of government.

Our collaborations have shaped some of the defining moments in public-sector service delivery. We’ve helped build products that connect Veterans to tailored services, help millions access affordable health care, and support important programs like Head Start. As we work with agencies to deliver critical services, we’re also changing how the government approaches technology.

Our culture, communications, and tools are built for remote work, enabling us to bring together top talent nationwide. At Ad Hoc, remote life empowers our teams to design work environments that fit their lives and that foster flexibility and collaboration to achieve positive outcomes for our customers.

Ad Hoc values acceptance, accountability, and humility. We aren’t heroes. We learn from our mistakes and improve the process for the next time. We build small, inclusive teams to collaborate closely with our partners to solve the right problems and deliver software that works.

The Veterans Affairs business unit helps transform the VA into a modern digital services organization where Veteran outcomes are at the center of every effort. We partner with the VA to design and deliver seamless user experiences for Veterans, their families and caregivers, and VA employees. By applying better practices in service design, product management, and technology, we enable the VA to increase the use, quality, and reliability of services and decrease the time Veterans spend waiting for outcomes.

The Senior Software Engineer - Full Stack serves as an experienced individual contributor responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining scalable, reliable, and secure applications that support critical government digital services.

Working with minimal oversight, you will contribute across the full software development lifecycle, collaborating with engineers, product managers, designers, and stakeholders to deliver high-quality technical solutions that meet program objectives.

In this role, you will help shape technical approaches, improve engineering practices, and support the long-term maintainability and performance of applications. You will also provide technical guidance and mentorship to other engineers while contributing to a collaborative, accountable engineering culture.

• Design, develop, test, and maintain full-stack applications using Ruby on Rails, React.js, PostgreSQL, and related technologies.
• Take ownership of application features and components, ensuring code quality, reliability, maintainability, and performance.
• Build, maintain, and troubleshoot RESTful APIs and integrations with internal systems, third-party services, and government platforms.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate business requirements and user needs into scalable technical solutions.
• Diagnose, troubleshoot, and resolve complex application issues, identifying root causes and implementing sustainable improvements.
• Develop and maintain application monitoring, dashboards, and alerts using Datadog or similar observability platforms to support system health and reliability.
• Leverage AI-assisted development tools, such as Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, or GitHub Copilot, to support coding, debugging, testing, and development efficiency while maintaining engineering quality standards.
• Participate in code reviews, technical design discussions, architecture planning, and engineering best practices.
• Evaluate technical approaches, identify tradeoffs, and recommend solutions that balance performance, scalability, maintainability, and program needs.
• Maintain an understanding of adjacent technical systems, infrastructure, and dependencies to support effective integrations and troubleshooting.
• Create and maintain technical documentation, including design specifications, architecture diagrams, implementation details, and research findings.
• Communicate technical concepts, challenges, and recommendations clearly to engineers, stakeholders, and government partners.
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers, sharing technical knowledge and supporting their professional development.
• Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen software development processes, system reliability, and team effectiveness.
• Participate in technical interviews and contribute to engineering hiring efforts as needed.
• Lead smaller technical initiatives or workstreams when appropriate.

Candidates should bring senior-level, hands-on experience with the following technologies and practices:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field and at least 7 years of professional software engineering experience. Additional relevant professional experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Strong hands-on experience developing and maintaining full-stack applications using Ruby on Rails, React.js, and PostgreSQL.
• Demonstrated expertise in at least one core engineering discipline, such as backend development, frontend development, or infrastructure engineering, with a strong working understanding of related technical areas.
• Experience designing, developing, integrating, and troubleshooting APIs, including third-party or government system integrations.
• Hands-on experience testing and debugging API requests and responses using tools such as curl, Postman, or equivalent utilities.
• Experience building and maintaining application dashboards, monitors, and alerts using Datadog or a comparable observability platform.
• Understanding of monitoring strategies, alerting thresholds, application performance, and incident troubleshooting.
• Experience using AI-assisted coding tools such as Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, or comparable solutions in professional development workflows.
• Experience working with version control systems, code review practices, automated testing, and modern software development methodologies.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to independently investigate complex technical issues.
• Ability to communicate technical concepts effectively and collaborate with engineers, product teams, and technical and nontechnical stakeholders.
• Experience providing technical guidance, mentoring engineers, and contributing to engineering best practices.
• Must be able to successfully complete and maintain the required federal Public Trust background investigation and meet all applicable agency-specific suitability requirements.

• Experience with Amazon Web Services (AWS), including cloud-hosted applications, infrastructure, or related services.
• Previous experience supporting federal government programs or large-scale public-sector digital services.
• Familiarity with Agile software development practices and multidisciplinary product teams.