Staff Software Engineer - AAA

WHO WE ARE

ActBlue is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating cutting-edge technology that fuels Democratic victories and enables progressive causes to thrive. 

Our vision is simple: building change through the power of people. Since our founding, we’ve been building innovative solutions to revolutionize grassroots fundraising – if you’ve donated to a Democratic campaign or a progressive organization online, you’ve probably used our platform! We believe in putting power in the hands of small-dollar donors by helping thousands of groups — from local candidates to national movements — mobilize their communities and create a lasting impact. Every member of our team is deeply committed to advancing our shared mission and core values. Together, we are shaping the future of democracy.

THE OPPORTUNITY

As a Staff Engineer on the AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Access) team, you will be a leading technical expert on one of ActBlue's most critical teams spanning Product Engineering and Platform. AAA secures the front door for everyone who powers progressive fundraising -- we make sure the right people get in, the wrong ones don't, and the platform never has to choose between moving fast and staying safe.

You'll provide technical leadership for multi-quarter initiatives involving complex requirements and strategic thinking, working collaboratively with engineers to plan and execute while playing a key role in defining the team's tech strategy and roadmap. This includes owning architecture decisions across identity, authentication, authorization, and access -- work that every other product at ActBlue depends on.

Working full-stack with Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, React, and TypeScript, you'll architect systems and establish technical foundations that enable secure, scalable, and reliable access for donors, campaigns, organizations, and ActBlue employees. Your work will directly impact thousands of users who depend on these systems every time they interact with ActBlue.

Our engineering and product organization is made up of empathetic and passionate people. We're organized into cross-functional teams that operate independently in alignment with the broader organizational goals.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Lead the technical execution of AAA's highest-priority initiatives -- including unifying login across ActBlue products and shifting to role-based, least-privilege access controls at scale -- owning architecture decisions and ensuring stability throughout while the platform modernizes underneath them.
• Work with the team to architect, refactor, and improve identity and access systems that serve donors, campaigns, organizations, and internal users, breaking down initiative-level work across multiple epics and contributing technical expertise to shape the team's roadmap prioritization.
• Partner with designers and product managers to help shape the team's roadmap, anticipating important information needs from stakeholders to inform project work and proactively raising potential competing product interests.
• Serve as a technical consultant and go-to resource for engineers across teams on complex architectural decisions, system design, and best practices -- particularly in the areas of security, identity, and access control.
• Collaboratively develop and champion best practices and design patterns to improve the maintainability and security posture of the platform.
• Lead and expand the team's adoption of agentic AI development tools -- developing playbooks, coaching engineers, and helping AAA serve as a model for AI-accelerated development across Product Engineering.
• Demonstrate technical leadership through writing documentation, establishing effective testing and monitoring, and fostering clear and audience-oriented communication.
• Coach and mentor multiple members of the team, creating professional development opportunities and fostering a culture of seeking feedback as a tool for growth.
• Create spaces for individuals to be engaged, valued, and heard, setting examples and cultural expectations around inclusivity within the team.
• Receive support from your manager to grow as an individual and increase your impact on the success of your team and the progressive movement.

WHAT YOU BRING

• 6-8 years of relevant professional experience, with demonstrated ability to provide technical leadership for multi-quarter initiatives involving complex requirements, strategic thinking, and cross-team collaboration.
• Strong OOP fundamentals required — Ruby, Python, Java, C#, Kotlin, or similar. We work in Rails; functional programming background is a plus. We hire for how you think, not the languages you've used.
• Professional experience working with React and TypeScript to develop frontend features from design and discovery through to deployment and monitoring.
• Broad understanding of a spectrum of stacks; expert understanding of dependencies, needs, impacts, and risks across technical areas within a domain.
• Deep understanding of performance, scalability, and security best practices, with ability to recommend system-level improvements to mitigate concerns for broad systems. Known as a go-to consultant that engineers turn to for guidance in these areas.
• Experience designing frameworks to enable a culture of defensive testing; consistently debugging the toughest issues throughout the stack regardless of environment, finding root cause or viable workarounds.
• Ability to assess technology and integrations in the context of multiple teams; recognized as an expert across teams for facilitating technical decision-making.
• Ability to communicate effectively with non-technical stakeholders and to collaboratively translate business requirements and strategic goals into technical solutions, modifying communication style to fit the audience. Ability to raise information to PMs and stakeholders relevant to team goals; effectively communicate technical details and value to non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience coaching engineers on coaching and mentoring others; fostering a culture of delivering specific praise and constructive feedback.
• Can provide support and stability during times of urgency; contribute holistic solutions in post-mortems.
• Can lead the identification and execution of solutions for team and organizational concerns.
• An inclusive, generous working style: you like to mentor, collaborate, and elevate your team by supporting your peers, providing coaching and guidance to multiple team members, and anticipating where your intervention would be helpful. 

WORK & BENEFITS SNAPSHOT

This posting is for a full-time, remote, salaried position. Travel may be required on a limited basis to attend all-staff and departmental retreats (1-2 times per year). Additional travel may be required for select positions. 

Registered States*: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Washington D.C.

*While ActBlue is currently registered to support remote work in the states listed above, we possess the ability to register in additional states as needed. If you are located in a state not listed, we may still be able to proceed with your application, but please note that the offer process may take longer to accommodate registration requirements.

Work Schedule: This role requires availability during established, regular business hours (Mon-Fri) and is expected to be a part of an on-call rotation which will result in working nontraditional hours as needed.

Work Environment: Employees can expect to work with distributed teams across all U.S. time zones. Our roles require extended technology usage, and proficiency with virtual communication tools such as Zoom and Slack. Regular attendance in virtual meetings is inherent to every position.

Salary Range Details: $191,679 - $216,566 - $241,452

ActBlue is committed to consistent compensation practices across our organization. Final salary offers will take into account factors such as candidate experience, interview performance and current team salary parity. 

Benefits: 

• Flexible work schedules and an unlimited time-off policy
• Fully paid and trans-inclusive health, dental, and vision insurance for employees and their families; plus fully-paid health reimbursement arrangement to use for out of pocket expenses and fully-paid short- and long-term disability 
• Fully paid basic and AD&D life insurance and a voluntary supplemental life insurance option
• Dependent and health care flexible spending account options
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) benefits for employees 
• Automatic 2% Employer-paid 401K contribution, plus up to an additional 6% match on employee contributions
• A minimum of three months paid medical, family and parental leave (for all new parents, adoptions included)
• Commuter or home-office benefits, including a $1,000 home-office setup allowance for all new full-time remote employees
• Additional perks including quarterly snack deliveries and digital subscriptions to the Boston Globe & New York Times

ActBlue is unable to sponsor work visas at this time.

UNION INFORMATION: The terms and conditions of this position are subject to a collective bargaining agreement with the Communications Workers of America, the exclusive bargaining agent of covered ActBlue Technical Services employees.

BACKGROUND CHECKS: As part of our hiring process, ActBlue will conduct a background check at the time of offer. This will be completed in compliance with applicable laws and will not be initiated without your consent.

INCLUSION STATEMENT FROM ACTBLUE

ActBlue is committed to equal employment opportunities and fostering a diverse, inclusive workplace. We celebrate unique perspectives, honor the dignity of all individuals, and recognize that diverse backgrounds and identities strengthen our mission.

If you’re passionate about our work and see yourself in this role, we encourage you to apply—even if you don’t meet every requirement.

We also provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities throughout the hiring process and employment. To request an accommodation, email [email protected].