Senior Software Engineer
Join the future of news
We’re on a mission to deliver riveting storytelling for all of America. At The Washington Post, you’ll help reinvent news. Our work is driven by a deep investigative spirit and enhanced by innovation to bring audiences closer to the stories that matter most.
About Our Team
The Washington Post is powered by the passion and talent of our people. It takes all of us to reinvent news. Beyond our award-winning Newsroom and Opinions teams, we work across many departments, including Brand & Events, Communications, Customer Care, Engineering & Product, Finance, Human Resources, Legal, Marketing & Advertising, Print Operations, and Sales.
Why This Role Matters
We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer to design, build, and maintain the core services and infrastructure that power the subscriber lifecycle, encompassing user registration, subscription purchase, subscription management, and retention for both print and digital subscribers. This individual will drive the development of scalable, reliable, and high-performance solutions, with a focus on back-end systems, to ensure a seamless experience for our subscribers while also helping to support the underlying infrastructure.
What Motivates You
Impact & Ownership: You are passionate about driving change and taking full accountability for delivering high-impact results with minimal oversight.
Technical Excellence: You are dedicated to engineering high-quality, flexible, and reusable code with a meticulous eye for detail and quality assurance.
Growth Mindset: You are eager to continuously learn, explore the full technological stack, and integrate emerging technologies like AI into your workflow.
Innovation: You excel at innovative problem-solving, proactively identifying and addressing business needs before they are even recognized.
Collaboration & Communication: You are a collaborative partner who can simplify complex technical concepts to effectively align with diverse stakeholders.
Mission Alignment: You believe in the freedom of the press and are proud to build solutions that facilitate the free flow of information.
How You'll Support the Mission
Lead the development, maintenance, and enhancement of highly scalable back-end services that power the full print and digital subscriber lifecycle (registration, purchase, management, and retention).
Drive technical excellence by writing high-quality, flexible, and reusable code, engaging in meticulous code review, and implementing best practices and design patterns.
Contribute to the technical design and architecture of complex, cross-team systems, using expertise to guide key technical decisions.
Manage and optimize the underlying cloud infrastructure for your services to ensure performance, reliability, and cost-efficiency.
Collaborate closely with Product and cross-functional teams to define technical goals, plan work, and deliver comprehensive, end-to-end solutions.
Support the operational health of production applications, including developing automation for deployment and participating in an on-call rotation.
Ensure all software and related infrastructure remain current, patched, and secure.
The Skills and Experience You Bring
Minimum Qualifications
BA/BS in Computer Science or a related technical field or equivalent practical experience.
7+ years’ experience developing and operating highly scalable, reliable, and performant back-end systems.
7+ years’ experience with languages such as Java and NodeJS.
7+ years of experience with Python and Linux/Unix shell scripting.
3+ years experience with Apache Airflow.
Experience with a major cloud provider (e.g., AWS) and a deep understanding of cloud infrastructure concepts.
Experience with DevOps best practices, including Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC), CI/CD, and automation.
Experience with observability tools for monitoring the health of production applications in an on-call rotation.
Experience with relational and non-relational databases.
Experience working in agile software development teams and collaborating with product managers and stakeholders.
Experience contributing to monetization or subscription retention features.
Experience with AI tools to support code development or other work.
Preferred Qualifications
10+ years’ experience developing highly scalable back-end systems.
10+ years’ experience with languages such as Java and NodeJS.
10+ years of experience with Python and Linux/Unix shell scripting.
5+ years experience with Apache Airflow.
Deep understanding of continuous integration systems and deployment pipelines.
Prior experience mentoring or providing technical guidance to other engineers.
Experience analyzing application and cloud environment performance.
Collaboration makes us stronger. That’s why our offices are designed with open layouts, modern technology, and easy access to transportation. With certain exceptions for newsgathering and business travel, we work on-site five days a week.
Compensation and Benefits
Wherever you are in your life or career, The Washington Post offers comprehensive and inclusive benefits for every step of your journey:
Competitive medical, dental and vision coverage
Company-paid pension and 401(k) match
Three weeks of vacation and up to three weeks of paid sick leave
Nine paid holidays and two personal days
20 weeks paid parental leave for any new parent
Robust mental health resources
Backup care and caregiver concierge services
Gender affirming services
Pet insurance
Free Post digital subscription
Leadership and career development programs
Benefits may vary based on the job, full-time or part-time schedule, location, and collectively bargained status.
The salary range for this position is:
$119,700 - $199,300 AnnualThe actual salary within this range will depend on individual skills, experience, and qualifications as they relate to specific job requirements. This position may be eligible for a bonus or incentive program, and a member of the Talent Acquisition team will discuss bonus payment terms and conditions during the interview process.
Your story awaits. Apply today!
Learn more about The Post at careers.washingtonpost.com.