Software Engineer III (Data Platform)

OpenGov is the leader in AI and ERP solutions for local and state governments in the U.S. More than 2,000 cities, counties, state agencies, school districts, and special districts rely on the OpenGov Public Service Platform to operate efficiently, adapt to change, and strengthen the public trust. Category-leading products include enterprise asset management, procurement and contract management, accounting and budgeting, billing and revenue management, permitting and licensing, and transparency and open data. These solutions come together in the OpenGov ERP, allowing public sector organizations to focus on priorities and deliver maximum ROI with every dollar and decision in sync. Learn about OpenGov’s mission to power more effective and accountable government and the vision of high-performance government for every community at OpenGov.com.

Job Summary

As a Software Engineer III at OpenGov, you will build best-in-class SaaS solutions that drive efficiency, transparency, and accountability for government agencies. You’ll be a key member of the engineering organization, responsible for building and scaling high-quality, backend-heavy systems that power near-real-time analytics, reporting, and insights across our platform.
This role is ideal for engineers who are software developers first, with strong hands-on experience building data-intensive systems and platforms. You will design, implement, and operate scalable data ingestion, transformation, and analytics services using modern, cloud-native technologies on AWS or equivalent cloud provider.
Working at the intersection of software engineering and data engineering, you’ll solve complex problems related to reliability, performance, data freshness, and scale while applying strong engineering fundamentals, clean code practices, and sound system design.
A typical day in this role involves designing well-scoped backend services and data pipelines, writing production-quality Java, Python, or PySpark code, improving the reliability and observability of data systems, and collaborating closely with Product, Analytics, and Platform teams. Success in this role requires comfort navigating ambiguity, strong ownership, and the ability to think holistically about systems rather than isolated pipelines.Responsibilities

• Design, build, and own scalable, reliable, and maintainable backend services and data platforms that support analytics and insights use cases.

• Write clean, efficient, and well-tested Java, Python, or PySpark code, applying strong software engineering principles such as modularity, testability, readability, and performance.

• Partner closely with Product, Analytics, and Platform teams to translate business requirements into robust, self-serve data products.

• Develop and operate data ingestion and transformation systems using AWS-native services such as Glue, Lambda, DMS, Athena, RDS, Redshift, and Apache Iceberg.

• Build domain-oriented data products with clear contracts, ownership, and SLAs, aligned with data mesh principles.

• Build and manage ETL/ELT pipelines supporting both batch and near-real-time analytics use cases.

• Design data models and storage layouts aligned with modern data lake and data warehouse architectures (e.g., medallion patterns).

• Define and enforce data quality, freshness, and reliability guarantees for owned datasets.

• Diagnose and resolve complex issues related to data correctness, performance bottlenecks, system failures, and operational reliability.

• Improve observability, monitoring, and alerting for data systems and data products.

• Lead and participate in code and design reviews, upholding high standards for engineering quality and long-term maintainability.

• Mentor and support junior engineers, promoting strong engineering fundamentals and best practices.

• Contribute to OpenGov’s engineering culture by promoting ownership, thoughtful design, and pragmatic technical decision-making.

Requirements & Preferred Experience
Core Requirements

• BA/BS in Computer Science or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience, with significant backend or platform development.

• Strong hands-on experience with at least one programming language, preferably Java or Python, in production systems.

• Strong grasp of software engineering fundamentals, including data structures, algorithms, system design, and performance optimization.

• Strong proficiency in SQL for data querying, transformation, and validation.

• Solid experience with cloud-based data and compute platforms, preferably AWS, including Glue, Lambda, Athena, DMS, RDS, Redshift, and Iceberg.

• Demonstrated ability to design, reason about, and operate distributed systems.

• Experience with observability, data quality frameworks, or platform enablement patterns.

Nice to Have

• Experience working on enterprise-scale or multi-tenant SaaS platforms, building and operating large-scale ETL/ELT systems with production SLAs.

• Solid understanding of data lake and data warehouse architectures.

• Hands-on experience with Terraform for managing cloud infrastructure as code, including writing, reviewing, and maintaining reusable modules.

• Experience designing and maintaining data products with well-defined schemas, contracts, and quality expectations.

• Familiarity with near-real-time or CDC-based data ingestion pipelines.

• Experience with event-driven or asynchronous architectures.

A Mission That Matters.

At OpenGov, public service is personal. We are passionate about our mission to power more effective and accountable government. Government that operates efficiently, adapts to change, and strengthens public trust.  Some people say this is boring.  We think it’s the core of our democracy.

Opportunity to Innovate

The next great wave of innovation is unfolding with AI, and it will impact everything—from the way we work to the way governments interact with their residents. Join a trusted team with the passion, technology, and expertise to drive innovation and bring AI to local government. We’ve touched 2,000 communities so far, and we’re just getting started.

A Team of Passionate, Driven People

This isn’t your typical 9-to-5 job; we operate in a fast-paced, results-driven environment where impact matters more than simply clocking in and out. Our global team of 800+ employees is united in our commitment to challenge the status quo. OpenGov is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Dubuque, Plano, and Pune.

A Place to Make Your Mark

We pride ourselves on our performance-based culture, where every employee is encouraged to jump in head-first and take action to help us improve. If you have a great idea, we want to hear it. Excellent performance is recognized and rewarded, and we love to promote from within.