Back End Engineer

Summary

Join Oddball, a company that values learning and growth, and make a big impact by bringing quality software to the federal space. As a Back End Engineer on the VA.gov Platform Team, you will primarily work in Ruby on Rails, building and maintaining secure backend services. You’ll collaborate with interdisciplinary teams and help modernize and scale VA.gov APIs. You will build performant Rails services and support CI/CD and DevOps efforts. The ideal candidate will have 2–5 years of backend engineering experience and solid experience building RESTful APIs. Oddball offers a fully remote work environment, a tech stipend, a comprehensive benefits package, a 401k plan, flexible PTO, and paid holidays.

Requirements

• 2–5 years of backend engineering experience (Rails, Python, or similar)
• Solid experience building RESTful APIs and service endpoints
• Exposure to Ruby on Rails development , with a focus on backend business logic, submission workflows, database models, and testing
• Familiarity with AWS (especially GovCloud), PostgreSQL or other RDBMS
• Understanding of security, logging, and compliance , especially within federal environments (VA or similar)
• Hands-on experience with Git , CI/CD pipelines, and automated testing
• Experience working in Agile environments , participating in sprint planning, standups, and retrospectives
• Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate cross-functionally
• Must be a US Citizen and able to work domestically
• Must be able to attain low-level security clearance
• Bachelor’s Degree

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain secure backend services that support dynamic forms, submission workflows, and integration with VA systems
• Collaborate closely with interdisciplinary teams including frontend developers, product managers, UX, and data engineers
• Help modernize and scale VA.gov APIs
• Build performant Rails services
• Support CI/CD and DevOps efforts to deliver a reliable, accessible experience for millions of Veterans
• Perform other related duties as assigned

Preferred Qualifications

• Exposure to the VA.gov Design System or building forms on VA.gov
• Familiarity with accessibility standards (WCAG, Section 508)
• Experience with Rails API integrations (e.g., XML, JSON, message queues)
• Prior federal or VA domain experience, including VA SPRUCE or MTS programs
• Knowledge of infrastructure tools like Terraform, Ansible, Docker , and automation pipelines

Benefits

• Fully remote
• Tech & Education Stipend
• Comprehensive Benefits Package
• Company Match 401(k) plan
• Flexible PTO, Paid Holidays