Senior Software Engineer

Better government starts with better technology. GovWell is building the AI operating system transforming how governments in 40+ states serve their communities. Join our movement to help Americans believe in government again. Help Americans believe in government again INTERVIEW What it’s like to build at GovWell Hear directly from our team about the problems we’re solving, how we work, and the ways we’re improving how governments serve their communities. Built in NYC From New York City, for communities across the country We work together from our New York City headquarters 3 to 5 days a week. Being in the same place helps us move faster, collaborate more effectively, and build lasting relationships. Central Manhattan HQ Our office is located in the heart of Manhattan overlooking Madison Square Park, providing easy access to major transit hubs as well as world class dining and entertainment. Autonomy for all While in-person is our default, we don't mandate specific days. Team members have the trust and flexibility to work the schedule that works best for them. OURTEAM “After working on presidential and Senate campaigns and alongside local governments, I wanted to focus on impact beyond elections. GovWell is where I can help improve how government works year after year.” Account Executive “Before GovWell, I ran operations on presidential campaigns, where nothing works unless the systems do. Now I help build the operational backbone public service needs to function day to day.” "I spent years working with designers and planners, hearing the same frustration over and over: why is permitting so hard? With GovWell, we're building the solution." Deployment Strategist “Growing up, I helped my dad apply for hundreds of construction permits. Those frustrating experiences inspired me to found GovWell to build better solutions for the millions of tradespeople whose livelihoods depend on getting permits fast.” CTO and Co-Founder “Being raised by two public servants, my parents showed me early that meaningful change starts in local government and ripples outward. I’m incredibly proud to be part of GovWell and to support the people who serve their communities, helping make their work easier so residents receive the service they deserve.” Senior Deployment Strategist “My work has included building tools for election administration and public health during the pandemic. I joined GovWell to keep applying those skills to systems people rely on when it matters most.” Public service mission, with private sector perks Great achievements require extraordinary talent. We invest in our people so you can focus on doing the best work of your career at GovWell. 01 Competitive cash compensation We hire exceptional people to make public sector impact, with competitive private sector compensation. 02 Equity ownership Every GovWell team member is an equity owner. When the company succeeds, we all share in the upside. 03 Medical, dental, and vision insurance, with up to 100% of premiums covered for you and your partner. 04 401(k) savings plan We offer flexible retirement options so you can plan ahead confidently and stay in control. 05 Unlimited time off We trust people to manage their time and encourage taking time off to rest, recharge, and stay effective. 06 Hybrid work environment While we work together in person most days, we believe in providing all employees the autonomy and flexibility to work from home when needed. 07 Meals, snacks, and team time A fully stocked kitchen, drinks on hand, and monthly team events and gatherings sponsored by us. Who we are We are uncomfortable with stasis. We believe a good life means striving vigorously towards difficult goals that challenge us to realize our full potential. We value colleagues who inspire and motivate us to level up. We seek and value feedback from others. See open roles Senior Software Engineer Location New York, NY Full time Department Compensation We the people — and the taxpayers — deserve good government. Yet today, interacting with government services is often frustrating and inefficient. GovWell is building the AI operating system transforming how governments serve communities, starting with local agencies. GovWell replaces legacy software for municipalities and counties, empowering public servants to radically streamline public services and cut internal processing time for permits and licenses by up to 95%. Founded in 2023, GovWell powers 5,000+ mission-critical processes for agencies in 35+ states serving millions of residents. The company has raised $35M in funding from Insight Partners, Work-Bench, and Bienville Capital, and the team works in person at GovWell HQ in New York City. Read more about our founding story in TechCrunch . You can hail a car in 90 seconds, bank from your phone, and chat with an AI at 2am. Then you spend a Tuesday afternoon waiting for your number to be called at the DMV. Swap the DMV for a permit office, a licensing board, a planning department — the experience is the same, and it repeats in more than 21,000 municipalities across this country. Trust in government has fallen from 77% to under 20% over the last 60 years, and most people don't form that opinion from the news — they form it in the permit office, on hold, waiting on an inspection that takes 6 weeks to schedule. We don't think that’s abstract or unfixable. We think it’s mostly a technology problem, and technology problems can be solved by great engineers. GovWell is hiring Senior Software Engineers to help build the platform doing that work today, at real scale: 5,000+ permitting and licensing processes running live across 35+ states, with customers reporting processing time cuts of up to 90%. Building departments that used to spend 70% of their time on data entry are spending that time on the work that actually needs a human — reviewing complex plans, meeting with residents, advising developers. You’ll work across the stack, building the kind of deeply configurable system that lets one platform serve thousands of municipalities with different rules, without collapsing into unmaintainable one-off logic for each one. This role reports directly to our CTO and Co-Founder, Ben Cohen. We have a hybrid work culture that combines regular in-person collaboration at our New York City office (3+ days per week) with flexibility to work remotely. A mission that matters: Building AI-powered products to fix outdated government systems isn’t just a technical challenge—it’s a historic opportunity to improve our foundational relationship with government and ensure trillions of tax dollars result in high quality services. WATCH: Mission & Vision with CEO & Co-Founder Troy LeCaire Real-world impact: GovWell’s product is the system of record for government services that affect millions of Americans. From streamlining permitting for small businesses to accelerating affordable housing development, your work will make an immediate difference. Join a startup in hyper-growth: We’ve found product-market fit and are scaling the business very quickly (4X ARR growth in the last year). As an early team member, you’ll learn what it takes to build a successful startup. You’ll work closely with the founders while enjoying exceptional autonomy and ownership over your work. What you’ll do Build, test, and ship full-stack features across GovWell’s platform — from intuitive resident-facing interfaces to scalable backend services that power government workflows. Build the configuration layer that lets one system flex correctly across thousands of different municipal setups, instead of hardcoding logic per customer. Take ownership of product areas end-to-end — reliable, maintainable, and performant in actual government environments. Use customer feedback and production data to decide what to fix next, working directly with the municipal staff and residents who depend on it. Contribute to technical design discussions and code review that shape how the whole engineering team builds, not just your own features. Who you are 3-5+ years of full-stack development experience building applications for enterprises and/or consumers. Strong preference for candidates who have worked in high-growth startup environments. You’re excited to work with the latest AI models, both in the product and in your own development workflow. You’ve owned a large product area end-to-end and can point to something specific you shipped and stayed accountable for. Strong product instincts: you ask questions until you actually understand the customer's problem, not just the ticket description. You want a role with real technical variance — one week you might be in GIS edge cases, the next in fee-schedule logic, and you find that more interesting than narrower, more repetitive work. Compensation within the posted salary band will be commensurate with experience. All offers will include: Below: a picture of the entire GovWell team celebrating our Series A with a boat cruise on the Hudson! #LI-AC1 #LI-Hybrid Compensation Range: $200K - $300K GovWell in the news GovWell Raises $25M Series A Led by Insight Partners to Build the AI Operating System for Modern Government #J-18808-Ljbffr