Software Engineer - TID (Contractor Position)

Salary: $79.61 Hourly
Location : Transportation Building (10 Park Plaza, Boston 02116)
Job Type: Contractor ITS77
Remote Employment: Flexible/Hybrid
Job Number: 20251014A-ITS77
Department: MBTA - Technology Innovation Division
Area: 863-Technology Innovation Division
Opening Date: 03/17/2026
Licenses / Certifications: None Required
Union Affiliation: UNA Unaffiliated
Safety Sensitive: No; this is not a Safety Sensitive position.
On-Call or 24/7: No; this position is not classified as on-call or 24/7.
Note: This is a term-limited and project-specific contractor position that is not employed directly by the MBTA. This hybrid position requires being in the office at least two (2) days per week.
Essential Classification (Emergency Staff): No; this position is classified as non-essential (during declared States of Emergency).


At the MBTA, we envision a thriving region enabled by a best-in-class transit system. Our mission is to serve the public by providing safe, reliable, and accessible transportation. MBTA's Core Values are built around safety, service, equity, sustainability, and culture. Each employee that works for the MBTA performs their roles based on our vision, mission, and values. This includes attendance, participation, and contribution in local safety committee meetings as needed.

Job Summary


The Software Engineer in the Technology Innovation Department plays a pivotal role within the software engineering group, collaborating closely with the UX Research and Design, Content, Product and Program team members assigned to each program. Together, they strive to uphold software engineering excellence in civic technology, operating within the specific constraints of the MBTA.

Duties & Responsibilities
The Software Engineer is responsible for a wide variety of software engineering tasks primarily in Elixir and/or TypeScript.


Engineering Capabilities

• Demonstrates strong fundamental coding abilities and knowledge
• Follows standard engineering division procedures, such as naming conventions, code reviews, writing documentation, testing software changes, writing tests, etc.
• Writes production quality software
• Works on front-end and back-end tasks as needed
• Able to execute any available engineering coding tasks assigned in a sprint
• Implement architecture best practices regularly
• Regularly assists others in achieving quality standards through reviews
• Make changes to pull requests based upon feedback from reviewers
• Execute development work at a good velocity
• Diagnose ongoing application outages or disruptions
• May write root cause analysis and reports
• May handle an urgent hotfix for their products
• Protects the data security and privacy of our organization and customers
• Has a basic understanding of logging, log querying, and software profiling

Product Team Participation

• May function as a product manager for technical projects
• Provides estimates of sprint tasks,
• May advise on near and long-term epic level estimates and may define the scope of an epic
• May perform defect or feasibility investigations
• May advise on business value of tech debt
• May participate in the on-call rotation, as a subject-matter expert for their product and/or the products of TID as a whole
• Surfaces defects or potential improvement in the sprint backlog
• Works collaboratively with product and design team members, especially when providing feedback and in sharing knowledge
• Consistently arrives on time and actively engages in team meetings, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives.
• Proactive about moving, updating, and commenting on assigned tasks

DevOps and Leadership

• Works on deployment, build and code analysis systems as needed
• May participate in interviews and evaluation of engineering candidates
• May serve as scrum master or a technical leader on a product engineering team

Additional responsibilities may include a focus on one or more departments or locations. See applicable addendum for department or location-specific functions.

Physical Demands and Working Conditions

• The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Available to work all shifts and locations as assigned or directed.
• Available to work as per assignment by the MBTA twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week as directed by supervisory staff for severe weather conditions, emergencies or any other circumstances that may potentially impact service or the safety of service.
• Have the ability to work any and all shifts and/or locations assigned or directed.
• Participate in on-call rotation of technology systems and services.

Supervision

• None

Minimum Education

• Bachelor degree from accredited institution

Minimum Requirements & Qualifications

• Three (3) years of experience in software engineering practices, processes, and team operations.
• Demonstrated proficiency in at least two (2) programming languages
• Experience with automated testing, including continuous integration (CI)
• Experience with GitHub and GitHub workflows (such as pull requests) and code reviewing
• Ability to translate business requirements into technology
• Proven people management capabilities, including coaching, effective communication, and conflict resolution skills
• Strong communication skills
• Strong analytical thinking and debugging abilities
• Attention to detail

Preferred Experience and Skills

• Experience in public sector, transportation agency, and/or civic technology team.
• Knowledge of transit data standards (such as GTFS, GTFS-RT, TODS, TIDES)
• Experience with Terraform / Infrastructure as Code tools
• Experience with AWS

Substitutions Include

• A High School Diploma or GED with an additional seven (7) years of directly related experience substitutes for the bachelor's degree requirement.
• An associate degree from an accredited institution and an additional three (3) years of directly related experience substitutes for the bachelor's degree requirement.
• A master's degree in a related subject substitutes for two (2) years of general experience.
• A nationally recognized certification, or statewide/professional certification in a related field substitutes for one year of experience.

Job Conditions

• Adhere to rules, regulations, collective bargaining agreements (if applicable) and policies of the MBTA including the EEO, anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and anti-retaliation policies.
• Ability to pass a Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check, background screening, and the MBTA's medical requirements, including a physical examination and drug and alcohol screening.
• Have a satisfactory work record for the two (2) years immediately prior to the closing date of this posting, including overall employment, job performance, discipline, and safety records (infractions and/or offenses occurring after the closing of the posting and before the filling of a vacancy may preclude a candidate from consideration for selection).

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and complexity of the work being performed by staff assigned to this job, and do not represent an exhaustive list of all duties, tasks, and responsibilities required of staff assigned to this position.
Job Conditions:

• Ability to effectively read, comprehend, communicate, and respond to instructions, orders, signs, notices, inquiries, etc. in English.
• Be at least eighteen (18) years of age, except if participating in an approved high school internship / co-op program.
• Ability to commute to assigned work locations in the Boston, MA metro area, as required by the role.
• Ability to provide internal and external customers with courteous and professional experiences.
• Ability to work effectively, independently, and as part of a diverse workforce team (or supervise, if required).
• Ability to uphold the rights and interests of the MBTA while building and maintaining effective relationships with employees and co-workers.
• Ability to adhere to rules, regulations, collective bargaining agreements (if applicable), and policies of the MBTA, including the EEO, anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and anti-retaliation policies.
• Have a satisfactory work record for the two (2) years immediately prior to the closing date of this posting (unless if current student or recent graduate), including overall employment, job performance, discipline, and safety records (infractions and/or offenses occurring after the closing of the posting and before the filling of a vacancy may preclude a candidate from consideration for selection).
• Ability to pass a Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check, comprehensive background screening, and / or medical Clinic screening, potentially including physical examination and drug and alcohol screenings.
• Ability to work all shifts and / or locations assigned, directed, or necessary for this position, including (for some transit / operations roles) up to twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week as necessary to accommodate severe weather conditions, emergencies, or any other circumstances that may potentially impact service or the safety of service.
• Intern / co-op staff must be enrolled full or part-time in an accredited educational program and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 for the entire duration of the internship / co-op. Additionally, interns / co-ops must have valid work authorization and U.S. Social Security Number prior to starting pre-employment screenings / pre-boarding, working in their positions, and throughout the duration of their program.

Disclaimers and Definitions:

1. General Disclaimer: The statements contained in this job description are intended to describe a summary, general nature, and complexity of typical job functions and do not represent an exhaustive list of all duties, tasks, and responsibilities required of staff assigned to this position.
2. Application Completion: It is each applicant's responsibility to ensure application details are entered completely and correctly, including updated work and education histories (past and current). Incomplete applications may not be considered. Attachments do not substitute for application fields. The recruitment team does not have access to existing employee data / history.
3. Application Deadlines: Applicants should apply as soon as possible, as the MBTA may stop considering applicants after a sufficiently large applicant pool is established.
4. Work Environment: The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here-in are representative of those an employee may encounter while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations can be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. See job description for role-specific requirements.
5. Work Eligibility: All employees must be legally authorized to work in the United States and on an unrestricted basis. The MBTA does not have an employer work sponsorship program. However, if you have unrestricted work authorization, or are sponsored by a separate entity, you are welcome to apply. Further, all persons hired will require a U.S. Social Security Number prior to starting the position and employees will be required to complete a Form I-9 to verify their identity and eligibility to work in the U.S.
6. Interviews: Candidates should ensure they arrive on time, are prepared, can remain for the duration, and if remote, are in a quiet place without distraction, for the interview. Candidates who do not attend their interview without advance authorization, including an email confirmation of a rescheduled time/date from Human Resources, will be considered a no-show and disqualified from consideration for the position. Related to rescheduling, on a one-time basis, and due to something emergent, you may be allowed to reschedule the interview. In addition, Human Resources may require documentation supporting the request. However, should you need to reschedule, you will need to contact your Recruiter directly by email.
7. Safety Sensitive Positions: Employees working in this classification will be subject to periodic physical examinations plus random drug and alcohol testing.
8. On-call or 24/7 Positions: Employees working in this classification must be available to respond to page / text / call and report to work as determined by assigned department or the Authority.
9. Essential / Emergency Staff: During declared "states of emergency," employees working in this classification are required to report to work for their assigned work hours or as directed by management.
10. ADA Accommodations: The MBTA makes reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. If you require an accommodation during this process, please contact the MBTA's ADA Unit at View phone number on click.appcast.io or
11. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: The MBTA is an For terms, descriptions, and definitions related to diversity, equity, inclusion, veteran status, and immediate family members that you may find on the application form, please visit
12. Intern / Co-Op Benefits: Employees taking part in an internship or co-op at the MBTA are eligible to receive accrued paid sick leave as well as a monthly transportation pass, based on the city from which the intern / co-op commutes to work, at no cost. However, no additional benefits are currently offered for interns or co-ops.

Employment Benefits at theMBTA

Full-Time Employees:

The MBTA offers comprehensive benefits packages to full-time employees. Types of benefits offered at the MBTA are subject to the union affiliation / Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) of the position to which you apply. Benefits that may apply to your position include the following:

• Insurance: Health, Dental, Vision, Life (basic and supplemental), and Long-Term Disability
• Paid Time Off (PTO): Vacation, Personal Days, Sick Leave, and Holidays
• Retirement: Pension or deferred compensation 401(a), plus MBTA contributions
• Complimentary pass for travel on the MBTA transit system (bus, train, ferry, and Commuter Rail)
• Tuition Reimbursement (up to $10,000 per year)
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) for student loans
• Commuter Choice Parking Program: Pre-tax benefits for parking
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA): Pre-tax benefits for healthcare-related expenses
• Discounted tickets for concerts, movies, travel / vacation, etc. via TicketsAtWork.com
• Shopping discounts via GovX.com
• Verizon and AT&T service discounts
• And more...

Internships:

Internship positions are not eligible for most MBTA Benefits. However, paid sick time may be incurred. Each intern also receives a complimentary pass for travel on the MBTA transit system (bus, train, ferry, and Commuter Rail) to use throughout the duration of their internship. Please contact the assigned Recruiter directly or email View email address on click.appcast.io for more information.

Disclaimer:

The above information is meant to be a general overview of the benefit programs offered by the MBTA, which may or may not apply to a specific position. This summary is not a contract andis not meant to change the provisions of union contracts or Authority policies and does not establish a binding practice. Please contact the assigned Recruiter directly or email View email address on click.appcast.io for more information.

The MBTA is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer
01


Do you have at least 3+ years of professional Software Engineering experience?

• yes
• no

02


Do you have demonstrated proficiency in at least two (2) programming languages?

• Yes
• No

03


Do you have experience with automated testing, including continuous integration?

• yes
• no

04


Do you have experience with GitHub and GitHub workflows (such as pull requests) and code reviewing?

• yes
• no

05


Do you have ability to translate business requirements into technology?

• yes
• no

Required Question