Associate Software Engineer

Associate Software Engineer

Jahnel Group's mission is to provide the absolute best environment for software creators to pursue their passion by connecting them with great clients doing meaningful work.

We get to build some of the most complex and compelling applications for clients across the country. We're a fast-growing INC 5000 recognized company, yet we still operate as a close-knit team. We're growing quickly, and if you're looking for the next place to call home, hit us up for a beer or coffee.

Who We're Looking For

An Associate Software Engineer helps build, modify, and maintain software solutions while continuing to grow their technical skill set. At this level, you'll be learning while contributing to real-world applications and working alongside experienced engineers.

You should have a foundational understanding of software development practices, some hands-on experience building software, and the ability to collaborate effectively within a team.

We're also increasingly incorporating AI-assisted and agentic development into how we build software, so familiarity with AI coding tools or experience experimenting with AI-enabled development workflows is a big plus. This could include tools such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or similar technologies. We don't expect you to be an AI expert, but we're excited about engineers who are curious about how these tools can improve development speed, quality, and problem solving.

Roles and Responsibilities

Due to the breadth of domains a Software Engineer can explore during their career, it's difficult to list specifics about each one. Instead, we use the term core technical skill set to refer to a reasonable industry-standard grouping of a domain. Examples include Application Engineering, Cloud Engineering, DevOps Engineering, Data Engineering, and Site Reliability Engineering.

A typical Software Engineer at this level would demonstrate the majority of these qualities:

Craftsmanship

• Read and write software within at least one core technical skill set
• Test and debug software
• Use fundamental tools and concepts relevant to your technical domain
• Read and write documentation for developers and end users
• Use modern development tools to improve productivity and code quality
• Explore and responsibly use AI-assisted development tools when appropriate

Problem Solving

• Understand at least one development methodology, such as Agile or Scrum, and work effectively in iterations or sprints
• Develop a foundational understanding of software architecture and design
• Participate in planning, design, and estimation while managing your own workload
• Review assigned work, ask clarifying questions, and complete tasks accurately and efficiently
• Use documentation, research, experimentation, and modern tooling to work through technical challenges

Operations

• Collaborate using source control, pull requests, and code reviews
• Contribute to deployment pipelines and systems that deliver code to environments
• Assist in monitoring production applications and providing production-level support where appropriate

Collaboration

• Be a team player and look for ways to add value while helping minimize risks, issues, and impediments
• Communicate with courtesy and professionalism
• Understand the different roles on a software team and how they work together
• Be open to feedback and actively participate in technical discussions

Influence and Impact

• Communicate information clearly and concisely
• Proactively share updates, questions, and impediments
• Conduct research and analysis and present your findings
• Operate with a sense of care and urgency

Orientation to Learn

• Demonstrate self-development and a willingness to continuously learn
• Stay up to date with changes in the software development industry
• Learn technologies that support the needs of your team and clients
• Show curiosity around emerging development practices, including AI-assisted and agentic software development

Skills and Qualifications

Software Engineers explore a variety of domains throughout their careers. Someone may start with front-end development and later transition to back-end development. An application engineer may begin learning DevOps and eventually support a product as an SRE.

A typical Software Engineer at this level will have experience in at least one of the following domains.

Web Front End

• Experience with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
• Familiarity with at least one framework such as Angular, React, Vue, or Svelte

Service Back End

• Experience with at least one programming language such as JavaScript, C#, Go, Python, or Java
• Familiarity with at least one framework such as Express.js or.NET
• Exposure to application design concepts such as APIs, integrations, REST, GraphQL, MVC, or WebSockets
• Familiarity with common coding concepts such as design patterns, functional programming, DDD, TDD, DRY, or SOLID

Data

• Experience manipulating common data formats such as JSON, CSV, or XML
• Familiarity with at least one data technology such as relational databases or NoSQL databases
• Exposure to data processing techniques such as ORM/ODM, OLAP/OLTP, batch processing, or streaming

Specialized Domains

Mobile Front End

• Familiarity with iOS or Android development
• Exposure to languages or technologies used in mobile development
• Familiarity with frameworks such as Flutter, React Native, Xamarin, or Ionic

Cloud

• Familiarity with at least one cloud platform such as AWS, GCP, or Azure
• Exposure to cloud architecture concepts such as containers, Docker, serverless technologies, or modern hosting platforms

Security

• Familiarity with common security concepts such as threats, vulnerabilities, and exploits
• Exposure to security protection techniques such as code scanning, dependency management, and the OWASP Top 10
• Understanding of secure coding practices such as validation, sanitization, error handling, and access control
• Exposure to encryption, certificates, and securing data in transit and at rest
• Awareness of regulatory and compliance concepts such as GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, PII, PHI, accessibility, or WCAG

DevOps

• Familiarity with source control platforms such as GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket
• Exposure to Infrastructure as Code technologies such as CloudFormation, CDK, Terraform, or Kubernetes
• Experience working with or updating CI/CD pipelines

Site Reliability Engineering

• Familiarity with observability concepts such as monitoring and logging
• Exposure to technologies such as ELK, Prometheus, Datadog, New Relic, or Splunk

AI-Assisted Development

Experience in this area is not required, but it is a significant plus. We're especially interested in candidates who have experimented with or used:

• AI coding assistants such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or similar tools
• AI tools for debugging, code generation, testing, documentation, or code review
• Agentic development workflows where AI tools can independently complete portions of development tasks
• LLM APIs, AI-powered applications, or AI-focused personal or academic projects
• Modern approaches to working effectively with AI while still understanding, reviewing, and taking ownership of the code being produced

We value candidates who are curious about where software development is headed and want to learn how to use AI as a tool to become