Software Developer (Backend)

Cambridge Systematics, Inc. (CS) is shaping the future of transportation. We are industry leaders, transportation specialists dedicated to ensuring that transportation investments can deliver the best possible results. By providing innovative policy and planning solutions, objective analyses and technology applications, we help our clients anticipate and meet future transportation needs while improving the performance of existing infrastructure and operations. Above all, we are committed to our clients’ success in making transportation better for future generations.

Our Software team delivers technology solutions to help public transportation agencies solve complex operational and data challenges. We combine deep domain expertise in transit and mobility with modern software engineering practices to design, build, and support scalable, cloud-based applications. Our work spans real-time information systems, data integration and analytics, and tools that support planning, operations, and decision-making.

The Software Developer builds and maintains full-stack software that millions of travelers depend on. Our systems power transit agency websites and apps and feed the third-party platforms riders use.

This is a hands-on engineering role with a backend emphasis. You will spend most of your time in Java and Spring Boot services, and meaningful time in the React front ends that consume them.  transit domain.

The Developer will take tickets from our backlog through to production: writing Java services and the React screens that consume them, writing the tests that cover their own work, reviewing their teammates' pull requests, and supporting what they ship through an on-call rotation. You will work within an established architecture, with technical direction set alongside senior engineers, and take on progressively larger and less-defined work as you learn the systems and the transit domain. You will also sit in on client conversations, because on a team this size engineers talk directly to the transit agencies who use what we build. We use AI coding assistants as a normal part of how we work and expect engineers at every level to use them well.

This position is fully remote and includes participation in an on-call rotation.

Required Skills/Experience

• 3 to 5 years building and maintaining production software in Java, including hands-on work in Spring or Spring Boot
• Designing and consuming REST APIs that other applications or teams depend on
• Working in relational databases (MySQL or PostgreSQL): writing queries, reasoning about why one is slow, and changing schema safely
• Building React front ends against APIs you wrote yourself
• Writing unit, integration, and end-to-end tests as part of normal development rather than as a separate phase
• Using AI coding assistants daily, with judgment about when their output is wrong
• Debugging problems in a deployed environment and willingness to participate in an on-call rotation

Preferred Qualifications

• GTFS, GTFS-Realtime, or other transit and mobility data standards
• Open source transportation software such as OpenTripPlanner or OneBusAway
• AWS or a comparable cloud hosting environment
• Docker and CI/CD tooling such as Jenkins or GitHub Actions
• Consulting or other client-facing work

Cambridge Systematics is an equal opportunity employer. We strive to create a culture in which every voice is valued, where employees have a sense of belonging and connection with one another and to the organization, and they feel empowered to do their best work. We are committed to providing an inclusive culture within the firm and we encourage people of all backgrounds to apply to our open positions.

If you think you have what it takes but aren’t sure you meet all the requirements of this job, we invite you to connect with us. We value all perspectives and life experiences and want to hear about yours.

EOE AA M/F/VET/DISABILITY

Salary: $115k-$145k