The Senior Software Engineer will design, build, and maintain solutions for transit agencies, focusing on IoT devices and cloud services, ensuring reliable communication and device management.
Company Description
Swiftly is on a mission to help cities move more efficiently. We are the leading transit data platform for agencies to share real-time passenger information, manage day-to-day operations, and improve service performance. Today, over 200 transit agencies in 12 countries – including LA Metro, MARTA, SEPTA, and MBTA – rely on Swiftly to improve on-time performance by up to 40% and increase passenger information accuracy by up to 50%. The result is better service reliability, increased ridership, and more efficient transit operations.
Even though Swiftly's HQ office is located in San Francisco, CA, we are open to candidates in most locations across the U.S. as well as Ontario and British Columbia, Canada. At this time we are unable to provide Visa sponsorship.
Engineering at Swiftly
Engineering at Swiftly is not only about writing code – we believe in creating empowered product teams that work together to conceptualize new features and bring them to life. Each team aims to strike a balance between delivering incremental improvements, creating prototypes to test new ideas and mitigate risks, and building scalable software using industry best practices. We’re guided by a mission to positively impact transit riders, and we embrace humility and intentionality in how we make technical decisions so that we best meet our customers’ needs.
The Role
Swiftly is looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join a cross-functional product team enabling our transit agency customers to operate and manage on-vehicle hardware systems and devices. Your team’s work spans technology stacks connecting cloud-native services interfacing with Swiftly’s core data engine to a variety of embedded/IoT devices running onboard public transit buses, trains, and ferries. You'll work across this full vertical, writing software that runs on edge devices in the field, building the communication layers that connect those devices to the cloud, and developing the backend services that configure, control, and process data from these sources.
We encourage you to apply if you meet half or more of the requirements and are excited to learn about the rest. Above all else, we value candidates with a growth mindset, the aptitude to learn, and strong motivation to deliver impact to customers. If this is exciting to you, we'd love to talk!
What You’ll Do
- Design, build, maintain and extend products, features, and functionality that solve real customer problems
- Partner with Product, Design, and Engineering to discover and validate customer needs and technical approaches
- Develop and extend integrations with onboard hardware devices such as headsign controllers, passenger counters, and fareboxes
- Build and improve cloud-native backend services that manage device configuration, process telemetry data, and provide observability into fleet-wide device health
- Implement and maintain robust mechanisms for over-the-air software deployment, configuration updates, and remote device management
- Design testing strategies that account for the realities of hardware-in-the-loop systems including integration testing, simulated environments, and production monitoring
- Maintain and improve our physical hardware lab if local to San Francisco, else contribute to solutions for remote development, testing, and debugging needs
- Consistently deliver incremental value by anticipating dependencies, breaking down work, and regularly demoing progress
- Communicate technical trade-offs, present system design proposals clearly, and document architectural decisions
- Uplevel teammates through code reviews, pairing, and strong collaboration
- Take ownership of your code and product domain, engaging in retrospectives and continuously improving how the team works
What Will Set You Up for Success
- Motivated by mission-driven work and excited to improve public transit
- 5+ years of software engineering experience, with meaningful time spent working on embedded systems, IoT platforms, or edge computing
- Proficiency with Linux including imaging, system administration, containerization, process management, networking, and security
- Experience with communication protocols and paradigms of multiple varieties: serial interfaces (RS-232, J1708, CAN), network protocols (HTTP/REST, UDP v. TCP), and messaging patterns (MQTT, pub/sub, store-and-forward)
- Familiarity with approaches to remote deployment and update mechanisms (eg. OTA updates, A/B partitioning, configuration management, edge container orchestration)
- Interest in being hands on with code and devices, whether your comfort level is plugging in an ethernet cable or crimping your own
- A testing and quality mindset, with strong opinions on system validation, automated testing, observability, and monitoring
- Comfort applying modern AI tools to accelerate development and improve quality
- Proficiency with languages and technologies in our stack: Python, Java, Javascript/Typescript, MQTT, SQL databases
- Experience with cloud-native architectures and services (AWS preferred)
- Strong product mindset — you use technology pragmatically to solve meaningful customer problems
- Continuous learner who embraces emerging technologies and helps others grow
- Collaborative team player who contributes wherever needed to support team goals
- Open to feedback (a core Swiftly value!), humble in technical debate, and committed to blameless learning and improvement
Pay Range
In accordance with pay transparency laws, please see the approximate salary ranges below. These ranges represents the anticipated low and high end of the salary for this position. Actual salaries will vary and are based on a multitude of non-discriminatory factors including final role leveling decisions, a candidate’s relevant work experiences/skills, and geographic location. Salary is one component of Swiftly’s total compensation package, which also includes stock options, competitive benefits, 401(k)/ RRSP matching, a fantastic team and culture, opportunity to have a huge impact, emphasis on professional growth and holistic wellness, and other perks.
US Salary Range: $140,000 - $205,000
Canadian Salary Range: $160,000- $185,000
Beyond the Skills
We are looking for candidates who are passionate about mobility, sustainability, or mission-oriented projects that have a significant real-world impact. Ideal candidates encompass the core values of our company:
- Team. Together, we are more effective and better supported
- Impact. Drive impact for our customers, our company, and all of our teams
- Diversity. See differing perspectives as ways to address our weaknesses and find new strengths
- Communication. Assume others internally and externally have good intentions
- Feedback. We share feedback because we want each other to grow professionally and personally
- Growth. Foster personal, professional, and company growth
Benefits:
• Competitive salary
• Equity compensation (company ownership) for every employee
• Medical, Dental and Vision
• Retirement with Employer Match
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Home office setup reimbursement
• Monthly cell/internet reimbursement
• Monthly "Be Well" stipend
• Flexible PTO with a recommended minimum
• Flexible work environment
• 16 paid holidays - including months without US national holidays
• 12 fully paid weeks of leave for child birth/adoption
Travel note: Swiftly employees can generally expect to travel 1–2 times a year for in-person company or team offsites. As a fully distributed company, we consider these offsites important for cultivating strong relationships across our teams! Attending these in-person is expected and encouraged, although we understand everyone has different personal circumstances and we will consider requests for exceptions. Customer-facing team members and other specific roles may be expected to travel more frequently.
We are an equal opportunity employer - we are committed to a workplace that is as dynamic, diverse, and passionate as the communities we serve.
Similar Jobs
Fintech • Machine Learning • Payments • Software • Financial Services
The Senior Lead Software Engineer will develop next-generation shopping solutions, collaborate with product managers, and mentor engineers while applying cloud-based technologies.
Top Skills:
AWSCSSDockerGoHTMLJavaScriptKubernetesPythonSQLTypescript
Fintech • Machine Learning • Payments • Software • Financial Services
The Distinguished AI Engineer will design, develop, and support AI software components, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and improve AI system performance.
Top Skills:
AWSAzureGoGCPHuggingfaceJavaNemo GuardrailsPythonPyTorchScalaVectordbs
Fintech • Machine Learning • Payments • Software • Financial Services
Lead a diverse technology portfolio and a team of developers to create solutions meeting regulatory needs. Collaborate on cloud-based projects and mentor engineers.
Top Skills:
AWSDockerGoJavaJavaScriptKubernetesPythonSQLTypescript
What you need to know about the Chicago Tech Scene
With vibrant neighborhoods, great food and more affordable housing than either coast, Chicago might be the most liveable major tech hub. It is the birthplace of modern commodities and futures trading, a national hub for logistics and commerce, and home to the American Medical Association and the American Bar Association. This diverse blend of industry influences has helped Chicago emerge as a major player in verticals like fintech, biotechnology, legal tech, e-commerce and logistics technology. It’s also a major hiring center for tech companies on both coasts.
Key Facts About Chicago Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 245,800; 5.2% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: McDonald’s, John Deere, Boeing, Morningstar
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, biotechnology, fintech, software, logistics technology
- Funding Landscape: $2.5 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Arch Venture Partners, MATH Venture Partners, Jump Capital, Hyde Park Venture Partners
- Research Centers and Universities: Northwestern University, University of Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Institute of Technology, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
