Principal Software Engineer; Mainframe Modernization

About Nava

Nava is a consultancy and public benefit corporation working to make government services simple and effective. Since 2015, federal, state, and local agencies have trusted Nava to help solve highly scrutinized technology modernization challenges.

As a client services company, we guide agencies constrained by legacy systems to a future with sharp user experiences built on secure, reliable, fault‑tolerant cloud infrastructure. We bill for our time, offering our expertise and problem‑solving approach to help our government partners enhance their digital products and services. People are at the heart of our work, from members of the public who rely on benefit programs to government agency staff.

Through human‑centered design and modern engineering best practices, we help our government partners understand user needs and deliver on their missions more effectively. This focus gives everyone at Nava the opportunity to do work that is meaningful, impactful, and deeply connected to public good.

As a leader in technical innovation, you will define reusable technical strategies to transform mission‑critical legacy systems into modern, scalable solutions. You will investigate new technologies, rapidly iterate on experiments to determine the most viable approach to problems, and envision new patterns for legacy system migration. You will coordinate across teams, guide architecture and implementation, and ensure that solutions meet business needs, technical standards, and long‑term maintainability goals.

• Productize new technologies to provide innovative solutions that facilitate modernization of legacy systems
• Create playbooks and training for Nava engineering to train up on Nava capabilities
• Develop demo applications showcasing the capabilities of these solutions
• Work with project teams to deploy capabilities within their projects and iterate based on their feedback
• Ensure that modernized systems solve legacy system pain points
• Coordinate with government partners, subject matter experts, and Nava's project teams to capture critical business rules and constraints
• Facilitate interdisciplinary coordination across teams to unlock dependencies and ensure successful application of new technologies across modernization efforts

• Proven experience leading end‑to‑end modernization efforts, including transitioning from legacy systems (e.g., mainframes, monoliths) to modern architectures (e.g., microservices, cloud‑native)
• Strong architectural skills with the ability to design scalable, maintainable and secure systems
• Advanced proficiency in mainframe programming languages, technologies, and implementation patterns (e.g., COBOL, JCL, QSAM, VSAM)
• Advanced proficiency in modern programming languages and frameworks (e.g., Java, Python, Node.js, or equivalent)
• Experience with legacy system integration, interface development, and data migration strategies
• Familiarity with APIs, messaging systems, and event‑driven architecture
• Strong understanding of Dev Ops practices, CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure‑as‑code, and automated testing

• Familiarity with modern LLM technologies
• Experience with various data synchronization patterns and technologies used with mainframe systems (e.g., DB2, IBM API Connect, Change Data Capture)

• Legal authorization to work in the United States
• Ability to meet any other requirements for government contracts for which candidates are hired
• Work authorization that doesn't require visa sponsorship, now or in the future
• May be subject to a government background check or security clearance, depending on the contract

• Health coverage - comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans to support your overall health needs
• Insurance coverage - Nava provides disability, life, and accidental death insurance at no cost
• Time off - vacation, holidays (including Juneteenth), and floating holidays to rest and recharge
• Company holidays - enjoy 12 paid federal holidays each year on top of your regular PTO
• Annual bonus - when Nava meets its goals, eligible employees receive a performance‑based annual bonus
• Parental leave - paid time off for…