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.
Position summary
We are seeking a Senior / Principal Engineer (Chief Engineer) who leads through delivery and cares deeply about real-world impact. In this role, you will serve as the senior technical authority for a mission-critical platform at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), accountable for turning complex health data requirements into secure, scalable, compliant systems that work in production—not just on paper.
Day to day, you will guide hands-on technical execution across architecture, engineering, security, and operations, ensuring teams ship reliable software, meet federal compliance standards, and continuously improve outcomes for millions of people who rely on CMS services. You will make pragmatic technical decisions, unblock delivery, partner closely with product and program leadership, and own the health of systems from design through deployment and long-term operations. This role is ideal for a senior technologist who thrives at the intersection of technical leadership and mission delivery—someone who measures success by systems launched, problems solved, and the tangible social impact created when government health technology is done right.
What you'll do
Own end-to-end technical delivery of complex CMS systems, including APIs, data platforms, and cloud-native servicesAct as the final technical decision-maker when tradeoffs affect delivery timelines, risk, or complianceEnsure systems meet non-functional requirements for reliability, scalability, performance, accessibility, and cost efficiencyProvide technical leadership and guidance to tech leads and senior engineers across multiple teams and workstreamsTranslate architectural vision and program goals into pragmatic, buildable, and maintainable solutionsEnforce architectural patterns that promote loose coupling, interoperability, reuse, and alignment with CMS enterprise standardsBalance long-term platform health and modernization goals with near-term delivery realitiesCollaborate with the Chief Security Engineer to ensure compliance with federal security requirements (FISMA Moderate/High, NIST 800-53) and support ATO and continuous monitoring activitieOwn production readiness, operational maturity, and incident response, including observability and on-call practicesServe as a trusted technical partner to CMS stakeholders and cross-functional teams, clearly communicating complex technical decisions
Required skills
Ideal candidate has 8+ years of experience leading the implementation of enterprise-scale systems, preferably in the federal healthcare domainProven success in delivering scalable, reliable, and secure IT infrastructures integrating hardware, software, cloud, databases, and APIsProgramming Proficiency – Knowledge of modern programming languages (e.g., Python, Java, JavaScript, C++) for system development and integrationCloud Computing Expertise – Experience with cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud to build cloud-based solutionsData Management and Modeling – Organizing, storing, and modeling data to support system operations and analyticsSecurity Implementation – Applying robust security measures to protect systems from cyber threatsAnalytical and Problem-Solving Skills – Evaluating systems, identifying issues, and creating innovative solutions aligned with business goalsNetworking Knowledge – Understanding network infrastructure and protocols for seamless system integrationBusiness Acumen and Resource Management – Aligning IT solutions with business objectives and managing project resources and budgets effectivelyCommunication and Leadership – Clearly conveying technical concepts, leading teams, making decisions, and fostering collaborationAdaptability and Continuous Learning – Staying updated with evolving technologies and continuously enhancing skills
