The Software Engineer III (contractor) is responsible for the analysis, design, development, testing, implementation, and maintenance of enterprise software applications and supporting tools. This role participates in all phases of the software development lifecycle, including requirements analysis, system design, coding, testing, deployment, production support, and ongoing maintenance. The ideal candidate is a highly skilled Java enterprise developer who thrives in a fast-paced Agile environment and is passionate about building scalable, reliable, and maintainable software solutions.
This position supports the Idaho Benefit Eligibility System (IBES), a mission-critical application that has supported Idaho's public assistance programs for more than a decade. As federal and state program requirements continue to evolve, this role will help modernize the platform through workflow automation, AI-enabled software development practices, and continuous application enhancement.
The successful candidate will quickly become proficient in the existing application architecture, infrastructure, and business processes while contributing to modernization initiatives that improve efficiency, maintainability, and service delivery.
Responsibilities:
- Analyze business requirements and translate them into technical designs and software solutions.
- Design, develop, test, and maintain high-volume, high-performance enterprise applications.
- Participate in all phases of the software development lifecycle including analysis, design, coding, testing, deployment, and production support.
- Develop clean, efficient, maintainable, and well-tested code following industry best practices.
- Deliver software enhancements, new functionality, bug fixes, and production support activities.
- Design applications that meet functional, technical, security, and performance standards.
- Develop system specifications, interfaces, and technical documentation.
- Estimate development effort and manage assigned work to meet project schedules.
- Participate in design reviews, code reviews, and technical walkthroughs.
- Design and support unit, integration, and system testing activities prior to deployment.
- Troubleshoot production issues and participate in on-call support as required.
- Collaborate with business analysts, architects, QA engineers, product owners, and technical teams to ensure successful project delivery.
- Continuously evaluate emerging technologies and recommend improvements to development practices and application architecture.
AI and Innovation Responsibilities:
As part of the organization's modernization strategy, this position will help advance AI-enabled software engineering practices by:
- Evaluating and implementing AI and machine learning capabilities that improve software delivery and developer productivity.
- Utilizing AI-assisted development tools to accelerate coding, testing, documentation, and software releases.
- Collaborating with product, QA, and data teams to define requirements for AI-enabled features and workflows.
- Supporting the development of intelligent, guided workflows that reduce manual business process reviews and improve benefit application processing.
- Exploring agentic AI development solutions capable of automating routine coding activities while ensuring software remains secure, maintainable, supportable, and aligned with enterprise architecture standards.
Required:
Candidates must demonstrate experience in the following areas:
- Minimum five (5) years of experience developing J2EE enterprise applications, including front-end, middle-tier, and back-end components.
- Minimum five (5) years of experience with enterprise web and application servers.
- Minimum three (3) years of experience implementing software design patterns in enterprise applications.
- Minimum three (3) years of experience integrating third-party middleware into enterprise application architectures.
- Minimum three (3) years of experience creating, consuming, and implementing web services.
- Minimum two (2) years of experience developing applications using the Spring Framework and Spring modules.
- Minimum two (2) years of experience developing web applications using Apache Struts.
- Minimum two (2) years of experience implementing SOAP web services using JAX-WS (top-down and bottom-up approaches).
- Minimum two (2) years of experience developing Oracle SQL queries, procedures, and database integrations.
Preferred:
Experience with one or more of the following is highly desirable:
- JBoss Application Server administration and deployment management.
- Jenkins continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD).
- Apache Web Server.
- F5 Load Balancers.
- Adobe LiveCycle.
- Apache ServiceMix Enterprise Service Bus (ESB).
- Business Rules Engine (BRE).
- MyEclipse IDE.
- Subversion (SVN) source control.
- Wily Introscope or comparable application monitoring tools.
- Shell scripting, Bash, Groovy, or similar scripting languages.
- Linux operating systems and shell scripting.
- Browser-based enterprise application infrastructure operating in clustered environments.
- AI-assisted software development tools such as GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude, or similar technologies.
- Public sector, healthcare, Medicaid, or human services eligibility systems.
- Working knowledge of welfare eligibility case management systems, preferably Idaho Medicaid Eligibility or similar integrated eligibility platforms.
Working Conditions
- Participation in an on-call production support rotation may be required.
- Occasional evening or weekend work may be necessary to support production deployments or meet project deadlines.
- Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced Agile software development environment.
All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.