Software Engineer Apprentice (Apprentice, Engineering & Technical Services)

This is a Registered Apprenticeship with the State of Maryland, offering a structured pathway into a software engineering career through paid, hands-on work combined with mentorship and skill development. As a Registered Apprentice, you'll work alongside Fearless engineers on a innovative site aimed at helping a State's workers find meaningful employment including the public homepage, Training Explorer, Career Pathways, and the serverless Career Navigator. You'll touch real production systems, contribute to features used by thousands of residents every week, and get hands-on time across modern cloud architectures, data systems, APIs, and DevOps. Because this is also a customer-facing role, you'll learn how to communicate clearly with agency partners, talk through trade-offs, and represent engineering decisions in stakeholder conversations. This is civic tech that matters.

At Fearless, this Apprentice collaborates with cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality, secure, and maintainable systems across all stages of the software and data lifecycle. This role is instrumental in delivering secure, efficient, and scalable solutions that directly impact the success of projects, teams, and organizational goals. This role will develop the skills to be able to span the domains of software development, data engineering, infrastructure automation, information assurance, and AI/ML integration at a fundamental awareness level of proficiency . This Apprentice role will work on projects that allow them to contribute across the entire technology stack-software, infrastructure, data, AI, and security-to ensure quality, speed, and innovation in delivery.

Your Responsibilities in this Role:

Backend engineering

• Maintain and enhance the backend (Node.js + Express on AWS EC2 behind an Application Load Balancer) and the Career Navigator backend (Python + FastAPI on AWS Lambda, provisioned with Terraform).
• Build and refine REST API endpoints, search functionality, and integrations with external workforce, occupation, and training data providers.
• Tune compute, request routing, and runtime performance across EC2, ALB, Lambda, API Gateway, and supporting AWS services.
• Refactor existing logic carefully, keeping production stable across interconnected services.

Data, storage, and integrations

• Work across AWS Aurora PostgreSQL for relational data, Redis for caching, and DynamoDB and S3 for Career Navigator workflows and document storage.
• Help move training-data ingestion off of static CSV imports and onto Credential Engine API integrations for fresher, more reliable updates.
• Improve data consistency, search quality, and query performance across services.

Frontend engineering

• Contribute to the frontend (Next.js, React, TypeScript, Tailwind, Material UI) and the Career Navigator frontend (React 17, Material UI v4).
• Build responsive, accessible interfaces aligned with client standards, Material Design, and Figma prototypes including Career Pathways content managed in Contentful CMS.
• Improve routing, reusable components, form flows, and the connection points between UI and backend APIs.

Testing and quality

• Maintain and grow automated test coverage with Jest (Node.js), Pytest (Python/FastAPI/Lambda), and Cypress (end-to-end UI flows).
• Help keep API endpoints, ingestion pipelines, third-party integrations, search workflows, and deployment processes reliable and regression-tested.

Infrastructure and DevOps

• Operate across AWS EC2, ALB, Lambda, API Gateway, S3, DynamoDB, Aurora PostgreSQL, Redis, CloudWatch, and IAM.
• Use Terraform for infrastructure as code, and GitHub Actions plus AWS CodeBuild/CodePipeline for CI/CD.
• Support secure deployments across dev, staging, and production; improve monitoring, logging, and troubleshooting (CloudWatch, Winston).
• Apply API and application security practices using Helmet, Auth0, JWT-based authentication, IAM permissions, and environment-based configuration.

Collaboration

• Partner with engineering, product, design, QA, and agency stakeholders to deliver stable, user-focused improvements.
• Participate in customer-facing conversations - explaining engineering decisions, surfacing risks, and helping shape strategy.

The Impact You Will Create in this Role:

Fearless Impact:

• Collaborates with cross functional teams
• Earn the trust of your customer and teammates by delivering world class services.
• Be reliable completing assigned objectives on time.
• Alert your teammates and supervisor immediately when you think a deliverable is at risk.
• Gather intelligence and listen to what your client, other people within the customer's organization and other contractors say about your project, and report back to your Fearless teammates and supervisor (whether it's good, bad or just informational).

Fearless Customer Impact:

• Deliver expected outcomes relative to high quality code and maintainable systems
• Offer and implement innovative solutions that include engineering best practices through new tools, frameworks and methodologies
• Serve as a trusted advisor in your area of expertise

Project Skills and Competencies Requirements:

• Working knowledge of at least one of JavaScript/TypeScript or Python, and familiarity with the other (or strong willingness to ramp).
• Awareness of and exposure to REST APIs, Git-based workflows, and reading other people's code.
• Some exposure to cloud services (AWS preferred) and a desire to go deeper across compute, storage, and serverless.
• Solid written and verbal communication - you can explain a tricky bug or a design choice without burying the point.
• A mindset of care and accountability: this platform is used by people looking for work, and quality matters.
• Familiarity with Terraform, GitHub Actions, or AWS Lambda.
• Awareness of accessibility standards (WCAG, USWDS) or prior public-sector / civic-tech experience.

Fearless Skills and Competencies

Emerging Analytical Thinking: Developing ability to examine information, recognize patterns, and contribute to problem-solving efforts with guidance. Breaks a clearly defined problem into smaller steps when given context and examples..

Developing Systems Thinking: Beginning to understand how different components of a project or system connect, with support from team members.

Learning Agility:The ability and willingness to quickly learn new concepts, tools, and processes. Demonstrates openness to feedback and applies new knowledge to improve performance.

Ownership & Accountability: Committed to taking responsibility for outcomes, ensuring that all commitments are met with a focus on enhancing service delivery.

Emerging Customer & Business Acumen: Developing an understanding of client environments, project objectives, and how team deliverables support mission and business outcomes, with guidance from team members. Recognizes that government or regulatory requirements can impact technical choices, even if they can't yet explain the details.

Communicating with Influence: Capable of crafting and delivering clear, persuasive messages that integrate data insights and structured narratives, tailored to the strategic needs of diverse audiences to drive effective decision-making.

Technical Skills Awareness & Foundation: Delivers small, well-defined coding tasks that follow team patterns and standards. Learns the primary technologies used on the project (language, framework, tools) and uses them as instructed. Recognizes the high-level architecture of the solution after explanations (e.g., client, API, database). Identifies when a task requires tools or technologies they haven't used before and proactively seeks support or resources.

Required Level of Proficiency:

Fundamental Awareness: You possess common knowledge or an understanding of basic techniques and concepts. Experience has been gained in a "classroom" and experimental scenarios or as an on-the-job trainee. You are expected to need help when performing skills.You understand and can discuss terminology, concepts, principles, and issues associated with this competency/skill.

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to sit for extended periods while working on a computer or during meetings.
• Must be able to travel occasionally to client sites or company meetings, which may involve driving or flying.
• Ability to communicate effectively via phone, email, and in-person, requiring clear speech, listening, and written communication skills.
• Ability to move within an office environment, including reaching for files, using office equipment, and occasional light lifting (up to 10 pounds).

Life at Fearless

We're a digital integration consultancy on a mission to build a better tomorrow. At Fearless, we combine technology, people, and organizational development to solve meaningful problems. Through iterative development, we deliver smart, user-friendly solutions that make tech work better-for everyone.

But great tech is just part of the story. What really makes us Fearless is our Purple Culture.

What Makes Us Purple?

Being Purple means you:

• Are valued as a whole person-not just a job title
• Get matched with work that plays to your strengths and passions
• Are supported by coaches, not micromanagers
• Have the autonomy and clarity to make decisions and drive impact
• Join a community that celebrates equity, curiosity, and innovation
• Do work that matters-every day

We believe in flexibility, growth, and balance. Our benefits and culture are designed to support you in doing your best work-while making space for what matters to you outside of it.

We're proud to be an equal opportunity employer. At Fearless, we're building a workplace that welcomes and respects everyone-across race, gender, age, religion, identity, background, and ability.All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Compensation at Fearless

Fearless is committed to providing a competitive compensation package that will meet your current and future needs. Our philosophy is aimed at rewarding team member contributions, supporting long-term financial growth and security, and overall well-being.

We believe in paying people fairly, so we've established a compensation model aimed to ensure everyone at Fearless - regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion, age, nationality, or willingness/ability to negotiate - is consistently paid fairly based on alignment to the needs and requirements of the role.

The salary range for this position is:

Minimum Salary: $53,908

Salary Midpoint: $65,229

Maximum Salary: $78,927

Hiring Range for Role: $53,908 - $65,000

Benefits at Fearless

At Fearless, we take care of our team-because when you're supported, you can do your best work. We offer a flexible, family-friendly environment with benefits designed to support your health, growth, and life outside of work.d

For Full-Time Apprentices (Starting Day One):

• Flexible, life-friendly schedules
• 100% coverage for our medical HSA plan + HSA contributions
• Dental & vision covered 100% for you and your dependents
• Competitive premiums for HMO/PPO and dependent coverage
• 401(k) with 4% match & immediate vesting
• 40 hours of PTO
• 11 Federal Holidays, a Birthday Holiday, and Sick Leave
• Education, wellness, and tech allowances
• Referral bonus: $6K-$12K for each successful referral
• Pet insurance & discount plans
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Legal support, life insurance, disability coverage

Reasonable Accommodations

Fearless is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for applicants and candidates with disabilities. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact the Human Resources Department at hr@fearless.tech.

So, What's Next?

We've refined our hiring approach to make sure every team member is a great fit for Fearless-and that we're a great fit for you, too. If there's alignment, we'll reach out to kick off the interview process. Depending on the role or project, your experience may vary slightly, but it typically includes:

1. Introductory Interview

You'll connect with a recruiter to:

• Build rapport and get to know each other
• Review your experience and skills
• Talk through salary expectations and role details
• Set expectations for the rest of the process

2. Technical Assessment

We'll invite you to complete a role-specific assessment to see your skills in action. This helps us keep our hiring process fair and consistent. You can learn more about what to expect here.

3. Skills + Business Fit Interview

This is where we dig deeper to:

• Review findings from any technical assessments
• Walk through situational and values-based questions
• Explore how your approach aligns with Fearless culture and project needs

Some roles may also include customer interviews based on specific project requirements in addition to background check and security clearance requirements.

Where You Can Build with Fearless

At Fearless, we strive to build a powerful and diverse team. We are currently licensed and set up to hire talented individuals residing in the following 16 states:

Alabama, California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.