Exploration Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Oddball believes that the best products are built when companies understand and value the things they are working on. We value learning and growth and the ability to make a big impact at a small company. We believe that we can make big changes happen and improve the daily lives of millions of people by bringing quality software to the federal space. 

We're looking for a Senior Full Stack Engineer to join Oddball Labs and serve as one of the team's senior technical contributors. This role reports to the VP of Architecture and works across a wide range of projects, technologies, and problem spaces-often early in their lifecycle and still taking shape.

The ideal candidate is a strong generalist engineer who's comfortable moving between domains, learning new tools quickly, and helping turn loosely defined ideas into working software. You'll partner closely with architects, designers, and engineers, contribute hands-on code, and help shape technical direction across exploratory and production-bound efforts, including work that leverages AI/ML and Generative AI where it adds real value.

What you'll be doing:

• Design, build, and iterate on software solutions ranging from prototypes to production systems
• Collaborate closely with architects, designers, product partners, and engineers to explore new ideas and technical approaches
• Work across a variety of technologies, languages, and frameworks depending on the problem space
• Help evaluate and apply emerging technologies, including AI/ML and GenAI, where they create real value
• Write clean, maintainable, well-tested code and help establish good engineering practices within Labs
• Support architectural decisions and provide technical guidance to less senior engineers when needed
• Contribute to technical discovery, experimentation, and rapid learning across the team

What you'll bring:

• Strong general software engineering experience with the ability to work across different tech stacks
• Comfort operating in ambiguous problem spaces with evolving requirements
• Experience designing and building modern applications, services, or platforms
• Familiarity with cloud-based systems and modern development workflows
• Experience developing or integrating generative AI applications 
• Ability to quickly learn new technologies and apply them thoughtfully
• Strong collaboration and communication skills, especially in cross-functional environments
• A pragmatic mindset-knowing when to prototype quickly and when to engineer for scale
• Strong grounding in security, privacy, and accessibility principles, particularly when handling sensitive or regulated data
• Performs other related duties as assigned

Bonus if you have:

• Experience working in innovation, R&D, labs, or exploratory engineering teams
• Deeper experience in one or more areas (e.g., frontend, backend, data, ML, DevOps) alongside strong generalist skills
• Experience contributing to architectural discussions or technical strategy

Location: Hybrid/Remote. Candidates must be located in the DMV area (DC, Maryland, Virginia) and able to participate with in-office collaboration.

Requirements:

• Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. In alignment with federal contract requirements, certain roles may also require U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a federal background investigation and/or a security clearance.

Benefits:

• Fully remote
• Annual stipend
• Comprehensive Benefits Package
• Company Match 401(k) plan
• Flexible PTO, Paid Holidays

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities:

Oddball is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against applicants based on race, religion, color, disability, medical condition, legally protected genetic information, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, gender identity or expression, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions), age, veteran status or other legally protected characteristics. Any applicant with a mental or physical disability who requires an accommodation during the application process should contact an Oddball HR representative to request such an accommodation by emailing hr@oddball.io 

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)

Compensation:

At Oddball, it's important each employee is compensated competitively and fairly. In alignment with state legal requirements. A range for the included position is listed below. Be advised, actual offer details are determined by job category, job location, and candidate skill level.

United States Wage Range: $130,000 - $175,000