Helper Python Contractor Jobs in Austin, TX (NOW HIRING)

Join us on our mission to empower more people to find their way home by breaking barriers to entry, making the right connections, and building confidence through expert guidance.

We are seeking a Senior Software Engineer – Cloud Platform to join our growing infrastructure organization. This is a high-impact, greenfield opportunity to help build and shape our Cloud Platform team from the ground up. You will be a founding technical contributor responsible for defining standards, scaling platform capabilities, and improving the developer experience for every engineer across the company.

You will take ownership of critical cloud initiatives—including governance, automated remediation, and internal developer tooling—with a direct mandate to influence how we manage our AWS footprint at scale. This role requires a RealOwnership mindset as you define standards and stabilize platform capabilities to support every engineer across the company. You will play a pivotal role in scaling our infrastructure to be secure and cost-effective, assuming full technical ownership of the platform from outgoing contractors by the end of Q2.

We believe in leveraging the best tools to solve problems faster. You will be expected to utilize AI coding assistants and LLMs proficiently to accelerate development velocity, generate boilerplate, and troubleshoot complex debugging scenarios. This role requires the critical judgment to verify AI-generated outputs for security, performance, and accuracy, allowing you to focus on high-impact architectural challenges.

What you'll do:

Cloud Governance & RealOwnership

• Implement and maintain robust cloud governance using IaC (Terraform, CloudFormation, or CDK) to create reusable modules and templates.
• Take ownership of Cloud Custodian policies and AWS SCPs to enforce security, tagging, resource lifecycles, and compliance.
• Ensure infrastructure provisioning and operational activities align with established governance guidelines and internal controls.
• Build automated remediation and reporting for governance and cost issues to ensure a secure, compliant environment.

Platform Innovation & "Paved Paths"

• Run and extend Backstage (Internal Developer Portal) by adding/maintaining plugins and service catalogs to improve developer self-service.
• Integrate IaC and policy checks into deployment pipelines to create "paved paths" that allow engineers to move faster without sacrificing security.
• Collaborate across Engineering, Security, and Finance to influence cloud standards and operational efficiency at scale.

FinOps & Cost Optimization

• Drive cost optimization initiatives (rightsizing, reserved instances, spot instances) and automate cost controls and alerts.
• Support cost-conscious architecture decisions with measurable ROI on cloud spend.

What you'll bring:

Experience & Expertise

• 5+ years in DevOps, Platform, or Infrastructure Engineering with a track record of building scalable cloud governance systems.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience with AWS (EKS, EC2, RDS, IAM) and production-grade Kubernetes cluster management.
• Proficient programming skills in Python, Go, or Java for building platform automation and internal tooling.
• Deep expertise in Infrastructure as Code (Terraform preferred) and modern CI/CD/GitOps workflows (Argo CD, CircleCI, or Jenkins).
• Preferred: Direct experience with Cloud Custodian, Backstage, and FinOps principles.

Technical Skills

• Cloud & Infrastructure: AWS (EKS, Fargate, Lambda, VPC, IAM), Kubernetes, Docker, Istio Service Mesh.
• Governance & Tooling: Cloud Custodian, AWS SCPs, Backstage, AWS Secrets Manager.
• IaC & Automation: Terraform, CDK, CloudFormation, Helm, Python/Go.
• Observability: NewRelic, Datadog, or Prometheus/Grafana.
• Incident Management: OpsGenie or PagerDuty.

Professional Qualities

• Strong communication skills with ability to explain technical concepts to diverse audiences
• Collaborative approach working across engineering, product, and business teams
• Self-motivated with ability to solve complex problems within established practices and policies
• Data-driven decision making with customer-centric approach and empathy for developer experience

How We Work:

We balance creativity and innovation on a foundation of in-person collaboration. For most roles, our employees work three or more days in our offices, where they have the opportunity to collaborate in-person, adding richness to our culture and knitting us closer together.

How We Reward You:

Realtor.com is committed to investing in the health and wellbeing of our employees and their families. Our benefits programs include, but are not limited to:

• Inclusive and competitive medical, Rx, dental, and vision coverage
• Family forming benefits
• 13 Paid Holidays
• Flexible Time Off
• 8 hours of paid Volunteer Time off
• Immediate eligibility into Company 401(k) plan with 3.5% company match
• Tuition Reimbursement program for degreed and non-degreed programs
• 1:1 personalized Financial Planning Sessions
• Student Debt Retirement Savings Match program
• Free snacks and refreshments in each office location

Do the best work of your life at Realtor.com®

Here, you'll partner with a diverse team of experts as you use leading-edge tech to empower everyone to meet a crucial goal: finding their way home. And you'll find your way home too. At Realtor.com®, you'll bring your full self to work as you innovate with speed, serve our consumers, and champion your teammates. In return, we'll provide you with a warm, welcoming, and inclusive culture; intellectual challenges; and the development opportunities you need to grow.

Diversity is important to us, therefore, Realtor.com® is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of age, color, national origin, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital status, status as a disabled veteran and/or veteran of the Vietnam Era or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, Realtor.com® will provide reasonable accommodations for otherwise qualified disabled individuals.

Your well-being matters to us, and we want you to live your best life. These are just some of the ways we can help keep you and your family safe, healthy, and happy.

Good health is all about making good choices and having the right health options throughout your life. To help you, we provide:

• Flexible medical, vision, and dental insurance
• Reproductive care (most locations)
• Access to fertility and family-building services (most locations)
• Gender-affirming coverage, so you can feel and be your truest self
• Access to an inclusive, integrated virtual healthcare navigation program (most locations)
• Autism programs to support you and your family (most locations).
• Telemedicine services (most locations).

Your emotional well-being is just as important as your physical health. As Realtor.com, you'll be seen, heard, valued, and cared for in many ways.

• Employee Assistance Program, including work/life counseling and guidance, legal services, and financial services
• Generous paid time off (sick time, vacation time, and various leave programs) to meet your unique needs
• Phone and video counseling services to support your emotional health
• Mental health support for children ages 18 months to 17 years (most locations)
• Access to a mindfulness app to support your emotional well-being

It's no secret that financial peace of mind greatly contributes to your overall health and well-being. We can help enhance your financial security—now and into the future.

• 401(k) with 3.5% employer match (3% in Canada)
• Accidental death and disability insurance
• Tuition reimbursement to support career-related studies
• Debt management support through online tools, education, and expert help