Estes Forwarding Worldwide (EFW) is a leading domestic and international freight forwarder in the United States, providing customized logistics and warehousing solutions for clients around the world and across all industries via air, ground, and ocean freight. A subsidiary of Estes Express lines with corporate located in Richmond, Virginia, EFW is uniquely backed by Estes Express Lines’ extensive line haul network providing EFW clients with a hybrid transportation network. The company has received industry awards, including Specialty Carrier of the Year and E-Commerce Delivery Carrier of the Year, and has been recognized by Global Trade Americas as a leading 3PL to watch.

We are proud to offer highly competitive pay and a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Paid vacation, sick time, and holidays
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Short- and long-term disability plans
• Life and accidental death & dismemberment insurance
• Job referral bonus program

The Core Services team builds and maintains foundational APIs and reusable backend services that enable key logistics workflows and power customer/vendor interactions. As a Software Engineer II, you will take on larger engineering initiatives with greater independence and technical depth. You’ll help design, build, and maintain scalable, event-driven services and integrations, while contributing to the evolution of our platform and engineering practices.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design and develop backend microservices using Node.js (Moleculer) and Go.
• Build and consume RESTful and asynchronous APIs, integrating with both internal services and external third-party systems.
• Collaborate with product owners and engineering leadership to break down business requirements into technical solutions.
• Write clean, testable, and well-documented code and proactively participate in peer code reviews.
• Contribute to continuous integration and delivery pipelines using Jenkins.
• Deploy, monitor, and troubleshoot services in Kubernetes-based environments using tools such as Datadog.
• Own the full lifecycle of service features—from ideation to production support.
• Participate in incident response and contribute to system reliability improvements.
• Mentor and support junior engineers through code reviews, documentation, and informal guidance.
• Document service architecture, workflows, and operational processes.
• May be asked to participate in an afterhours on call support rotation.
• Comply with company C-TPAT and TSA security procedures.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

The qualifications listed below are representative of the minimum knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Must possess proficiency in JavaScript or TypeScript in a Node.js environment.
• Experience with microservice frameworks such as Moleculer, Express, or Fastify.
• Hands-on experience with Go (or solid understanding with strong interest to learn).
• Deep understanding of RESTful API design and asynchronous messaging using NATS, SQS/SNS, or Kafka.
• Familiarity with AWS infrastructure and services such as S3, EC2, SNS, and SQS; cloud-first development mindset is a plus.
• Experience deploying and supporting services in Kubernetes-based environments.
• Comfort working with CI/CD tooling (Jenkins preferred) and observability tools like Datadog.
• Solid experience working with relational databases such as PostgreSQL or SQL Server.
• Experience working in Agile development environments and participating in team ceremonies.
• Familiarity with modern development practices, distributed systems, and cloud-based infrastructure.
• Strong problem-solving, debugging, and troubleshooting skills.
• Effective communication and collaboration in cross-functional teams.
• Ability to balance velocity with maintainability and operational excellence.
• Must be eligible to work in the United States.
• At this time, EFW will not sponsor a new applicant for employment authorization for this position.
• EFW prides itself on the quality of its employees and as such, candidates who receive a job offer will be required to successfully pass a drug screen and a background check.
• EFW offers an opportunity to grow and develop your career in an environment that provides a fulfilling workplace for employees, creates an environment for continuous learning, and embraces the ideas and diversity of others. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, pregnancy, race, ethnicity, color, creed, religion, national origin, age, disability status, protected veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other legally protected status.

SUPERVISION

The position functions with supervision and has no direct reports.

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE

Minimum of a Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field with demonstrated experience with building and supporting backend services in a production environment and contributing to the full software development lifecycle—from design through deployment and support. However, a combination of experience and/or education will be taken into consideration. 

LICENSES/CERTIFICATIONS

None required.

TRAVEL

None required.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential duties of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential duties.

Typically sitting at a desk or table.  Intermittently sitting, standing, walking or stooping.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential duties of this job.  Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential duties.

Normal office situation.

EFW is an Equal Opportunity Employer, Minorities/Female/Disabled/Veteran.