I've been a corporate programmer my entire professional life. I'm curious how people find less / non-corporate software jobs. I'm not really looking for a startup, but more something that is stable and yet involves more thoughtful programming / engineering, less sprint-driven. I know these jobs are out there and I see people post about them, but I'm not really sure how to find one.
There are also a bunch of semi-government entities (research labs and whatnot) that are often funded by the government in some way, but won't necessarily put you on a government pay scale. There are also consultancies that specialize in working with governments (plural because they often work with different cities/counties/states/federal branches) where you can make private-sector wages and bill the taxpayers.
I worked for a natural history museum for a while as a web developer and really loved it... got to work with a bunch of awesome folks with really different backgrounds, from programmers to paleontologists to marketers to fish biologists, etc. I'd have stayed there forever if I could've! The pay was much lower than industry (I think I got $65k or so, can't remember exactly) but it was enough to live on and be happy, with a good work-life culture and balance.
* get a security certification. Security+ minimum but CISSP is preferred. If you want to do more cyber defense/attack then get the SANS certs.
* get a security clearance. Having a secret clearance will open a bunch of doors. Top secret is hard to get, will result in some increased salary, but you are not likely to WFH if the job demands a TS
* be well rounded. Know transmission, infrastructure, cloud, and be able to write software.
* post your resume to usajobs.gov and make it as long as possible
From what I can glean, the best way to get these jobs is to pick a vertical and find some of the larger companies within it and work down from there. The larger ones being more corporate and the smaller ones being more startup-y.
Perhaps filter for companies that are between 20-49 people that are remote ok and based in non-primary markets (not SF, NYC, etc.) Find postings that resonate with you and reverse engineer the filters. Use sales tools like Apollo or SalesNav.
I disagree with the suggestions on here for government/contracting roles. You will be paid less in exchange for little reward for your soul. +1 on working for consultants around the orbit of these though, but you will ultimately find it very corporate and restraining. Not to mention that you will have to go through a security screening process. It is not chill.
The downside is you're a cost center then. The last time I applied for one of these, I was getting offered intermediate engineer salaries for a "CTO" role of keeping a multi-million dollar small company with a complex supply chain going smoothly. Less bus count, less vacation time. They'll be reluctant to pay you 5x the median salary, whereas if you work corporate, you can make 1/2 the median salary with the same skill set. It's why it's not a common path for the folks around here, and it doesn't reward depth of knowledge.