Senior Software Engineer (Level 3)Pay Rate Range: $95 - $102.11/hr.Clearance Required: Active Top Secret/SCI with Full Scope (FS) Polygraph (within last 5 years)Position OverviewWe are seeking a Senior Software Engineer (Level 3) to support a mission-critical program within the Intelligence Community at Fort Meade, MD. This is an on-site SCIF position requiring a TS/SCI clearance with an active Full Scope Polygraph prior to consideration. The SWE Level 3 is a senior engineer capable of designing, implementing, and improving distributed application orchestration logic across a Kubernetes-native platform in a classified environment.
This role carries architectural authority and mentorship responsibility: the successful candidate will lead the development of reusable Helm charts, GitOps templates, and deployment strategies; contribute to platform-wide architecture decisions; and guide junior engineers through design decisions and tradeoffs.Key ResponsibilitiesDistributed Application Orchestration and Kubernetes PlatformLead development of reusable Helm charts, GitOps templates, and deployment strategiesBuild system-aware controllers or agents that automate application lifecycle tasksContribute to platform-wide architecture decisions including deployment strategy, multi-cluster config, and observabilityEvent-Driven and Agent-Based SystemsDesign and implement event-driven architectures using Kafka, controller patterns, or equivalent technologiesBuild and maintain custom Kubernetes controllers and operators using Go or PythonEnsure event-driven systems meet reliability and security requirements for classified operationsInfrastructure Automation and DevOpsImplement infrastructure-as-code using Terraform, cloud-init, Ansible, or equivalent toolingSupport GitOps pipeline design using ArgoCD, Fleet, or equivalentCollaborate with DevOps and platform teams to ensure secure, compliant deploymentsContribute to CI/CD pipeline design and code review standardsLeadership and MentorshipMentor junior and mid-level engineers; conduct code reviews for reliability and securityGuide the team through design decisions and engineering tradeoffsHelp shape internal standards, shared tooling, and reusable component frameworksThink in systems, not just services: evaluate cross-cutting concerns in all designsSecurity-Compliant DeploymentsEnsure containerized deployments adhere to DISA STIGs and program security policiesBalance automation and operator oversight in classified environmentsSupport secure secrets management and certificate lifecycle integration in KubernetesQualificationsEducation: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field. Equivalent experience may be substituted.Experience: 8+ years of software engineering experience, with majority in cloud-native, Kubernetes-based, or distributed systems contexts.Additional Required Qualifications:Active TS/SCI clearance with Full Scope Polygraph - must be active prior to startDeep experience coding in Go and/or Python in cloud-native contextsStrong Kubernetes expertise: CRDs, Helm, GitOps, multi-tenant deploymentsExperience with event-driven or agent-based systems (Kafka, controller patterns)Familiarity with infrastructure automation (Terraform, Ansible)Demonstrated end-to-end system component delivery ownershipProven mentorship and technical leadership capabilityComfortable balancing automation with operator oversight in classified environmentsDesired SkillsTypeScript for frontend or tooling developmentOpenShift or Rancher Government Solutions in air-gapped deploymentsService mesh technologies (Istio, Linkerd)Observability tooling: Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetryAWS GovCloud, C2S/SC2S classified cloud experienceCross-domain solution (CDS) experienceDoD 8140 IASAE Level II or III (CASP+, CISSP)