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Software Engineer (Mid/Senior)

The Arena

Posted today

Job Requirements

Washing, DC
Top Secret/SCI CI Polygraph
Mid Level Career (5+ yrs experience)
$145,000 - $190,000

Job Description

Software Engineer (Mid/Senior)

Location: Onsite | Washington, DC
Clearance: Active TS/SCI required; CI Polygraph required
Employment Type: Full-time, salaried, with full benefits

The Company & Mission:

Join a mission-driven defense technology company building AI/ML-enabled maritime sensor systems and intelligence platforms that support U.S. national security operations, including systems deployed on U.S. Navy submarines. This role sits within the company's Services team — the applied engineering and technical advisory arm embedded alongside government customers to design, build, and operate the AI pipelines, data infrastructure, and software systems that take emerging AI capability from concept to fielded mission impact. The team brings together machine learning engineers, data engineers, software engineers, cloud architects, and operational subject matter experts who pair deep technical skill with a working understanding of how the Intelligence Community and DoD actually function day to day.

What This Role is All About:

We're looking for a Software Engineer (leveled mid to senior depending on experience) to build and maintain full stack software supporting AI/ML and analytic mission operations. You'll work across front-end interfaces, back-end services, and APIs that power mission workflows, collaborating closely with data engineers, AI/ML practitioners, and senior engineering staff. More senior candidates will additionally take on architectural ownership, technical mentorship, and team-level technical direction.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Design and implement full stack software components for AI/ML and analytic applications, from front-end UIs to back-end services and APIs
• Develop RESTful APIs, microservices, and event-driven architectures
• Build user interfaces and operator-facing dashboards used in mission workflows
• Collaborate with data scientists, AI/ML engineers, and the broader engineering team on system integration and optimization
• Implement automated testing and contribute to CI/CD pipelines and DevSecOps tooling
• Participate in code reviews and maintain high coding quality, security, and performance standards
• Troubleshoot and resolve issues across development and production environments
• Support development and operation of MCP server integrations and agentic AI tooling
• (Senior) Lead architectural decision-making, technology selection, and technical direction across complex systems
• (Senior) Provide technical mentorship to mid- and junior-level engineers; establish coding standards and development practices

What You Bring:

• 4+ years of hands-on software development experience building production systems (8+ years for senior consideration)
• Active TS/SCI clearance with active CI Polygraph required — candidate must already hold this; no ability to sit for one as part of onboarding
• Proficiency in a modern front-end framework (React, Angular, or Vue) plus at least one back-end language/framework (Python, Node.js, Java, Go, or similar)
• Experience with relational and/or non-relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis)
• Working knowledge of API design (REST and/or GraphQL) and microservice patterns
• Experience with cloud platforms and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Solid grasp of software engineering best practices, design patterns, and version control (Git)
• Demonstrated ability and willingness to rapidly learn novel AI platforms and tool integrations, including those enabling agentic AI capabilities
• (Senior) Proven track record leading technical teams and mentoring developers
• (Senior) Deep knowledge of secure coding practices and auth/authz (OAuth, SAML, OIDC)

Bonus Points:

• Strong AWS cloud skills (ECS/EKS, Lambda, S3, IAM, RDS, CloudWatch)
• Experience with GitLab and GitLab CI/CD
• DevSecOps exposure (secure SDLC, SAST/DAST, container/dependency scanning, secrets management)
• Familiarity with MCP servers or tool-using LLM systems
• Experience with DoD or Intelligence Community analytics and data platforms (e.g., Palantir-adjacent tooling)
• Military experience strongly preferred
• Intelligence Community experience strongly preferred

Benefits:

• Equity participation
• 401(k) with company match
• Unlimited PTO
• Dedicated sick time
• 11 paid holidays
• Paid parental leave
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Life insurance and short- and long-term disability coverage
• Professional development and certification reimbursement
• Technology stipend for home office setup
• Referral and performance bonuses
group id: 91164143

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Job Category
IT - Software
Clearance Level
Top Secret/SCI
Employer
The Arena