Account Backend Engineer

Black Canyon Consulting•Bethesda, MD

About The Position

Black Canyon Consulting (BCC) is seeking an NCBI Login and MyNCBI Account Backend Engineer to support and modernize authentication and account management infrastructure for the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), part of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at NIH. The role maintains legacy systems, facilitates migration to modern identity platforms, and supports robust, secure, and scalable backend services for biomedical users worldwide. The engineer provides operational support for NCBI Login and MyNCBI Account backend services, develops and maintains backend software and integrations, supports compliance and security requirements, participates in migration to NIH ICAM standards, and manages backend build and deployment processes.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience.
Strong proficiency in backend programming with C++, Python, and SQL, and experience in Linux environments.
Experience with authentication and authorization protocols, including OAuth, OIDC, SAML, and JWT.
Extensive experience with Microsoft SQL Server and relational database design and optimization.
Experience with version control systems such as Git and SVN, CI/CD tools, and DevOps practices.
Experience integrating with third-party applications and secured data sharing.
Experience working with XML and XSLT.
Experience with agile development processes.
Ability to work with legacy systems and facilitate migration to modern platforms.
Strong troubleshooting, teamwork, and communication skills, and ability to work independently.

Responsibilities

Provide operational support for the NCBI Login System, including troubleshooting, patching, and maintaining production stability during migration.
Support MyNCBI Account backend services by resolving session and account-linking issues and maintaining backend storage databases.
Build, deploy, and maintain backend binaries and CGI scripts across multiple environments on AlmaLinux and other Unix/Linux platforms.
Integrate third-party identity providers and manage federated account data feeds, including InCommon organizations.
Develop and optimize backend services using C++, Python, Django, and SQL, with attention to security, compliance, and performance.
Ensure backend systems meet FISMA Moderate and other compliance requirements.
Apply authentication, authorization, and IT security practices involving SAML, OAuth 2.0, OIDC, and JWT.
Monitor and support ongoing user issues, collaborating with partner agencies to resolve them.
Lead and participate in migration from legacy authentication systems to NIH ICAM standards.
Implement integration patterns for federated login, account consolidation, and application-owned authorization.
Support user account migration, including linking, merging, and retiring local credentials for NCBI applications.
Manage code and configuration repositories, build pipelines, and backend service deployments.
Troubleshoot build and deployment issues, including operating system upgrades and library dependencies.