Application Developer (Backend)

West 4th Strategy•Bethesda, MD

2d•Onsite

About The Position

We need an experienced Back End Application Developer at the Naval Dosimetry Center (NDC) in Bethesda, Maryland. NDC serves as the Navy's ionizing radiation dosimetry center of excellence, providing naval commands worldwide with radiation dosimetry processing, consultation services, and comprehensive exposure recordkeeping in support of force health protection and regulatory compliance. In this role, you will architect and sustain the backend engine powering NDC's mission-critical systems, building and maintaining Java Spring Boot microservices, enabling secure REST API communication, managing data access and persistence in Aurora PostgreSQL, and ensuring every line of code meets Zero Trust and FedRAMP/IL4 standards within a DevSecOps CI/CD pipeline. This is a full-time opportunity. We can offer a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related field
A minimum of five (5) years of backend development experience with Java, Spring Boot, SQL, Hibernate/JPA, and microservices architectures
Strong backend engineering competencies in secure microservice development, API enablement, and relational data access patterns
Experience implementing security controls in DevSecOps pipelines including SAST/DAST, dependency scanning, and secrets management
Ability to produce clear technical documentation and informational briefings to support Government review
Ability to maintain artifacts supporting testing, security gates, and release activities
Strong attention to detail and critical thinking skills
U.S. Citizenship required
Active secret clearance required

Nice To Haves

AWS Developer certification or equivalent cloud development certification
Experience supporting DoD or U.S. Navy web applications in AWS GovCloud or similar IL4/FedRAMP Moderate environments
Familiarity with CUI handling procedures
Experience with AWS services relevant to NAVREMS including EKS, API Gateway, Cognito, Aurora PostgreSQL, SQS, SES, and Lambda
Experience with Aurora PostgreSQL development and optimization, secure database connectivity and encryption, and SQL performance optimization
Familiarity with IoT data processing and MQTT protocols
Experience with DevSecOps CI/CD integrations and three-tier application architectures

Responsibilities

Implement and maintain Java Spring Boot microservices aligned to Government-approved requirements and interface definitions
Expose and maintain REST API endpoints including versioning, documentation, and rate and usage controls via Government-approved gateway patterns
Provide backend services that support mission workflows including reporting and data export functions, and ensure service behaviors and configuration parameters are documented for Government review and operational use
Provide backend data access and persistence capabilities aligned to Government-defined Aurora PostgreSQL schemas and data domain requirements
Support design and evolution of database schemas and entity models for core data domains including organizational hierarchy, demographics, dosimeter lifecycle, reporting, and auditing; maintain database documentation including field-level metadata
Support Government data migration objectives by providing source-to-target mapping documentation, transformation and integration rule documentation, and backend logic enabling migration, conflict detection, and legacy system integration
Deliver backend services that enable secure dosimeter and device data ingestion including ingestion pathways, validation logic, secure communications, and APIs supporting device provisioning and configuration management
Ensure backend services align with Government-approved security architectures including Zero Trust principles, FedRAMP Moderate baseline requirements, DoD IL4 Overlay requirements, and FIPS-validated encryption in transit and at rest
Support service continuity and operational readiness through backend design inputs that enable high availability and disaster recovery objectives including multi-availability-zone readiness and backup and recovery support
Provide performance and scalability improvements by optimizing database interactions, query behavior, caching strategies, and service resource utilization; provide monitoring and tuning observations and recommendations for Government decision-making
Coordinate with technical stakeholders to support integrated delivery and interoperable service operations
Provide backend architecture inputs and best practices for Government consideration; note that architecture decisions are Government-led -- this role supports and documents them, and does not hold independent architecture authority
Support Government-led UAT and compliance testing readiness in staging environments and provide inputs and artifacts required for Government change management and release readiness decisions