Cloud Native Software Engineer SME

General Dynamics Information Technology•USA VA Home Office (VAHOME), VA

19h•$195,240 - $264,148•Remote

About The Position

Support mission-critical initiatives and enable the growth of our business as a Senior AI-assisted / Cloud-Native Software Engineer SME at GDIT. Here, you’ll become an integral part of how GDIT is able to ensure the safety and security of our nation. You will serve as a senior engineering leader responsible for building and scaling our AI‑Assisted Software Development capability driving Mission Software growth and delivery excellence. This role goes far beyond “using AI tools” – you will be part of team that establishes the strategy, operating model, practices, and technical foundations required to transform how our teams design, build, test, and deliver software solutions and products using modern AI-enabled development approaches. As a Senior AI-assisted / Cloud-native Software Engineer SME, you will be trusted to help drive the technical solutions needed to win our most complex, large-scale, and strategic pursuits as well as extend our existing Mission Software portfolio. You will evaluate and rationalize existing AI-enabled tools and platforms across the organization, become the internal expert on their use and integration, define best practices, upskill our engineers, and operationalize AI‑assisted development as an enterprise capability we can confidently take to market. You will architect, engineer and demonstrate innovative proof of concept solutions that solve key customer challenges. The role blends technical leadership, solution architecture, go-to-market, organizational change management, and hands-on engineering expertise. This is a highly strategic and highly technical leadership role designed for an experienced engineering leader who thrives in emerging technology spaces and enjoys scaling new capabilities from the ground up.

Requirements

BA/BS in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
15+ years of progressive software architecture and engineering experience including leading architecture and engineering best practices across complex teams required
Proven experience developing mission software products, capability development, and demonstrating developed solutions to customers
Must be a US Person (needed to access sensitive GDIT enterprise systems)
Strong understanding of AI-enabled development workflows, not just tool usage: prompt and harness‑engineering patterns, code‑gen improvement loops, safety/quality validation, and architectural impacts, as well as ability to identify, track, and articulate ROI associated with AI and agentic automation
Ability to assess organizational AI-development maturity and define roadmaps, capability models, and adoption strategies, including ability to identify and implement new operational models (i.e., team size and composition, sprint planning, code reviews, etc.) to optimize delivery
Direct experience evaluating, selecting, and operationalizing AI-enabled development tools (Anthropic Claude Code, Open AI Codex, Google Gemini, GitHub Copilot etc.)
Hands-on experience using LLM-based frameworks and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) as part of software delivery
Ability to rapidly architect, engineer and demonstrate customer proof of concept solutions
Ability to develop and articulate technical solutions for complex Mission Software growth pursuits
Full-Stack development experience including proficiency across multiple programming languages, including Java, JavaScript, Python, .NET, and others
Hands-on experience using modern front-end and back-end frameworks (e.g., Angular, React, Spring Boot, Django, Next.js, etc.)
Experience implementing and integrating solutions across variety of operating systems (e.g., Linux, Unix) and Platforms as a Service (e.g., RHEL, OpenShift)
Deep experience with API/webservice design, secure coding standards, and scalable architectural patterns

Nice To Haves

Understanding of Federal acquisition and security compliance including FedRAMP and Authority To Operate (ATO) implications across Government Cloud and classified environments
Experience building an enterprise AI-assisted development capability or platform offering
Prior experience productizing internal capabilities into customer-facing solutions or services
Familiar with Cloud-native platforms (AWS, GCP Azure,) and related AI/ML services including experience managing vendor relationships with OEM and ISVs
Expertise with CI/CD automation, IaC, Policy as Code, and governance automation frameworks (Terraform, Ansible, etc.)
Ability to translate technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders and influence across senior leadership levels
Demonstrated ability to stay current with emerging AI, development, and architecture trends, and drive organizational adoption strategies

Responsibilities

Serve as a senior engineering leader responsible for building and scaling our AI‑Assisted Software Development capability driving Mission Software growth and delivery excellence.
Establish the strategy, operating model, practices, and technical foundations required to transform how our teams design, build, test, and deliver software solutions and products using modern AI-enabled development approaches.
Help drive the technical solutions needed to win our most complex, large-scale, and strategic pursuits as well as extend our existing Mission Software portfolio.
Evaluate and rationalize existing AI-enabled tools and platforms across the organization.
Become the internal expert on the use and integration of AI-enabled tools and platforms.
Define best practices for AI-assisted development.
Upskill engineers in AI-assisted development techniques.
Operationalize AI‑assisted development as an enterprise capability.
Architect, engineer and demonstrate innovative proof of concept solutions that solve key customer challenges.
Identify, hire, coach, and scale engineers in AI-assisted development techniques, responsible use, productivity strategies, and integration patterns.
Create developer education programs, playbooks, best practices, or internal communities of practice to facilitate large-scale change management initiatives.
Function as an internal SME, providing architectural guidance on how AI changes software engineering design patterns, quality models, and delivery processes.
Drive technical vision, architecture standards, and execution across complex, multi-team programs.
Lead full SDLC and product lifecycle delivery in both agile and hybrid environments.
Implement operational and engineering standards including CI/CD, DevSecOps, TDD/BDD, automation frameworks, and quality engineering practices.
Develop solutions within distributed, cross‑functional, or geographically dispersed teams.

Benefits

AI-powered career tool that identifies career steps and learning opportunities
An internal mobility team focused on helping you achieve your career goals
Comprehensive benefits and wellness packages
401K with company match
Competitive pay
Paid time off
Variety of medical plan options, some with Health Savings Accounts
Dental plan options
Vision plan
401(k) plan offering the ability to contribute both pre and post-tax dollars up to the IRS annual limits and receive a company match
Full flex work weeks where possible
Variety of paid time off plans, including vacation, sick and personal time, holidays, paid parental, military, bereavement and jury duty leave
15 days of paid leave per calendar year to be used for vacations, personal business, and illness
10 paid holidays per year
Paid Family Leave program provides a total of up to 160 hours of paid leave in a rolling 12 month period for eligible employees
Short and long-term disability benefits
Life insurance
Accidental death and dismemberment insurance
Personal accident insurance
Critical illness insurance
Business travel and accident insurance