Early Career Software Engineer

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory•Richland, WA

4h•Onsite

About The Position

The Early Career Software Engineer will join Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Software Engineering and Architectures team in the AI and Data Analytics Division of the National Security Directorate. The role contributes to mission-critical software and enterprise-scale data platforms that support national security and intelligence applications. Working with experienced engineers and research scientists, the engineer will help design, build, and optimize scalable systems for processing multimodal intelligence data, with a focus on reliability and agility. The position offers mentorship and opportunities to develop skills in SI/ML engineering, data orchestration, system architecture, and production software development. Work includes developing applications using SI agents and large language models, contributing to intelligence platforms that combine multiple data sources and support geospatial analysis, and building data pipelines and analytics workflows. The role also involves collaborative development practices such as code reviews, design discussions, testing, debugging, and documentation, with increasing responsibility for deploying and supporting production-quality software. This position is located in Richland, Washington, and requires onsite work Monday through Thursday, with Friday onsite as required by business needs. The position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance, U.S. citizenship, and compliance with federal background investigation and drug-testing requirements.

Requirements

Completed BS/BA or higher in computer science or software engineering.
Hands-on experience building and delivering software applications using Python through professional, internship, academic, or personal projects.
Ability to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance.
U.S. citizenship.
Must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified matter in accordance with 10 CFR 710, Appendix B.
Must demonstrate non-use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, for the 12 consecutive months preceding completion of the Questionnaire for National Security Positions.
Must pass pre-employment drug testing and be subject to post-employment random drug testing.

Nice To Haves

Experience programming in Python, Go, Rust, C#/.NET, C++, or similar languages.
Understanding of software engineering and data management best practices.
Strong communication and collaboration skills for working effectively with cross-functional teams.
Exposure to a cloud platform such as AWS, Azure, or GCP and familiarity with Linux environments.
Understanding of Git and version control, exposure to CI/CD practices, and familiarity with Agile or Scrum development environments.
Experience writing SQL and a basic understanding of data modeling, data processing, or data pipeline concepts.
Familiarity with SI coding tools such as Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, or similar tools, and sound judgment in validating their accuracy, security, and code quality.
Interest in SI/ML, geospatial systems, large-scale data processing, and learning new technologies and domains.

Responsibilities

Help develop applications that use SI agents and large language models, including integrations, evaluation, testing, and foundational MLOps practices.
Contribute to intelligence software that combines multiple sources of intelligence and supports geospatial analysis and user understanding of complex information.
Build and maintain data pipelines and develop analytics workflows for cloud-native systems that process and manage data at scale.
Participate in code reviews and design discussions, and develop skills in testing, debugging, documentation, and enterprise software development.
Learn to design, build, deploy, and support production-quality software while taking on increasing responsibility.
Collaborate with experienced engineers and research scientists on software and data platforms supporting national security missions.