Principal Software Engineer

GliaCell Technologies•Columbia, MD

2d•$200,000 - $280,000•Hybrid

About The Position

GliaCell is seeking a Principal Software Engineer on one of our subcontracts. This is a full-time position offering the opportunity to support a U.S. Government customer. The mission is to provide technical expertise that assists in sustaining critical mission-related software and systems to a large government contract. We are seeking a proactive, self-starting Software Engineer to join our team and help automate foundational infrastructure for our mission customer. The ideal candidate thrives in a mixed-stack environment, primarily utilizing Python and Java Spring Boot, and is comfortable leveraging modern AI development tools to accelerate their workflow. This is not a standard ticket-working role; it requires a deep problem-solver whose core responsibility will be identifying pain points and inefficiencies in our current processes and engineering automated mitigations. You will operate with a high degree of autonomy to drive continuous improvement and system reliability.

Requirements

Possess an active or rein-statable TS/SCI with Polygraph security clearance. (This position requires in-scope poly, within 7 years).
U.S. Citizenship.
12+ years Software Engineering experience and a BS degree in Computer Science or related. Four (4) years of additional SWE experience on projects with similar software processes may be substituted for a bachelor’s degree.
Works well independently as well as on a team.
Strong communication skills.
Production-grade software development experience in Python and/or Java (Spring Boot).
Proven track record as a self-starter capable of independently identifying system inefficiencies and driving them to resolution.
Experience integrating AI development tools into daily engineering workflows.
Strong problem-solving skills with a focus on infrastructure automation and process optimization.
Familiarity with version control systems, specifically Git.

Nice To Haves

Experience designing and implementing automated deployment pipelines using GitLab CI/CD.
Hands-on experience with service containerization and deploying containerized applications (e.g., Docker).
Familiarity working within containerized environments or orchestration platforms (e.g., Kubernetes).
Experience bridging multiple technical domains in a complex, mixed tech stack environment.

Responsibilities

Automate and provision foundational infrastructure to support mission-critical customer requirements.
Proactively identify pain points, bottlenecks, and inefficiencies in existing development and deployment processes, and engineer effective solutions.
Develop, maintain, and troubleshoot applications across a mixed-stack environment, functioning primarily in Python and Java (Spring Boot).
Leverage AI-assisted development tools to enhance coding speed, debugging, and overall software delivery.
Operate with a high degree of autonomy, moving beyond standard ticket resolution to drive strategic process improvements and system optimizations.