Senior Full Stack Developer - AI First

Pantheon Data • Reston, VA

3d • $145,000 - $200,000 • Remote

About The Position

Pantheon Data is seeking a hands-on Senior Full Stack Software Engineer (AI-First) to design, build, integrate, and maintain software systems for government and commercial technology programs. This is a senior individual-contributor role focused on agentic, spec-driven software development. The engineer uses coding harnesses such as Claude Code or OpenAI Codex as a primary workflow, while retaining responsibility for architecture, correctness, security, and quality. They must critically evaluate agent output, redirect agents when needed, and write or refactor code directly when appropriate.

The role spans modern web interfaces, APIs, services, databases, cloud-hosted applications, and system integrations. The engineer translates loosely defined needs into specifications and maintainable software, contributes to technical quality and team practices for AI-first development, and works with architects, data and ML engineers, DevSecOps, UI/UX contributors, and customer-facing teams. The position is remote from Reston, Virginia, with possible periodic work at a Pantheon Data office or client site. Local candidates should be prepared for an in-person interview; candidates outside the area may be considered for a virtual interview. Secret clearance is required for continued employment.

Pantheon Data is a small business based in the Washington, DC area and a Kenific Holding company. Founded in 2011, it provides services including software engineering, information technology, cybersecurity, program management, infrastructure resiliency, and contact center operations to federal and commercial clients.

The salary range is $145,000–$200,000; actual compensation may vary based on experience, geographic location, and contractual requirements and may fall outside that range. The company describes its salaries and benefits as competitive, offers SmartBenefits through the Washington Metro Area Transportation Authority, and notes that tuition assistance may be available in some cases for relevant continuing education and certifications.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field from an accredited university.
• At least 7 years of hands-on software engineering experience with meaningful full stack responsibility.
• Strong foundation in computer science fundamentals, including data structures, algorithms, design patterns, and system architecture.
• Experience establishing team practices for AI-first development, such as review standards, guardrails, specification templates, or methods for measuring agent effectiveness.
• Experience with spec-driven development, including writing specifications, acceptance criteria, and task breakdowns for agents and validating results against them.
• Ability to critically review AI-generated code, identify defects, security issues, unnecessary complexity, and deviations from requirements, and redirect agents or correct code directly.
• Strong proficiency in at least one back-end language such as Python or Node.js/TypeScript, or a comparable modern application stack.
• Strong front-end development experience with React, Angular, Vue, or similar frameworks.
• Experience designing, building, and consuming RESTful APIs and service-oriented or microservice-based architectures.
• Practical experience with SQL, NoSQL, graph, and vector systems, including schema design, query patterns, integration, and performance considerations.
• Experience with Git-based workflows, code review, branching, pull/merge requests, and release coordination, including managing and reviewing agent-authored branches and pull requests.
• Working knowledge of Docker and containerized development.
• Ability to debug complex issues across application, data, and deployment boundaries.
• Strong written and verbal communication, attention to detail, and ability to work effectively in a remote or hybrid cross-functional team.
• Secret clearance is required for continued employment; applicants selected will be subject to a security investigation and may need to meet eligibility requirements.

Nice To Haves

• Recent experience delivering production software primarily through an agentic coding harness such as Claude Code or OpenAI Codex, beyond IDE autocomplete or chat-based assistance.
• Experience extending agentic coding harnesses by building custom commands, skills, hooks, or sub-agents, integrating MCP servers, or running coding agents headlessly in CI/CD workflows.
• Experience developing in secure government, DoD, FedRAMP, air-gapped, or compliance-driven environments, including applying AI development tools within security and data-handling constraints.
• Experience deploying applications on AWS, Azure, or GCP, especially cloud-native applications.
• Experience integrating AI/ML systems, intelligent document processing, RAG workflows, search systems, graph databases, or data-rich applications.
• Experience with authentication and authorization patterns such as OIDC, SSO, RBAC, ABAC, mTLS, or API gateway/reverse-proxy integration.
• Familiarity with Kubernetes, Helm, Infrastructure as Code, SBOM generation, or observability tools such as ELK/OpenSearch, Splunk, Grafana, or Prometheus.
• Active Secret Clearance.

Responsibilities

• Use agentic coding harnesses such as Claude Code or OpenAI Codex as a primary development workflow, delegating implementation while retaining ownership of design, correctness, and quality.
• Develop clear specifications, acceptance criteria, constraints, and task plans for agent-executed work.
• Plan and supervise agent sessions, including parallel agents or sub-agents, and intervene when work drifts, stalls, or becomes unnecessarily complex.
• Review and validate agent output through code review, automated tests, static analysis, and hands-on execution before merging.
• Maintain project context and agent-supporting assets such as repository instruction files, coding conventions, prompts, commands, skills, hooks, and MCP integrations.
• Choose when not to delegate and write or refactor code directly for subtle, security-sensitive, or otherwise better-handled work.
• Use approved AI tools and environments and protect sensitive, controlled, and customer-restricted information.
• Discuss how design decisions affect existing and planned architecture and functionality.
• Design, develop, and maintain front-end and back-end components for web applications and internal engineering tools.
• Build responsive interfaces using frameworks such as React, Angular, or Vue.
• Develop APIs, services, and integration layers using Python, Node.js, or comparable technologies.
• Translate product, customer, and engineering needs into technical designs and specifications.
• Build and integrate RESTful APIs, microservices, and data-backed application components.
• Work with relational and non-relational databases, search systems, object storage, and data services.
• Support applicable integrations with AI/ML workflows, document processing, metadata services, graph/data systems, and retrieval-based applications.
• Understand application data flows and help ensure features are traceable, testable, and reliable.
• Develop cloud-hosted applications on AWS, Azure, GCP, or secure government cloud environments.
• Work within CI/CD pipelines and ensure changes build, pass tests, and clear required security scans.
• Build and run containerized applications using Docker.
• Follow secure coding practices and remediate vulnerabilities in code and dependencies.
• Write and maintain unit, integration, and end-to-end tests, using them to validate agent-generated changes.
• Debug issues across UI, API, database, and deployment layers.
• Add meaningful logging, error handling, and telemetry, and document practical troubleshooting steps.
• Refactor and improve codebases to reduce technical debt and unnecessary complexity.
• Collaborate with architects, data engineers, ML engineers, DevSecOps engineers, UI/UX contributors, and customer-facing team members.
• Communicate tradeoffs clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Mentor developers in engineering practices and disciplined AI-first workflows; contribute to code, design, and standards reviews.
• Document APIs, specifications, workflows, configuration decisions, and operational procedures.

Benefits

• Competitive salaries and benefits (specific benefit details are available on the company careers site).
• SmartBenefits through the Washington Metro Area Transportation Authority, allowing employees to direct a specified amount of pre-tax wages to a SmarTrip account.
• Tuition assistance may be available in some cases for continuing education expenses and certifications related to the position.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior