Senior Software Developer (NLP)

Parsons Corporation•Aberdeen, MD

9d•$103,500 - $181,100

About The Position

Parsons is seeking a Senior Software Developer to support our cutting-edge Drone Armor counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) program. The Senior Developer will design and implement logical, functional software code across multiple programming languages, make informed technology choices for different environments, rapidly diagnose and correct complex software issues in mission-critical systems, and help design, integrate, and optimize natural language processing (NLP) capabilities in support of operational missions.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electronics Engineering, or other engineering or technical discipline is required with 5 years of experience OR 8 years of relevant software development experience may be substituted for education
Experience creating logical and functional software code in multiple programming languages
Experience understanding and clearly articulating the benefits and risks of different coding languages in different functional environments
Experience reacting to software problems and correcting programs as necessary in complex or mission-critical systems
Experience integrating or supporting NLP or text-analytics capabilities in production or mission-focused software systems
Proficiency in one or more modern programming languages (e.g., Python, C++, Java, C#, Go, or similar), with working knowledge of others
Strong grasp of software engineering best practices, including design patterns, code reviews, version control, and CI/CD workflows
Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot and resolve complex software defects efficiently
Familiarity with NLP concepts and tools such as tokenization, embeddings, transformer models, and vector search, and with common NLP frameworks or libraries
Strong analytical and communication skills, capable of explaining technical and NLP-related trade-offs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
Must be a US Citizen
SECRET security clearance

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s or higher degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related discipline
Relevant certifications in software architecture, cloud platforms, AI/ML, or DevSecOps
Experience supporting DoD, defense, or C-UAS-related software systems
Experience with distributed, real-time, or high-availability systems
Experience applying NLP in operational, defense, or intelligence contexts (e.g., processing reports, chat/voice transcripts, or multilingual text sources)
Experience with containerization (Docker), orchestration (Kubernetes), and cloud-native development
Experience with NLP/ML ecosystems and tools (e.g., transformer-based frameworks, vector databases, or LLM APIs) and related deployment patterns
Familiarity with Agile/Scrum methodologies and modern issue tracking/ALM tools

Responsibilities

Create logical and functional software code in a variety of programming languages to support Drone Armor capabilities
Lead the design and implementation of software components, services, and interfaces based on system and mission requirements
Ensure solutions are robust, secure, maintainable, and aligned with program architecture and coding standards
Design and implement services and pipelines that incorporate NLP models and text processing components into C-UAS workflows (e.g., analysis of communications, reports, or operator inputs)
Collaborate with data scientists and ML/NLP engineers to integrate NLP models into production systems
Implement and optimize NLP pipelines for tasks such as classification, entity extraction, summarization, translation, or intent detection, as required by mission needs
Integrate large language models and other NLP components via APIs or model-serving infrastructure, ensuring performance, reliability, and security
Work with stakeholders to translate mission and operational requirements into concrete NLP features and user-facing capabilities
Understand and articulate the benefits and risks associated with different coding languages and frameworks in various functional environments
Recommend appropriate languages, tools, and design patterns based on performance, security, maintainability, and integration needs
Evaluate and recommend NLP libraries, frameworks, and platforms (e.g., transformer-based toolkits, vector databases, or text analytics services)
Provide technical guidance to developers on language and framework selection, coding practices, architectural decisions, and NLP integration strategies
React to software problems quickly and effectively, correcting code and related configurations as necessary
Debug complex issues across multiple layers (application, service, interface, data) and environments (development, integration, field)
Diagnose and resolve issues specific to NLP-enabled features, including latency, accuracy, unexpected outputs, and integration failures
Support and refine unit, integration, and system-level tests, including tests for NLP components (e.g., input validation, model behavior checks, regression tests on text datasets) to validate functionality and prevent regressions
Serve as a senior technical resource within the development team, mentoring junior and mid-level developers
Coach team members on best practices for integrating NLP capabilities into existing architectures and workflows
Collaborate with systems engineers, test engineers, data scientists, NLP/ML engineers, and field personnel to resolve issues and improve system performance
Contribute to technical reviews, design walkthroughs, and continuous improvement of development and AI/NLP integration practices