Senior Software Engineer

Defense Unicorns

1d • Remote

About The Position

Defense Unicorns is seeking a Senior to Staff Software Engineer to help transform legacy, on-premises software into a modern cloud-native platform. The role is part of the company’s US Navy team and focuses on designing and building a next-generation cloud-native maintenance planning and execution tool. The engineer will own end-to-end project delivery, work with stakeholders across vendors, platform engineering teams, and government organizations, and collaborate closely with the government project lead to shape technical requirements and guide the effort through development, user acceptance testing, production transition, and sustainment.

The position combines software and data engineering, architecture, modernization, and technical leadership. The engineer will help deliver interoperable, secure solutions for defense systems and contribute to the company’s mission of improving secure software delivery. The role is remote and asynchronous, with an expected travel commitment of 15–20%. Responsibilities may evolve as organizational needs change.

Requirements

• At least 7 years of software engineering experience for the senior level, or at least 10 years for the staff level.
• Expert-level proficiency in at least one modern programming language, such as Go, TypeScript, or Python, and ability to write idiomatic, testable code.
• Strong understanding of system design, API development, workflow orchestration, relational databases, and cloud platforms such as AWS or Azure.
• Deep knowledge of database design, schema design, indexing, and query optimization.
• Experience leading decomposition of a complex monolithic application into small, independent services communicating through lightweight APIs.
• Modern API design experience beyond basic CRUD, including RESTful services and tools such as FastAPI, ASP.NET, or equivalent.
• Experience implementing authorization and data governance, security telemetry pipelines, policy enforcement, and role-based access control for compliance and data privacy.
• Familiarity with core Kubernetes concepts, including Controllers, Operators, and CRDs.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, including explaining technical concepts to technical and non-technical audiences and leading technical working sessions.
• Analytical problem-solving mindset and attention to detail.
• Ability to work proactively, manage time efficiently, and thrive in a remote work environment.

Nice To Haves

• Experience building a software tool focused on software lifecycle and management.
• Experience with Argo Workflows.
• Familiarity with Department of Defense acquisition or sustainment software modernization projects.
• Passion for clean architecture, automation, and iterative modernization.
• Interest in assessing intricate problems, proposing solutions, and implementing them effectively.

Responsibilities

• Translate ambiguous product requirements into technical solutions with software engineers, data architects, platform engineers, and stakeholders.
• Create optimized transformations to clean, enrich, and model data using cloud-native tools.
• Maintain data quality, integrity, compliance, metadata, and lineage.
• Refactor and modernize existing on-premises systems into distributed, cloud-based services.
• Contribute to the design of authentication, identity management, and RBAC/ABAC frameworks.
• Participate in architectural discussions, code reviews, and ongoing technical improvements.
• Promote best practices in microservice design, testing, observability, and CI/CD automation.
• Collaborate with partner-company engineers and stakeholders to devise solutions for mission users.
• Share improvements and growth opportunities with the Defense Unicorns product team for future projects.
• Participate effectively in an asynchronous, all-remote environment and communities of practice via Slack and GitHub Issues.
• Integrate software products with existing defense systems, ensuring interoperability and adherence to security protocols.
• Own architecture decisions and ensure technical quality across the engineering team.
• Develop documentation, including design specifications, user manuals, and maintenance guides.
• Monitor emerging technologies and industry trends to inform product enhancements and innovation.
• Mentor technical colleagues and elevate engineering standards across the team.
• Communicate effectively with engineers and stakeholders at all levels, both inside and outside the company.
• Influence product direction through understanding of user needs and system constraints.
• Travel as required; stated travel expectation is 15–20%.
• Adapt to additional responsibilities as organizational needs evolve.

Benefits

• Company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance premiums.
• Health Savings Account.
• Life insurance.
• Disability insurance.
• 401(k) retirement plan.
• Company stock options.
• Home office budget.
• Flexible Time Off for full-time employees.
• Federal holidays, one week for Thanksgiving, and two weeks for Christmas and New Year’s.
• Paid parental leave.
• Reimbursement for approved trainings and subscriptions.
• Conference travel, lodging, and fees.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed