Senior Software Engineer (Data Backend)

SteerBridge•Vienna, VA

3d•$145,000 - $175,000

About The Position

SteerBridge is a modern technology company delivering innovative, mission-focused solutions to the U.S. Government and private sector. Leveraging deep expertise in federal acquisition, digital transformation, and emerging technologies, we deliver agile, commercial-grade capabilities that accelerate operational effectiveness and drive measurable mission success. At the core of SteerBridge is our people—especially the veterans whose leadership, problem-solving mindset, and commitment to excellence elevate every project we support. We don’t simply hire exceptional talent; we cultivate it, creating meaningful career pathways for veterans, military spouses, and professionals who share our passion for advancing technology and strengthening the missions we serve. We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer to design, build, and maintain the backend systems powering our data platform. This role combines deep technical craftsmanship with the ability to lead cross-functional initiatives — you'll write production-grade code, make architectural decisions, and coordinate with stakeholders across engineering, data science, and product to deliver reliable, scalable data infrastructure.

Requirements

U.S. Citizenship required.
Strong foundation in computer science fundamentals: data structures, algorithms, distributed systems, and software design principles
Expert-level Python programming skills, with experience building production backend systems
Solid understanding of relational databases and SQL; experience with cloud data warehouses (e.g. Redshift) a plus
Experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and infrastructure-as-code tools (e.g., Terraform)
Familiarity with data processing frameworks (e.g., Spark, Pandas) and workflow orchestration tools (e.g., Airflow)
Strong understanding of API design, microservices architecture, and system integration
Proficiency with version control (Git) and CI/CD practices
Demonstrated experience leading or coordinating projects across multiple teams or stakeholders
Strong project management instincts: scoping work, setting timelines, managing risk, and communicating status clearly
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts for non-technical audiences
Comfortable working independently and driving initiatives forward with minimal oversight
Experience balancing competing priorities and stakeholder needs in a fast-paced environment
6+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a focus on backend or data systems
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience)

Nice To Haves

Experience mentoring other engineers and contributing to team technical direction is a plus

Responsibilities

Design, develop, and maintain backend services and data pipelines that support analytics, reporting, and downstream applications
Write clean, well-tested, maintainable Python and SQL code and contribute to the evolution of our engineering standards and best practices
Architect data storage, processing, and integration solutions that scale with business needs
Lead technical design discussions and make sound trade-offs between performance, cost, maintainability, and delivery speed
Partner with data scientists, analysts, product managers, and other engineering teams to translate business requirements into technical solutions
Own project timelines and deliverables for cross-functional initiatives, coordinating dependencies across teams
Conduct code reviews and mentor junior and mid-level engineers
Troubleshoot and resolve production issues, including performance bottlenecks and data quality problems
Contribute to technical documentation and knowledge-sharing across the organization
Evaluate and recommend new tools, frameworks, and approaches to improve the team's data infrastructure