Senior Software Engineer
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 engineer will help design and build a next-generation cloud-native maintenance planning and execution tool as part of the company's US Navy team. The role owns end-to-end project delivery and works with stakeholders across vendors, platform engineering teams, and government organizations. In partnership with the government project lead, the engineer will shape technical requirements and guide the project through development, user acceptance testing, production transition, and sustainment. This role spans software architecture, data transformation and quality, modernization of legacy systems, identity and access management, integration with existing defense systems, and engineering practices such as testing, observability, and CI/CD. The engineer will make architecture decisions, document solutions, mentor engineers, collaborate with product and partner teams, and help influence product direction. The position is designed for an asynchronous, all-remote environment and includes travel expectations of 15–20%.
Requirements
- At least 7 years of software engineering experience for the senior level or 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 a team in decomposing 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 enterprise compliance and data privacy.
- Ability to assess intricate problems, propose solutions, and implement them effectively.
- 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 software tools 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.
Responsibilities
- Partner with software engineers, data architects, platform engineers, and stakeholders to translate ambiguous product requirements into technical solutions.
- Create optimized transformations to clean, enrich, and model data using cloud-native tools.
- Ensure data quality, integrity, and compliance, and maintain metadata and lineage.
- Help 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.
- Drive best practices in microservice design, testing, observability, and CI/CD automation.
- Collaborate with partner-company engineers and stakeholders to devise solutions for mission users.
- Collaborate with the Defense Unicorns product team to share improvements and growth opportunities for future projects.
- Participate in an asynchronous, all-remote work environment and communities of practice through 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.
- Stay informed about emerging technologies and industry trends to inform product enhancements and innovation.
- Provide technical mentorship 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 user needs and system constraints.
- Travel as required; travel expectations are 15–20%.
- Adapt to evolving organizational needs and take on additional responsibilities as assigned.
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
