Software Engineer (Entry Level to SME) TS/SCI with Poly REQUIRED

CGI•Arlington, VA

9h•Hybrid

About The Position

CGI Federal has an exciting opportunity for Software Engineers within our Intel sector advancing the national security mission through cutting edge technology. You must have a passion for keeping pace with rapidly evolving technology advancements and leveraging your knowledge on a highly collaborative team to deliver state-of-the-art capabilities. The Software Engineer assists with basic coding, debugging, and testing under the mentorship of senior engineers. This role focuses on learning software development lifecycles, writing clean code, and helping maintain existing applications while building foundational technical skills. CGI Federal is growing its high-performance team whose members share a passion for building high-quality, scalable, advanced IT solutions in a collaborative, fast-paced, outcome-driven mission. This position is located in our Arlington office; however, a hybrid working model is acceptable.

Requirements

Active TS/SCI with Poly REQUIRED
High School Diploma/GED with 4 years of relevant experience, OR Associates Degree with 2 years of relevant experience, OR Bachelor’s Degree with 0 years of relevant experience (Entry Level)
Foundational knowledge in at least one major language (e.g., Python, Java, C++, or JavaScript) (Entry Level)
Familiarity with software design principles, version control systems (like Git), and database querying (Entry Level)
Strong analytical problem-solving abilities and effective written and verbal communication (Entry Level)
High School Diploma/GED with 6 years of relevant experience, OR Associates Degree with 4 years of relevant experience, OR Bachelor’s Degree with 2 years of relevant experience, OR Masters Degree with 0 years of relevant experience (Junior Level/Moderate)
Foundational understanding of object-oriented programming (e.g., Java, Python, C++, C#, or JavaScript) (Junior Level/Moderate)
Strong analytical problem-solving, willingness to ask questions, and a collaborative team mindset (Junior Level/Moderate)
High School Diploma/GED with 8 years of relevant experience, OR Associates Degree with 6 years of relevant experience, OR Bachelor’s Degree with 4 years of relevant experience, OR Masters Degree with 2 years of relevant experience, OR PhD with 0 years of relevant experience (Mid-Level/Complex)
Strong command of core programming languages (e.g., Python, Java, C++, C#, Go) and experience working across the stack or in highly focused backend/frontend ecosystems (Mid-Level/Complex)
Familiarity with modern DevOps workflows, including containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), version control (Git), cloud deployment (AWS/Azure/GCP), and CI/CD pipelines (Mid-Level/Complex)
High School Diploma/GED with 10 years of relevant experience, OR Associates Degree with 8 years of relevant experience, OR Bachelor’s Degree with 6 years of relevant experience, OR Masters Degree with 4 years of relevant experience, OR PhD with 2 years of relevant experience (Senior Level/Exceptionally Complex)
Advanced proficiency in primary languages (e.g., C/C++, Java, or Python), distributed system design paradigms, and modern cloud/containerization infrastructure (Senior Level/Exceptionally Complex)
Proven ability to dissect multi-disciplinary problems, perform systematic root-cause analysis, and execute hardware/software trade-offs (Senior Level/Exceptionally Complex)
Exceptional ability to synthesize complex technical risks and expectations for both highly technical peers and non-technical stakeholders (Senior Level/Exceptionally Complex)
High School Diploma/GED with 12 years of relevant experience, OR Associates Degree with 10 years of relevant experience, OR Bachelor’s Degree with 8 years of relevant experience, OR Masters Degree with 6 years of relevant experience, OR PhD with 4 years of relevant experience (SME Level/Exceptionally Complex)
Deep, hands-on expertise with cloud-native architectures, containerization (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes), and at least two core backend languages (e.g., Go, Rust, Java, C++) (SME Level/Exceptionally Complex)
Expert grasp of distributed systems, concurrency models, database scaling (SQL and NoSQL), and system trade-offs (SME Level/Exceptionally Complex)
Exceptional verbal and written communication skills with the ability to articulate deeply technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders (SME Level/Exceptionally Complex)

Responsibilities

Write and modify clean, maintainable code based on documented specifications.
Troubleshoot and fix software bugs, as well as execute simple automated or manual tests.
Participate in peer code reviews and attend daily stand-up meetings with the engineering team.
Assist in updating technical documentation, user manuals, and process standards.
Actively study the company’s codebase, architecture, and deployment processes.
Write clean, maintainable code for smaller, well-defined features and bug fixes.
Create and execute basic unit tests to ensure software reliability.
Troubleshoot and resolve known software defects under the guidance of senior team members.
Participate in Agile meetings and peer code reviews to learn best practices and absorb team standards.
Help maintain system flowcharts, diagrams, and technical documentation.
Translate feature-level business requirements into specific technical solutions, writing design proposals, breaking down complex tasks, and building consensus across the team.
Design and implement moderately complex algorithms, manipulate large datasets, and adhere to strict performance, memory, and interface constraints.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Product Managers, UI/UX, Hardware/Infrastructure) to define system boundaries and integrate software components into existing infrastructure.
Ensure code is highly reliable, well-documented, and performant. Conduct rigorous code reviews and establish testing standards within CI/CD pipelines.
Actively review peer work, participate in Tandem interview processes, and guide the technical growth of Level 1 (Junior) engineers.
Design, document, and implement high-level system components and microservices requiring intricate data processing, low-latency execution, or novel algorithm development.
Oversee the entire Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) from conception and requirements analysis through integration, automated testing, deployment, and sustainment.
Serve as a technical lead for sub-projects, providing architectural guidance, driving code reviews, and mentoring junior engineers to elevate team standards.
Diagnose and resolve deeply rooted software defects and systemic bottlenecks. Optimize throughput, memory management, and security protocols across production ecosystems.
Partner with hardware engineers, system architects, and product managers to make crucial trade-offs, drive technical feasibility, and align software goals with overarching business objectives.
Design comprehensive, highly available system architectures, defining clear APIs, caching strategies, and data-flow pipelines.
Author detailed, executable technical design documents (RFCs, High-Level Designs) subject to peer review.
Anticipate and mitigate complex technical risks before, during, and after system implementation.
Write exceptionally clean, scalable, and secure code, often handling complex, bare-metal, memory-mapped, or distributed algorithmic problems.
Lead the modernization and optimization of CI/CD pipelines to drastically improve build quality and deployment speed.
Conduct rigorous, high-quality code reviews, enforcing company coding standards and advocating for design patterns.
Act as the technical lead on major product features, coordinating and delegating tasks to cross-functional engineering pods.
Actively mentor junior and mid-level engineers, providing actionable feedback to accelerate their career growth and technical proficiency.
Drive agile ceremonies (scrum, sprint planning, retrospectives) and coach teams on the best use of agile tools.