Software Engineer

Innovative Defense Technologies•Arlington, VA

20h•$74,000 - $184,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Innovative Defense Technologies (IDT), a leading defense technology company, is seeking a Software Engineer to be part of our Warfare Systems team. This role focuses on the DOW’s initiatives in support of tactical capability development for Navy surface and unmanned (UxVs) platforms. The Software Engineer will be responsible for architecting and refactoring mission-critical legacy weapons system software into a modern software technology stack, aiming for a microservices-based tactical platform deployable in both cloud-native and tactical-edge environments. Project domains include real-time automated test and analysis, virtual computing environments, AI/ML-based data analytics, cybersecurity, and tactical solutions. The engineer will be accountable for delivering well-architected, production-ready solutions that meet Fleet requirements. This is an on-site position requiring at least 3 days in office, based out of Arlington, VA or Mount Laurel, NJ. Applicants must be able to obtain/maintain an active Secret U.S. Security Clearance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent full-time professional experience.
0-5 years of professional experience.
Ability to travel up to 10% of the time, as needed.
Familiarity with combat system design and software.
Familiarity and experience with developing tactical systems software on DOD programs.
Familiarity with C, C++, Python, and/or Java programming languages.
Adept with developing in Linux OS environments, including shell scripting.
Ability to decompose and document requirements and specifications.
Understanding of distributed systems, algorithms, data structures and software design patterns, especially the Strangler Pattern.
Experience with Agile software development processes.
Proficiency working within a Git CM environment.
Comfortable with DevSecOps best practices.
Ability to convert vague customer requirements into a refined vision.
Ability to identify and describe algorithmic complexity.
Ability to work on-site with potential hybrid flexibility.
Familiarity with the software development process (requirements through deployment).
Ability to design, develop, and analyze software systems.
Ability to model/code/test algorithms in C++, Python, Java.
Ability to model/code/test GUI applications.
Proficiency in at least one modern language (e.g., Python, Java, C++, C#) and/or one modern frontend language (e.g., TypeScript, JavaScript).
Understanding of: Windows and Linux file systems, Version control (Git), APIs (REST/gRPC), Modular code design.
Ability to review, critique, and harden AI-generated code.
Familiarity with SQL and relational databases (e.g., Postgres).
Familiarity with computer networking and various networking protocols (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP, CORBA, DDS).
Ability to perform many concurrent assignments and determine the need for changing priorities.

Nice To Haves

Up to 5 years of full-time professional experience.
Familiarity with the AEGIS Weapon System Common Source Library (CSL), ideally, or Ship Self Defense System (SSDS) Single Source Library (SSL).
Experience with AEGIS, ideally, or SSDS tactical systems.
Experience utilizing Make build system, Maven, and Ant scripting.
Experience with X-Windows.
Familiar with Model Based System Engineering (MBSE) methodologies.
Experience with Jenkins, Jira, and the Atlassian tool suite.
Familiarity with foundational networking concepts such as routing, switching, identity services, intrusion detection, and firewall.
Familiarity deploying virtual machines in VMWare vSphere environments including networking configuration.
Familiarity designing complex software development environments including submodules, remote dependencies, and mixed-code deployments.
Familiarity deploying virtual machines and/or containers into Azure cloud environments including networking configuration.
Solid analytical abilities, coupled with a strong sense of ownership, urgency, and drive.
Problem-solving skills with the ability to navigate ambiguous situations.
Excellence in oral, written, and technical communication with peers and non-technical cohorts.
Initiative, creativity, reliability, teamwork.
Strong organization and planning skills.
Attention to detail while ability to see and understand the big picture.
Experience with cloud computing, virtualization, or containerization technologies.
Familiarity with Cloud infrastructure (e.g., Azure, AWS, GCP).
Experience with big data solutions (e.g. Hadoop, Spark, Kafka, Cassandra).
Demonstrated experience using AI coding assistants (e.g., GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, Codeium) for: Code generation, Refactoring and optimization, Debugging and root-cause analysis.
Ability to write effective prompts and iterate with AI to improve code quality and performance.
Understanding of AI limitations, hallucinations, and validation techniques.
Experience with testing frameworks including unit testing and interface testing.
Experience building user interfaces with a modern component framework such as React, Angular, or Vue.
Experience using Storybook or other Mock testing tooling.

Responsibilities

Design, implement, and test complex software in C, C++, Python, JavaScript, and Java within various development environments.
Analyze legacy monolithic software programs, recompiling them, and incrementally apply refactoring to modernize the software using the “brownfield” and “greenfield” methodologies.
Technical assessment and deconstruction of Navy tactical system code for Surface Navy Combat systems.
Explore and prototype next-generation solutions using artificial intelligence/machine learning, distributed processing, and modeling.
Interact with customers to elicit requirements and document agreements.
Present to organization leadership on project cost, schedule, and technical progress.
Software architecture development including hardware and software interfaces between software components.
Assist in developing user, functional, and technical requirements for tactical systems.
Participate and provide feedback for design & code/peer reviews.
Integrate individual software components into complex software environments.
Support test and integration activities at IDT labs and government Land Based Test Sites (LBTS).
Integrate software components into a complex software development environment.
Ensure adherence to industry standards pertaining to security, orthodox programming paradigms, and performance requirements.
Understand and interact with complex DoD software systems.
Work with small cross-site teams of software and/or systems engineers.
Collaborate with team members to peer-review architecture design, system requirements, and implemented code.