Software Engineering Lead

Department: Engineering

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Arlington, VA

Compensation: $135,000 - $273,000 / year

About The Role:

Innovative Defense Technologies (IDT), a leading defense technology company, is seeking a Software Engineering Lead to be part of our Advanced Capabilities team and based out of our Arlington, VA location.

We are seeking an experienced Engineering Lead to lead the strategy, execution, and productization of our Advanced Capabilities Product offerings. The selected individual will be responsible for owning the roadmap, prioritizing features, productizing for deployment, and collaborating across engineering, business areas, business development, and external clients to ensure the successful delivery of scalable and maintainable software solutions to the fleet.

Clearance & Location Requirements:

• All applicants must currently possess an active Secret U.S. Security Clearance.
• This is an on-site position. Requiring at least 5 days in office, based out of our Arlington, VA location.

What You Will Do:

• Engineer and Architect Solutions: Design and develop high-fidelity prototypes to guide architectural decisions and evaluate solutions against business and operational goals. Architect end-to-end systems that balance project constraints with enterprise objectives, selecting languages, frameworks, and data structures to optimize performance and scalability. Apply advanced algorithms and design patterns to solve complex problems while adapting frameworks to maximize value and efficiency.
• Test and Assure Quality: Design and implement comprehensive test strategies—including unit, integration, and performance testing to ensure full system coverage. Lead complex incident investigations and coordinate cross-team issue resolution. Enhance monitoring, alerting, and diagnostic tools to improve detection and response, while proactively addressing systemic defects and guiding architectural improvements to ensure long‑time software stability in deployed environments.
• Manage Risk and Drive Improvement: Identify and mitigate systemic issues through long‑time engineering solutions embedded within the development lifecycle. Lead large‑scale modernization initiatives to re‑engineer legacy systems and improve maintainability. Establish risk management frameworks, forecast emerging technical and security risks, and champion mitigation strategies to ensure resilience. Integrate secure development practices and threat modeling into architectural decisions to proactively address vulnerabilities.
• Lead and Develop People: Coach and mentor team members to meet both individual career goals and IDT’s organizational objectives. Build inclusive, high‑performing teams that embody IDT values and promote a positive, collaborative culture. Delegate work strategically, empower continuous learning, and model ethical leadership, trust, and resilience across all interactions.

Who You Are (Required):

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering, computer engineering, cybersecurity, or related field (or equivalent full‑time professional experience)
• Minimum of 7+ years’ experience in software development
• Ability to travel approximately 10%
• Highly adept at understanding and presenting complex software solutions
• Extensive experience developing software in various languages, including C, C++, Java, JavaScript, and Python.
• Abundant experience with System and Software architectures
• Familiarity with and hands on experience with software design patterns
• Experience designing software with UML primitives: sequence diagrams, class diagrams, and activity diagrams
• Requirements elicitation, management, tracking, and auditing
• Documentati…