Software Engineer - AI-Accelerated Development with Security Clearance

Senior Software Engineer (SME) - AI-Enabled Engineering Team - TS/SCI Linchpin Software is a specialized software and data engineering firm supporting a federal agency's mission-critical technology portfolio in the National Capital Region. We're growing a team of senior engineers who want to stay deep in the code, work on systems that are actually in production and actually matter, and build with modern AI-assisted tooling instead of fighting legacy processes.

This is an individual contributor role. No direct reports, no required management overhead - just real engineering, on real systems, solving real problems. If you're the person who'd rather ship a hard fix yourself than sit in a status meeting about it, this is built for you. What makes this different: our teams are AI-enabled. Engineers here use AI-assisted development tools (coding agents, AI-augmented debugging and code review, and similar tooling) as part of the daily workflow - not as a novelty, but as a real multiplier on how fast and how well we build.

You'll be working on live production systems supporting an active mission, not prototypes or throwaway proofs of concept, across modern stacks including Python, .NET, Type Script, React, Angular, Kubernetes, and cloud-native infrastructure.

Location:

Chantilly, VA, with potential for a hybrid telework schedule based on role and mission needs. Clearance Requirement:
Active Top Secret clearance required; must be SCI-eligible. Responsibilities:
- Design, build, test, and deploy features and fixes on live, mission-critical production systems
- Use AI-assisted development tools to accelerate delivery, debugging, and code quality - and help refine how the team uses them
- Own meaningful technical problems end-to-end, from design through deployment
- Troubleshoot complex, real-world production issues across the stack
- Contribute as a senior technical voice in design discussions and code reviews
- Participate in Agile/SAFe ceremonies (sprint planning, PI planning, retrospectives)
- Set the technical bar through the quality of your own work - lead by example, not by mandate
- Bring curiosity and energy to a team that's genuinely excited about how it builds software

Required Qualifications:

- Active Top Secret clearance, SCI-eligible
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical discipline (or equivalent experience)
- 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, including:
- Designing, developing, testing, and deploying backend or full-stack software in languages such as Python, .NET/C#, Java, or JavaScript/Type Script
- Hands-on experience with modern frontend frameworks (Angular, React, Vue.js, or similar)

- Experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes) and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform)

- Experience with CI/CD pipelines (Git Lab CI/CD or similar) and modern development tooling
- Strong understanding of software design patterns, system architecture, and Agile delivery

Preferred Qualifications:

- Hands-on experience or genuine interest in AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Claude Code, Git Hub Copilot, Codex, Git Lab Duo) in a real engineering workflow

- Experience with data-intensive or ETL-heavy systems (Elasticsearch/Open Search, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, Kafka, RabbitMQ)

- Experience with cloud environments, including AWS Gov Cloud or similar government cloud platforms
- Exposure to AI/ML-integrated applications, knowledge graphs, or advanced data analytics platforms

- Experience with Splunk, Cribl, or large-scale data pipeline tooling What You'll Gain:
- Real ownership of hard technical problems on systems that are live, not theoretical
- A daily workflow built around modern, AI-augmented engineering - not legacy process for its own sake
- Exposure to a wide range of modern, cloud-native platforms rather than a single legacy stack
- A team of senior engineers who genuinely want to be here and push each other to do better work
- Competitive compensation and benefits, with room to go deeper technically over time If you're a senior engineer who wants to stay hands-on, solve problems that matter on systems that are live right now, and work with a team that's actually leaning into AI-assisted engineering - let's talk.