Software Engineer; Hybrid
Columbia, Howard County, Maryland, 21046, USA
Listed on 2026-07-22
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Software Development
Backend Developer, AI Engineer (Applied/Software), Python, DevOps
Enlighten, honored as a Top Workplace from USA Today, is a leader in big data solution development and deployment, with expertise in cloud-based services, software and systems engineering, cyber capabilities, and data science. Enlighten provides continued innovation and proactivity in meeting our customers’ greatest challenges.
Our hybrid work approach ensures that you can make lasting relationships with your team and collaborate in‑person to get the job done—while having the flexibility to work from home when needed to achieve focused results.
Why Enlighten? Benefits- 100% paid employee premium for healthcare, vision and dental plans.
- 10% 401k benefit.
- Generous PTO + 10 paid holidays.
- Education/training allowances.
Anticipated Salary Range: $ - $. This range is a good‑faith estimate based on location, expectations, and responsibilities. When extending an offer, Enlighten takes a variety of factors into consideration including but not limited to the role’s function, internal equity and a candidate’s education or training, work experience, certifications and key skills. Occasionally positions may include additional non‑recurrent compensation, which will be addressed by the recruiter during the interview process.
Job DescriptionEnlighten is a cutting‑edge technology company dedicated to developing innovative software solutions for our clients. We are currently seeking a talented and experienced Software Engineer to join our team to help build foundational AI integration frameworks and agentic platforms.
As a Software Engineer focused on AI Integration, you will be responsible for designing, developing, and implementing the agentic platform for our proprietary Data Lake tool, JCRSD. This role is primarily focused on Python‑based components and requires strong container orchestration skills to ensure seamless deployment.
This role is not focused on training foundational AI models from scratch. Instead, you will take industry best practices, open‑source capabilities, and large language models (LLMs) and build a secure, scalable framework that allows our platform to seamlessly leverage AI. You will build Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, reusable AI skills, strict safety guardrails, and coordinate with disparate internal teams to expose their APIs to our autonomous agents.
If you are a self‑motivated, creative software engineer who loves Python, Kubernetes, and treating AI as a complex software integration problem, we would love to hear from you.
Job Responsibilities
- Design and develop Python‑based components for our core agentic platform.
- Deploy, manage, and scale applications within Kubernetes (K8s) environments efficiently right out of the gate.
- Build Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers and a library of reusable "skills" (function calling/tools) that enable AI agents to safely interact with internal databases, microservices, and external APIs.
- Collaborate with cross‑functional teams to help them expose their Java‑based APIs to our AI agents.
- Implement strict enterprise AI guardrails, ensuring data privacy, sensitive data scrubbing, prompt‑injection defenses, and output validation to meet stringent security requirements.
- Maintain an inquisitive nature, responsiveness, and excellent testing skills (including automated testing pipelines for non‑deterministic AI outputs).
- Possess strong troubleshooting skills and the ability to work under pressure with multiple deadlines in a fast‑paced, small‑business environment.
- Other duties as assigned.
- Security Clearance – Must obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Security Clearance, but not required on day one; U.S. Citizenship required. Candidates with current Secret or TS level clearance are also considered.
- At least 5 years of experience in Software Engineering, with a strong focus on Python backend development and a Bachelors in a related field; 3 years relevant experience with a Masters in a related field; or High School Diploma or equivalent and 9 years relevant experience.
- Kubernetes Proficiency – Demonstrated, hands‑on experience deploying and managing containerized workloads in Kubernetes.
- Applied AI Experience –…
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