Principal Software Engineer - TS​/SCI - St. Louis

Position Title

Principal Software Engineer - Geospatial Intelligence Platform

Full-Time, On-Site

Program Manager

Seeking a highly experienced Principal Software Engineer to lead the architectural design, development, and modernization of geospatial-intelligence core services for a National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) initiative. This position is critical to transforming legacy systems into modern, cloud-native, microservices-based platforms. The successful candidate will drive technical excellence, mentor senior engineering teams, establish best practices in secure cloud environments, and directly influence the strategic technical direction of enterprise-level geospatial applications serving the Intelligence Community.

The Principal Software Engineer will work within an agile development environment utilizing secure AWS cloud infrastructure, containerized applications, and modern Dev Ops practices. This role demands not only exceptional technical depth but also the ability to articulate complex architectural decisions to executive leadership and government stakeholders.

Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Design and architect enterprise-level geospatial microservices leveraging Python, React.js, and Postgre
  
  SQL technologies
• Establish technical standards and patterns for secure cloud development within TS/SCI-compliant AWS environments
• Conduct technical reviews and provide architectural guidance on critical components
• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend adoption strategies aligned with security posture and business objectives

• Lead design sessions for complex system challenges and drive consensus among technical stakeholders

• Develop high-performance Python-based enterprise applications utilizing FastAPI/Flask frameworks
• Build responsive, data-intensive React.js front-end applications optimized for geospatial data visualization and interaction
• Design and implement RESTful APIs and microservices architecture following security-first principles
• Architect Postgre
  
  SQL database schemas supporting high-concurrency, high-volume geospatial queries
• Implement secure code practices aligned with NIST standards and government security baselines

• Ensure all solutions maintain Active TS/SCI security clearance compliance and protect Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)
• Implement authorization, authentication, and encryption protocols for secure data handling
• Lead security code reviews and vulnerability assessments
• Collaborate with government security teams on compliance verification and audits
• Document security artifacts and maintain compliance documentation

• Mentor senior and principal-level engineers on architectural patterns and technical excellence
• Establish code quality standards and best practices for the engineering organization
• Conduct technical interviews and contribute to hiring decisions for engineering roles
• Foster a culture of continuous learning through knowledge sharing and technical discussions
• Lead technical training sessions on emerging frameworks, secure development practices, and platform capabilities

• Work closely with program managers and government stakeholders to translate requirements into technical specifications
• Communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences including executives and government officials
• Participate in enterprise architecture reviews and strategic planning sessions
• Represent the engineering organization in technical governance boards
• Create technical documentation, architecture decision records (ADRs), and design specifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Mathematics, Software Engineering, or related technical field with minimum 15 years of professional software engineering experience
  , OR
• Master's degree in a technical field with minimum 13 years of professional software engineering experience

• Active Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) security clearance required at time of hire
• Ability to obtain and maintain CI Polygraph examination eligibility
• S. Citizenship required for clearance sponsorship
• No disqualifying conditions per DSS standards

• Enterprise Python Development: Minimum 8+ years architecting and developing enterprise-scale Python applications with proven expertise in production deployments
• js Front-End Development: Minimum 5+ years building complex, responsive React.js applications with demonstrated mastery of component design, state management, and performance optimization
• RESTful API Architecture: Minimum 5+ years designing and implementing production-grade APIs with expertise in versioning, documentation, and security standards
• Web Services Architecture: Deep understanding of microservices patterns, service-oriented architecture (SOA), API gateway patterns, and distributed…