> Markdown version of [/jobs/ext/170132-software-development-engineer-ii](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/170132-software-development-engineer-ii). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Software Development Engineer II - **Company:** Advanced - **Location:** Washington, DC, United States - **Experience:** Experienced - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Adobe InDesign, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Artificial Intelligence, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Cloud Engineering, Continuous Integration, Software Design Patterns, Distributed Systems, Fault Tolerance, Monitoring of Systems, Python (Programming Language), Key Management, Scrum Methodology, Regression Testing, Microsoft SharePoint, Software Engineering, Systems Integration, Data Logging, Google Search, Large Language Models, Multi-Agent Systems, Prompt Engineering, Backend, Containerization, Kubernetes, Infrastructure Automation Frameworks, Information Technology, Slack, Deployment Automation, Production Code, Virtual Agents, Dynatrace, Api Management, Serverless Computing, Docker, Web Api - **Published:** May 13, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=ff555c1fd8e83357 ## About the Role Do you have experience in Python?, Do you have a Master's degree?, * Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field, or equivalent practical experience * 3+ years of professional software engineering experience building and operating production systems * Proven experience contributing to the delivery of real products in fast-paced environments * Strong proficiency in Python and at least one additional backend programming language * Experience with algorithms, distributed systems, APIs, and software design patterns * Experience with AWS, GCP, or Microsoft Azure cloud platforms * Experience with Docker, containerization, and CI/CD pipelines * Experience building features on top of LLMs including tool-calling, RAG, multi-step reasoning, and context management preferred * Familiarity with A2A communication patterns and multi-agent orchestration frameworks preferred * Familiarity with MCP integrations and prompt engineering concepts preferred * Experience with LLM evaluation, grounding assessment, and AI system testing preferred * Familiarity with token economics, context budget management, and prompt efficiency preferred * Experience with Azure Functions, API Management, Container Apps, or Azure OpenAI Service preferred * Knowledge of secrets management, least-privilege access, and security-conscious engineering preferred * Strong communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills * Ability to work collaboratively in cross-functional environments * Experience in startup, early-stage, or regulated environments preferred ## Description The Software Development Engineer II role would be supporting the GRACE Development Team within ARPA-H. This role focuses on building production-scale agentic AI systems, LLM-powered applications, backend services, and cloud-based AI infrastructure supporting GRACE, ARPA-H's production AI assistant. * mplement and enhance GRACE's agentic workflows including tool-calling, multi-step reasoning, memory, and A2A communication patterns * Build and maintain MCP client-side integrations enabling agents to discover and invoke tools * Develop tool definitions, schemas, retry logic, error handling, and formatting for GRACE's tool ecosystem * Contribute to multi-agent orchestration patterns that are reliable and production-ready * Implement LLM orchestration logic including prompt construction, context management, model selection, and response parsing * Build and maintain RAG pipeline capabilities including query formulation, citation grounding, ranking, and hallucination mitigation * Develop prompt engineering patterns and system prompts supporting multiple LLM providers * Contribute to context window budget management including truncation, summarization, and pagination logic * Build LLM evaluation components including grounding assessments, regression tests, safety checks, and quality metrics * Develop secure backend application features and API integrations end-to-end * Integrate with internal and external APIs including Dimensions, Google Search, Slack, SharePoint, and LLM provider APIs * Contribute to monitoring, logging, distributed tracing, and system observability * Implement fallback, retry, and graceful degradation patterns for AI service dependencies * Work within Microsoft Azure infrastructure including Azure Functions, API Management, Container Apps, and Azure OpenAI Service * Contribute to CI/CD pipelines, deployment automation, and infrastructure-as-code practices * Participate in design reviews, sprint planning, and retrospectives * Collaborate closely with product managers, researchers, designers, and senior engineers to implement technical solutions * Ensure strong privacy, security, and compliance across all systems and integrations * Write production-quality code that is readable, tested, documented, and maintainable ## Related Videos - [Stack Overflow: Community and AI](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/600-stack-overflow-community-and-ai) - [Docker Compose: Rediscovered](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1978-docker-compose-rediscovered) - [Web APIs you might not know about](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/281-web-apis-you-might-not-know-about) - [The Intent Engineer: Closing the Gap Between Business & Engineering - Manuel Klein](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1855-the-intent-engineer-closing-the-gap-between-business-engineering-manuel-klein) - [Cloud as the new mainframe: why the cloud hype does not reflect the dev reality](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/797-cloud-as-the-new-mainframe-why-the-cloud-hype-does-not-reflect-the-dev-reality) - [Coffee with Developers - Maria Apazoglou](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1209-coffee-with-developers-maria-apazoglou) ## Related Articles - [Dev Digest 121 - AI goes offline](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/456-dev-digest-121-ai-goes-offline) - [What Are Large Language Models?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/304-what-are-large-language-models) - [Highest Paying Tech Companies for Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/220-highest-paying-tech-companies-for-developers) - [Why Upskilling And Reskilling is Important For Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/428-why-upskilling-and-reskilling-is-important-for-developers) - [How to Become an AI Engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/331-how-to-become-an-ai-engineer) - [Dev Digest 120 - Apple and peers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/455-dev-digest-120-apple-and-peers)