Principal Lead Software Engineer

Experteer Overview In this role you lead software design and delivery across multiple mission-critical projects in a rapid prototyping environment. You provide technical direction, guide cross-functional teams, and shape software development standards to ensure secure, scalable solutions. You will balance hands-on coding with leadership, acting as a key escalation point and driving on-time, high-quality outcomes. This position offers impact across defense-focused programs and the opportunity to influence best practices and tooling. Compensation / Benefits * Lead design, development, and testing for 2-4 mission-critical projects to ensure technical excellence and timely delivery * Collaborate with stakeholders to define requirements, architecture, and deliverables * Guide teams in building cloud-native apps with scalable back ends using Agile methods * Serve as technical escalation point, perform code reviews, and ensure alignment with project goals * Work with DevSecOps, software, and data engineers to create secure pipelines using Kubernetes, Kafka, and microservices * Define and standardize software development practices across projects and improve tools and workflows * Promote secure development practices, including secure coding, vulnerability scanning (e.g., Trivy), and continuous testing * Contribute hands-on by writing key code and delivering architectural proofs of concept Tasks * Bachelor in Computer Science or related field (or Master with 13+ years) with 15+ years of software experience, or Master with 13+ years * 7+ years backend (Python, Java, C#, Go) and/or frontend (React, Angular, Vue.js, HTML5/CSS3) development * Expertise in cloud-native architecture and multi-cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, DAF Cloudworks, GCP) * Proficiency with DevSecOps tools: Git, Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Helm * Experience building RESTful/GraphQL APIs, microservices, and event-driven architectures (Kafka, RabbitMQ) * Experience automating CI/CD pipelines with testing and security scanning * Familiarity with testing tools (JMeter, Selenium, Jest) for unit and end-to-end testing * Minimum 3+ years leading software teams on 2-4 projects or prototypes; 3+ years with government/defense projects * Ability to collaborate with program leadership, tech leads, and SMEs to standardize quality * Strong interpersonal and stakeholder management skills Key requirements *

_ data engineers to create secure pipelines using Kubernetes, Kafka, and microservices * Define and standardize software development practices across projects and improve tools and workflows * Promote secure development practices, including secure coding, vulnerability scanning (e.g., Trivy), and continuous testing * Contribute hands-on by writing key code and delivering architectural proofs of concept Tasks * Bachelor in Computer Science or related field (or Master with 13+ years) with 15+ years of software experience, or Master with 13+ years * 7+ years backend (Python, Java, C#, Go) and/or frontend (React, Angular, Vue.js, HTML5/CSS3) development * Expertise in cloud-native architecture and multi-cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, DAF Cloudworks, GCP) * Proficiency with DevSecOps tools: Git, Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Helm * Experience building RESTful/GraphQL APIs, microservices, and event-driven architectures (Kafka, RabbitMQ) * Experience automating CI/CD pipelines with testing and security scanning * Familiarity with testing tools (JMeter, Selenium, Jest) for unit and end-to-end testing * Minimum 3+ years leading software teams on 2-4 projects or prototypes; 3+ years with government/defense projects * Ability to collaborate with program leadership, tech leads, and SMEs to standardize quality * Strong interpersonal and stakeholder management skills Key requirements *