Senior Principal Software Engineer (Lead)

Senior Principal Software Engineer (Lead) Location Herndon, VA :

Clarity Innovations is a trusted national security partner, dedicated to safeguarding our nation's interests and delivering innovative solutions that empower the Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD) to transform data into actionable intelligence, ensuring mission success in an evolving world.

Our mission-first software and data engineering platform modernizes data operations, utilizing advanced workflows, CI/CD, and secure DevSecOps practices. We focus on challenges in Information Warfare, Cyber Operations, Operational Security, and Data Structuring, enabling end-to-end solutions that drive operational impact.

We are committed to delivering cutting-edge tools and capabilities that address the most complex national security challenges, empowering our partners to stay ahead of emerging threats and ensuring the success of their critical missions. At Clarity, we are people-focused and set on being a destination employer for top talent, offering an environment where innovation thrives, careers grow, and individuals are valued. Join us as we continue to lead innovation and tackle the most pressing challenges in national security.

Position Overview

This position is the lead of a dynamic and senior software engineering team at the forefront of prototyping infrastructure designs to support the next generation of cyber network operations. In this role, you will be expected to provide architectural design leadership, systems design leadership, and elegant solutions to pressing operational challenges. You will contribute to developing a platform that simplifies complex infrastructure management across cloud-native and on-premises environments. Your work will involve architecting scalable systems, implementing APIs and tooling for automated operations, and designing declarative interfaces. The goal is to create tools and processes that enhance productivity and reliability in diverse infrastructure settings.The role presents unique opportunities, such as regular customer interaction to iterate, streamline, and multiply platform capabilities to meet customer objectives of broad deployment and exceptional flexibility.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead prototyping efforts to validate design concepts and technologies, while supporting the full project lifecycle from discovery to production support
• Communicate through thoughtful and thorough design documents for new initiatives
• Develop robust and high-quality software aligned with the overall product vision, balancing user requirements with strategic goals and consistently delivering working solutions on schedule
• Build and integrate automated testing into the product's code base
• Foster a collaborative team environment, mentoring junior developers and coordinating efforts across cross-functional teams to ensure project success

Qualifications

• Be able to obtain and maintain a TS security clearance (note, only US Citizens are eligible for security clearances)
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical discipline. (Degree requirement can be met with four years of hands-on experience in a Software Engineering or similar full-time position.)
• Ability to lead a senior team but execute independently
• Thrives in a high-trust, adaptable team environment
• Experience leading the design of new capabilities
• Proficient writing code in a general-purpose language such as Python, Go or Rust
• Experience implementing modern DevOps practices and tools (e.g., CI/CD, IaC, GitOps) in production deployment workflows
• Proficient in containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Podman)
• Proficient in Linux-based development environments (e.g., Ubuntu, RedHat Enterprise Linux, or derivatives)
• Proficient writing Automated Tests (e.g., unit tests, acceptance tests, system/integration tests)
• Proficient with a version control software such as Git and hosted code repositories, such as GitLab

Preferred Qualifications

• Current Top Secret security clearance SCI eligibility
• Strong experience leading Agile development teams and Scrum ceremonies
• Experience designing and implementing solutions on Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Experience building and operating Go-based microservice distributed system architectures
• Familiarity with Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) utilities
• Experience with Kubernetes (K8s) deployment strategies, cluster lifecycle (deployment, troubleshooting, scaling), and container orchestration
• Experience troubleshooting network connectivity issues

We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.