Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software Engineer

Herndon, VA, Reston, VA, Tysons Corner, VA, Dulles, VA OR Columbia, MD

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 part of a dynamic team at the forefront of prototyping infrastructure designs to support the next generation of cyber network operations. In this role, 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 GitOps workflows for version-controlled and automated operations, and designing declarative interfaces. The goal is to create tools and processes that bridge the gap between development and operations, enhancing 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. You will be expected to provide architectural design leadership, systems design leadership, and elegant solutions to pressing operational challenges.

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 codebase
• Foster a collaborative team environment, mentoring junior developers and coordinating efforts across cross-functional teams to ensure project success

Required Qualifications

• 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.)
• Current US TS/SCI security clearance
• Ability to collaborate as a team but execute independently
• Thrives in a high-trust, adaptable team environment
• Familiar with contributing to or leading the design of new capabilities
• Experience writing code in a general-purpose language such as Python or GoLang
• Proficient with Kubernetes (K8s) deployment strategies, cluster lifecycle (deployment, troubleshooting, scaling), and container orchestration
• 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)
• Familiarity with Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) utilities (Crossplane, Backstage)

Desired Qualifications

• Experience designing and implementing solutions on Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Experience building and operating Go-based microservice distributed system architectures

Salary Range: $123,000 - $308,000

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.