Principal Software Engineer - AI & Software Factory Engineering

Public Trust: None

Requisition Type: Regular

Your Impact

Own your opportunity to support our nation's defense. Make an impact by connecting and securing critical operations across the globe, keeping our country safe and secure.

Job Description

Principal Software Engineer – AI & Software Factory Engineering

We're looking for a software engineer who likes building platform products — the tooling, automation, and AI capabilities other engineering teams build on top of. You'll write production code daily on a small, senior team delivering software factories, security automation, and AI-enabled development environments for Department of War and Federal customers. If your instinct when you see a manual process is to write code that eliminates it, this role is built for you.

MEANINGFUL WORK AND PERSONAL IMPACT

You'll work across multiple concurrent R&D and customer delivery efforts rather than a single narrow program, with the option to engage in proposals and customer demos if you want to build business acumen alongside technical depth

• Build agentic AI capabilities — tool orchestration, LLM application development, and workflow automation — using AI-assisted development daily
• Develop software that automates continuous Authority to Operate (cATO): evidence collection, compliance reporting, and policy-as-code enforcement
• Build secure-by-default CI/CD pipeline products — hardening templates, integrated security scanning (SAST, SCA, container, SBOM), and supply chain controls (signing, provenance, attestation) — that development teams across our portfolio consume
• Extend the platform with self-service capabilities: developer onboarding automation, reusable deployment patterns, and AI development tools (code assistants, model serving) — including for air-gapped environments
• Ship to and support production on hardened Kubernetes (Big Bang / Iron Bank) in CUI/IL5 environments — we run what we build

WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO SUCCEED

• Education: Bachelor's degree and 8+ years experience. In lieu of degree 12+ years of hands-on experience
• Experience: 5+ years of related experience in Software Engineering, DevOps / DevSecOps technologies; 3+ years of hands on experience with Kubernetes
• Strong development skills in Python, Go, or similar — you build tooling and applications, not just configure them
• Daily use of AI-powered development tools (code assistants, LLM-based tooling)
• CI/CD pipeline development — GitLab CI strongly preferred; Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or similar accepted
• Security scanning integration in automated pipelines (SAST, DAST, SCA, container scanning)
• Containerization (Docker, Helm, OCI artifacts) and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform and/or Ansible)
• Git-based workflows, GitOps deployment patterns, and solid Linux fundamentals
• Experience working in or deploying to classified or air-gapped environments
• Strong written and verbal communication; comfort juggling multiple projects with shifting priorities

• Security clearance level : No clearance required to start with ability to obtain and mantain a Secret clearance

• Location : Remote with travel up to 10%

• Citizenship: US Citizenship

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Hands-on experience with agentic AI frameworks or LLM APIs (tool-use patterns, orchestration, RAG)
• Platform One / Big Bang, Iron Bank, or DoW-hardened Kubernetes distributions
• DoW security and authorization frameworks (NIST 800-53, RMF, cATO)
• Software supply chain security practices (Sigstore/Cosign, Syft, in-toto)
• AI/ML infrastructure in enterprise or air-gapped environments (model serving, GPU scheduling on K8s)
• Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) certification
• Supporting proposals, RFI responses, or customer engagements as a technical SME

GDIT IS YOUR PLACE
At GDIT, the mission is our purpose, and our people are at the center of everything we do.
● Growth: AI-powered career tool that identifies career steps and learning opportunities
● Support: An internal mobility team focused on helping you achieve your career goals
● Rewards: Comprehensive benefits and wellness packages, 401K with company match, and competitive pay and paid time off
● Community: Award-winning culture of innovation and a military-friendly workplace

OWN YOUR OPPORTUNITY
Explore a career in software development at GDIT and you’ll find endless opportunities to grow alongside colleagues who share your dedication to advancing innovation.

Work Requirements

Years of Experience

8 + years of related experience

* may vary based on technical training, certification(s), or degree

Certification

Travel Required

Less than 10%

Citizenship

U.S. Citizenship Required