PKI Software Engineer

AUGUST SCHELL ENTERPRISES, INC.; Fort Meade (MD); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

August Schell Enterprises, Inc. is seeking a PKI Software Engineer for the Fort Meade, MD area. The role focuses on DoD enterprise PKI modernization, including PQC migration, within RHCS and DogtagPKI, on Red Hat Linux.

The engineer will collaborate with product engineering and government teams, work hybrid on-site as needed, and contribute to PKI software development, testing, and security hardening.

Qualifications

• > Active Secret clearance minimum (Top Secret preferred)
• > Local to the DMV area; on-site Fort Meade as requested
• > 5+ years of professional software engineering experience
• > Java and/or Rust programming experience
• > Strong knowledge of Linux and development tools
• > Experience with Linux containers and VM tech (Podman/Docker, KVM)
• > Hands-on PKI, x.509, cryptography and security tech
• > Red Hat Certificate System or DogtagPKI experience (or comparable)
• > DoD 8570/8140 IAT Level II certification
• > Strong written and verbal communication skills

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, and maintain PKI software components across RHCS and DogtagPKI
• Collaborate with product engineering and government teams; own issues end-to-end
• Support PQC migration and legacy transition planning
• Develop and troubleshoot HSM integrations for CA operations
• Support certificate lifecycle automation (ACME) as issuance scales
• Contribute to testing frameworks, CI/CD pipelines, and release quality
• Communicate status clearly with government and contractors
• Identify, document, and elevate risks before impacting schedule

Skills

Java

Rust

Linux

Containers

VMs

PKI

x.509

cryptography

Red Hat Certificate System

DogtagPKI

IAT Level II

Tools

Podman/Docker

KVM

RHCS

DogtagPKI

EJBCA

Job description

PKI SOFTWARE ENGINEER

Ft. Meade, MD - Full Time (Hybrid)
Salary: 140-170K

August Schell is looking for a PKI Software Engineer to join our team in support of DoD enterprise PKI modernization with our DISA customer. The engineer will work hand-in-hand with commercial product engineering and government teams on the next generation of Public Key Infrastructure capabilities — including post-quantum cryptography (PQC) migration — within Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat Certificate System, and the upstreamDogtagPKI open-source project.

Individuals in this role must be able to work hybrid and go on site at Fort Meade as requested.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, and maintain high-quality PKI software components across Red Hat Certificate System (RHCS) and DogtagPKI
• Work software fixes and feature development directly with product engineering teams and the government development lab — owning issues end-to-end from requirements through testing and verification
• Support the program’s post-quantum cryptography migration, including PQC algorithm integration (ML-DSA) and legacy version transition planning
• Develop and troubleshoot HSM integrations supporting CA operations and key escrow
• Support certificate lifecycle automation (ACME) as the program transitions to shorter-lived certificates at higher issuance volume
• Practice defensive programming and contribute to testing frameworks, CI/CD pipelines, and release quality
• Communicate clearly across government stakeholders, commercial vendor engineering, and program contractors — translating technical status into program-level clarity
• Proactively identify, document, and elevate risks and blockers before they impact program schedule

Requirements

• Active Secret clearance minimum (Top Secret preferred and may be required)
• Local to the DMV area with the ability to work on site at Fort Meade as requested
• Five (5)+ years of professional software engineering experience (flexible for candidates with exceptional PKI depth)
• Java and/or Rust programming experience
• Strong knowledge of Linux and its development tools
• Knowledge or experience with Linux containers and container orchestration (Podman/ Docker) and VMs (KVM)
• Hands‑on experience with PKI, x.509, cryptography, and system/software security technologies
• Direct experience with Red Hat Certificate System or DogtagPKI (the upstream open-source project of the deployed DoD code base) — comparable enterprise CA platform experience considered (EJBCA, Microsoft AD CS, Entrust Authority, ISCCertAgent, or similar)
• DoD 8570/8140 IAT Level II certification (Security+ or equivalent)
• Strong written and verbal communication skills

Stand out with

• Post‑quantum cryptography familiarity (ML-DSA/Dilithium, Kyber, CNSA 2.0 timelines)
• HSM integration experience (EntrustnShield, Thales Luna)
• ACME protocol and certificate automation at scale
• Prior DISA or DoD PKI program experience (Purebred, derived credentials, RA/CRL/OCSP operations)
• Directory Server / LDAP experience
• Experience using AI agents to accelerate development efforts
• Python, Bash, or similar scripting languages
• Package maintenance on Fedora/RHEL
• Agile development methodologies (Scrum, JIRA)