Platform Full-Stack Engineer – US Defense / Public Sector

McKinsey & Company, Inc.; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits package

Mentorship and resources for personal growth

Job summary

A global consulting firm is seeking a Full Stack Engineer to join their team in Washington, DC. The role requires developing an AI Platform aimed at enhancing client services. Key responsibilities include writing and maintaining application code using Python, React, and NextJS, and collaborating with a cross-functional team to deliver high-impact AI solutions. Candidates should have a strong background in software engineering and familiarity with database and cloud technologies. US citizenship and specific security clearances are required.

Qualifications

• US Citizenship required.
• Defense experience working with classified data.
• SECRET Security Clearance Required; TS+ clearance preferred.
• 3+ years of experience as a Software Engineer.
• Strong programming skills in Python.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain AI Platform for client services.
• Work with cross-functional teams and senior leaders.
• Identify and resolve technical issues with generative AI.

Skills

Python

React

NextJS

AI agents

Database technology

Cloud technology

CI/CD pipeline management

Tools

PostgreSQL

Neo4J

Job description

Your Growth

Driving lasting impact and building long-term capabilities with our clients is not easy work. You are the kind of person who thrives in a high performance/high reward culture - doing hard things, picking yourself up when you stumble, and having the resilience to try another way forward.

In return for your drive, determination, and curiosity, we'll provide the resources, mentorship, and opportunities you need to become a stronger leader faster than you ever thought possible. Your colleagues—at all levels—will invest deeply in your development, just as much as they invest in delivering exceptional results for clients. Every day, you'll receive apprenticeship, coaching, and exposure that will accelerate your growth in ways you won’t find anywhere else.

When you join us, you will have:

• Continuous learning:Our learning and apprenticeship culture, backed by structured programs, is all about helping you grow while creating an environment where feedback is clear, actionable, and focused on your development. The real magic happens when you take the input from others to heart and embrace the fast‑paced learning experience, owning your journey.
• A voice that matters:From day one, we value your ideas and contributions. You’ll make a tangible impact by offering innovative ideas and practical solutions, all while upholding our unwavering commitment to ethics and integrity. We not only encourage diverse perspectives, but they are critical in driving us toward the best possible outcomes.
• Global community:With colleagues across 65+ countries and over 100 different nationalities, our firm’s diversity fuels creativity and helps us come up with the best solutions for our clients. Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from exceptional colleagues with diverse backgrounds and experiences.
• World‑class benefits:On top of a competitive salary (based on your location, experience, and skills), we provide a comprehensive benefits package to enable holistic well‑being for you and your family.

Your Impact

Come and work with our Firm’s top technical minds on a product team developing an AI Platform that will enable next‑generation client services. Be at the forefront of developing this exciting technology for our Firm.

You will work with a cross‑functional team that includes senior firm leaders, CST leaders, practice leaders and cutting‑edge engineers. The team is led by some of our Firm’s most senior leaders, including Asutosh Padhi, Brian Elliott, and Klemens Hjartar and is scaling to a large team of full‑stack engineers, data engineers, data scientists, and designers.

This role will specifically focus on customization and additional features required to deploy this platform for Defense and other Government clients.

We are looking for Full Stack Engineer with expertise in Python, agents, API development, LLMs and familiarity with database and cloud technology.

As a Software Engineer on the Platform team, you will be at the forefront of our firm's Generative AI initiatives. Your role will involve writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining application code using Python, React and NextJS. You will leverage industry leading LLMs to drive data retrieval and synthesis.

Your expertise will be crucial in identifying and resolving technical issues and challenges. This involves keeping up to date with the fast‑moving technology of generative AI and leveraging the best of the industry to keep the Platform at the leading edge of generative AI products. You will be pivotal in driving innovation within our firm, delivering impactful AI solutions, and collaborating with a distributed team across the world.

Your qualifications and skills

• US Citizenship required
• Defense experience and experience working with data at various classification levels required
• SECRET Security Clearance Required; TS+ clearance preferred
• 3+ years of experience as a Software Engineer; Previous enterprise platform experience preferred
• Strong programming skills in Python
• Expertise with AI agents / agentic applications
• React and NextJS, Neo4J / knowledge graphs, PostgreSQL or cloud equivalent such as Amazon RDS
• Experience with CI/CD pipeline setup and management.
• Experience with confidence scoring and validation pipelines
• Familiarity in using cloud platforms for deploying and managing applications – multiple cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) a plus
• Knowledge of containerization