Senior Backend Architect – Secure Microservices

Socket.dev; Fort Meade (MD); On-site; USD 160,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

SMX is seeking a Senior Software Developer to design secure REST and message-based interfaces for DIA mission systems. You will build, test, and maintain microservices and data ingestion pipelines, while ensuring DISA STIG compliance.

In this onsite Fort Meade role, you will mentor engineers, conduct code reviews, and optimize backend systems for high availability in secure environments.

Qualifications

• Backend languages and asynchronous computing architectures are required.
• Experience with message brokers (RabbitMQ, Kafka) and data ingestion workflows.
• Knowledge of DoD/DIA cyber standards and PKI/mTLS authentication.

Responsibilities

• Establish standardized, secure REST and message-based interfaces across DIA systems and external feeds.
• Implement automated unit, integration, and security testing within DevSecOps pipelines to maintain DISA STIGs.
• Monitor performance and implement telemetry to resolve backend bottlenecks.
• Mentor junior engineers and perform peer code reviews to ensure quality.
• Design, build, and test applications to support AMI and SENTINEL environments.
• Architect and optimize backend microservices and secure data pipelines connecting platforms.

Skills

Python

Go

Java

C++

RabbitMQ

Apache Kafka

SQL

Elasticsearch

OpenSearch

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS GovCloud

PKI/mTLS

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or related quantitative discipline

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS GovCloud/C2S

Job description

SMX is seeking a Senior Software Developer to design secure REST and message-based interfaces for DIA mission systems. You will build, test, and maintain microservices and data ingestion pipelines, while ensuring DISA STIG compliance.

In this onsite Fort Meade role, you will mentor engineers, conduct code reviews, and optimize backend systems for high availability in secure environments.