Senior Principal Backend Engineer - Lead Scalable Systems

General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT); Fairfax (VA); On-site; USD 143,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) is seeking a Principal Software Developer Senior in the United States to lead backend and full-stack engineering practices for government customers. You will shape architecture, data design, and engineering excellence across distributed systems, APIs, and modern service patterns.

Responsibilities include delivering scalable features, mentoring engineers, and driving modernization initiatives while balancing technical and business needs.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of related experience
• US Citizenship required
• Ability to obtain and maintain Public Trust 6C

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the strategic direction for backend and full-stack engineering practices, architecture, and technical excellence across the organization
• Lead the development of scalable, reliable, and secure distributed systems that serve government customers
• Serve as the technical authority and thought leader for system architecture, data design, and engineering excellence
• Design and implement modern service architectures, data pipelines, and infrastructure patterns that enable team velocity and system reliability
• Deliver new features and improvements to our core services including major read/write paths for customer intake, application screening, and information dissemination
• Collaborate with product managers and stakeholders to balance technical feasibility with business requirements, making pragmatic trade-offs that deliver measurable impact
• Build and maintain shared libraries, service frameworks, and infrastructure patterns that enable consistency and reduce cognitive load
• Identify opportunities to modernize our backend systems and take ownership of large-scale technical initiatives that improve system quality, performance, and maintainability
• Establish and champion engineering best practices including API design, data modeling, testing strategies, observability patterns, security standards, and code quality
• Mentor and coach engineers at all levels on backend technologies, distributed systems, and establish career development pathways for backend specialization
• Influence technical decisions across teams and serve as a strategic advisor on architecture and infrastructure initiatives
• Work across the full stack when needed to solve problems end-to-end - frontend and infrastructure experience is valuable but backend systems are your primary focus

Skills

Problem Solving

Software Solutions

Solutions Development

Job description

General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) is seeking a Principal Software Developer Senior in the United States to lead backend and full-stack engineering practices for government customers. You will shape architecture, data design, and engineering excellence across distributed systems, APIs, and modern service patterns.

Responsibilities include delivering scalable features, mentoring engineers, and driving modernization initiatives while balancing technical and business needs.