Software Developer Manager

Vets Hired; Reston (VA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Vets Hired in Reston, VA, seeks a Software Developer Lead to steer mission-critical financial and acquisition systems built on a complex COTS ecosystem. You will lead technical planning, oversee development, guide modernization, and partner with developers, product owners, SMEs, system integrators, and leadership.

The role demands strong technical leadership, mentoring, and communication. You will establish development best practices, support CI/CD improvements, ensure software quality, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent; typically 7–10 years of related work experience.
• Hands-on software development experience; strong Java and microservices.
• Experience with OpenShift, GitLab, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Proven ability to lead teams, mentor engineers, and drive development standards.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical work within a complex COTS environment.
• Guide customization, integration, extension, and troubleshooting of modules and services.
• Collaborate on upgrades, configuration, and interface alignment.
• Design, develop, and maintain services and applications supporting mission systems.
• Apply engineering best practices for reliability, maintainability, and performance.
• Ensure secure coding practices.
• Build, deploy, and maintain applications running in OpenShift using Podman and orchestration patterns.
• Oversee container images and deployment pipelines.
• Troubleshoot containerized applications.
• Support system integrations using WebMethods.
• Guide interface troubleshooting between enterprise systems.
• Work with Oracle and PostgreSQL; data modeling and query tuning.
• Lead, mentor, develop developers; conduct code reviews; drive Agile processes.

Skills

Technical leadership

Mentoring

Communication

Teamwork

Problem solving

Agile practices

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

OpenShift

Podman

Containers

GitLab

Java

J2EE

WebMethods

Oracle

PostgreSQL

SQL

Linux

C#

C++

Shell scripting

DevSecOps

Job description

Job Summary

The Software Developer Lead will support mission-critical financial and acquisition systems built on a complex COTS-based ecosystem. The role will lead technical planning, oversee development efforts, guide modernization initiatives, and collaborate with developers, product owners, subject matter experts, system integrators, and leadership.

The position requires strong technical leadership, problem-solving, mentoring, and communication skills. The Software Developer Lead will help establish development best practices, ensure software quality, support CI/CD improvements, and contribute to the long-term technical direction of the program.

Responsibilities

COTS Leadership

• Lead technical work within a complex COTS environment.
• Guide customization, integration, extension, and troubleshooting of modules and services.
• Collaborate with subject matter experts on upgrades, configuration, and interface alignment.

Software Engineering & Architecture

• Design, develop, and maintain services and applications supporting mission systems.
• Apply engineering best practices for reliability, maintainability, and performance.
• Ensure secure coding practices consistent with required security standards.

Cloud, Containers, and DevSecOps

• Build, deploy, and maintain applications running in OpenShift using Podman, containers, and orchestration patterns.
• Oversee creation and maintenance of container images and deployment pipelines.
• Troubleshoot and optimize containerized applications.
• Support and develop system integrations using WebMethods.
• Guide interface troubleshooting between enterprise systems.

Database & Data Layer

• Work with relational databases such as Oracle and PostgreSQL.
• Support data modeling, query tuning, and integration with application data structures.

Team Leadership & Quality Assurance

• Lead, mentor, and develop software developers with varying experience levels.
• Conduct code reviews and ensure adherence to development standards.
• Support root cause analysis and continuous improvement.
• Establish and reinforce development processes, documentation standards, and Agile practices.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent, typically with 7–10 years of related work experience.
• 7–10 years of software development experience, including at least 3 years in a technical or engineering lead role.
• Hands-on experience with complex COTS products.
• Strong Java development experience, including microservices architectures.
• Experience developing and deploying applications in OpenShift.
• Experience with GitLab for source control and CI/CD.
• Strong database skills, including Oracle or comparable relational database experience.
• Ability to prioritize tasks and lead development efforts in a dynamic environment.
• Strong communication, teamwork, and mentoring abilities.
• Experience with WebMethods for system-to-system integrations.
• U.S. Citizenship.
• Active TS Clearance.

Nice to Have

• Experience leading development of Java-based microservices and shared components.
• Experience building, hardening, and deploying container images.
• Experience with DevSecOps, system administration, or platform engineering.
• Experience supporting software development in a DoD environment.
• Experience with shell scripting, automation tooling, or CI/CD pipeline design.
• Experience contributing to large COTS upgrades or modernization initiatives.

Tech Stack

• Momentum (CGI) 8.x
• Java / J2EE
• OpenShift
• GitLab
• Oracle / PostgreSQL / SQL
• WebMethods
• Linux
• C# / C++
• Shell scripting
• DevSecOps / System Administration