Software Engineer II

Alex-alternative Experts, Inc; Fort Meade (MD); On-site; USD 155,000 - 165,000; Full time

Job summary

ALEX is seeking a reliable and motivated Software Engineer (Level 2) to support a mission-critical program within the Intelligence Community at Fort Meade, MD. This is an on-site position in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) environment.

The SWE Level 2 is a capable engineer who implements containerized application workflows and infrastructure automation using modern DevOps and cloud-native tooling in a classified environment.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software engineering experience with hands-on containerized app development and/or infrastructure automation.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or related field; equivalent experience considered.
• Familiar with Kubernetes, GitOps, CI/CD practices, and modern DevOps tooling in classified environments.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement deployment pipelines and Helm charts for containerized apps in classified Kubernetes environments.
• Develop logic for deployment patterns, secrets management, and ConfigMap lifecycle.
• Document reusable deployment templates and ensure alignment with program standards.

Skills

Go

Python

TypeScript

GitOps

CI/CD

Documentation

Linux

Debugging

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Equivalent experience 4+ years in lieu of degree

Tools

Kubernetes

Helm

Docker

ArgoCD

Fleet

Terraform

Ansible

Rancher Government Solutions

OpenShift

Job description

Fort Meade, MD Clearance Level: TS/SCI with FSP

Job Type

Full-time

Description

ALEX is seeking a reliable and motivated Software Engineer (Level 2) to support a mission-critical program within the Intelligence Community at Fort Meade, MD. This is an on-site position in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) environment.

The SWE Level 2 is a capable engineer who implements containerized application workflows and infrastructure automation using modern DevOps and cloud-native tooling in a classified environment. This role works closely with senior engineers, backend, frontend, and infrastructure teams to integrate services, develop deployment pipelines, and support scalable Kubernetes-native application deployments. The ideal candidate is eager to learn from senior teammates, open to working across full-stack and infrastructure boundaries, and values automation, documentation, and code reusability.

Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to the design and development of deployment pipelines and Helm charts for containerized applications within classified Kubernetes environments.
• Implement and test logic to handle common application deployment patterns, secrets management, and ConfigMap lifecycle.
• Support internal efforts to standardize and document reusable application deployment templates aligned with program standards.
• Follow team engineering standards and participate actively in code reviews, unit testing, and documentation maintenance.

Kubernetes and GitOps Workflows

• Work with Kubernetes tooling - including Helm, GitOps tools (ArgoCD, Fleet), and Kubernetes manifests - to support scalable, reliable deployments in classified enclaves.
• Collaborate with backend, frontend, and infrastructure teams to integrate microservices into the platform and ensure interoperability across deployment components.
• Implement GitOps workflows and contribute to CI/CD pipeline configuration and maintenance.
• Debug and troubleshoot issues in containerized environments; analyze logs, events, and metrics to identify and resolve deployment failures.

Infrastructure Automation and Configuration

• Implement and test infrastructure-as-code components using Docker, Kubernetes manifests, and basic IaC tooling.
• Understand and apply Linux system operations principles to support containerized application environments.
• Support configuration management activities including environment-specific config files, secrets injection, and environment parity across classified deployment tiers.
• Document infrastructure configurations and deployment procedures for team knowledge sharing and audit compliance.

Collaboration and Continuous Improvement

• Collaborate with senior engineers to implement architectural patterns and team standards across deployment pipelines and shared tooling.
• Participate in sprint ceremonies, technical discussions, and design reviews; contribute constructively to team decision-making.
• Learn from senior teammates and apply feedback promptly; demonstrate growth in technical capability over time.
• Contribute to identifying and automating repetitive manual operational tasks within the team's scope.

Requirements

• Comfortable coding in Go, Python, and/or TypeScript in a production or classified program context.
• Familiar with GitOps workflows and CI/CD tools such as ArgoCD or Fleet.
• Hands‑on experience with Kubernetes manifests, Helm chart usage and development, and Docker container operations.
• Working knowledge of infrastructure-as-code concepts and Linux system operations fundamentals.
• Demonstrated ability to debug and troubleshoot applications and infrastructure in a containerized environment.
• Understands basic Kubernetes concepts: pods, deployments, services, namespaces, ConfigMaps, Secrets, and ingress.
• Eager to learn from senior teammates and open to working across the full stack and infrastructure boundaries.
• Values automation, documentation, and code reusability in daily engineering practice.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to produce clear technical documentation.

Desired Skills

• Familiarity with Kubernetes Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs) or operator patterns (kubebuilder or similar).
• Experience with event-driven architectures: Kafka, message queues, or pub/sub systems.
• Prior exposure to Terraform or Ansible for infrastructure provisioning.
• Experience in a classified DoD or Intelligence Community environment.
• Familiarity with secrets management solutions such as HashiCorp Vault or Kubernetes-native sealed secrets.
• Prior experience with Rancher Government Solutions or OpenShift in air‑gapped environments.
• Familiarity with observability tooling: Prometheus, Grafana, or logging aggregation (EFK/ELK).

Experience

• 7+ years of software engineering experience with demonstrated progression, including meaningful hands‑on experience with containerized application development and/or infrastructure automation.

Certification

• DoD 8140/8570 IAT Level II compliance (Security+, CASP+, or equivalent).

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related technical field.
• Or equivalent experience (4+ additional years of direct software engineering experience in lieu of degree) may be considered.

ALEX provides a variety of benefits designed to help meet the needs of our employees.

ALEX is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability. Applicants must be able to perform the essential functions of the job.

In order to comply with the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, we reasonably believe the pay range for this position is between

$155k-$165k. Multiple factors are taken into account with any offer of employment by ALEX, including experience, education, and skills.

Reasonable accommodations will be made to allow employees to meet the essential functions of the job unless those accommodations cause undue hardships to the employer. To request a reasonable accommodation, contact the Human Resources Department at [e-mail].