Software Engineer (Virginia)

Kestrel Intelligence; Virginia; On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

TS//SCI clearance

On-site in VA/DC area

Job summary

Kestrel Intelligence seeks a Software Engineer to lead CI/CD artifacts, data structures, data processing pipelines, and components of an agentic AI architecture. You will work at the bleeding edge of geospatial science, requiring adaptability, engineering rigor, and a deep respect for the mission.

Based in the United States, the role focuses on Terraform-based infra, Python APIs, and multi-cloud patterns with GovCloud/DoD IL considerations.

Qualifications

• Experience designing and deploying infrastructure for scalable systems.
• Proven ability to implement secure networking, IAM, and secrets management.
• Experience building data processing pipelines and API services.

Responsibilities

• Design and deploy infrastructure using Terraform and cloud services.
• Lead deployment of Python-based APIs to cloud environments.
• Build and maintain large-scale infrastructure architectures.
• Establish infrastructure best practices for dev/staging/prod.
• Design CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions.
• Apply AWS GovCloud and DoD IL requirements for compliance.
• Develop multi-cloud deployment patterns with minimal vendor lock-in.
• Plan future GovCloud/DoD IL deployments and assess risks.
• Identify and mitigate infrastructure and compliance risks early.

Skills

Terraform

Python APIs

CI/CD

GitHub Actions

Cloud architecture

AWS GovCloud / DoD IL

Security & IAM

Multi-cloud

Tools

GitHub Actions

AWS GovCloud

DoD IL

Terraform

Job description

The Mission

At Kestrel, we are building the future of scalable autonomy across domains. Our systems enable commercial and national security customers to sense and act in support of complex missions without significant autonomous system expertise. This technology bridges domains (e.g., space, air, land, sea) and fields (e.g., AI, orbital dynamics, geospatial), requiring a team that has both breadth and depth in these related topics.

The Role

As a Kestrel Software Engineer, you will lead the development of CI/CD artifacts, data structures, data processing pipelines, components of an agentic AI architecture, and user interface components. You will work at the bleeding edge of geospatial science. This role requires adaptability, engineering rigor, and a deep respect for the mission.

Core Responsibilities:

• Design and deploy our infrastructure using Terraform
• Lead the deployment of Python-based APIs to cloud environments
• Experience with large-scale infrastructure architecture
• Establish infrastructure best practices from the ground up, including: Environment separation (dev / staging / prod); Secure networking, IAM, and secrets management; Logging, monitoring, and alerting
• Design and maintain CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions
• Apply prior AWS GovCloud and DoD IL experience to ensure: Compliance-ready infrastructure; Architecture choices that will not block future government deployments
• Design infrastructure and deployment patterns that support multi-cloud environments, including: Cloud-agnostic Terraform module design where practical; Minimizing provider lock-in for core services; Supporting future deployments across commercial cloud and GovCloud environments
• Plan and advise on future AWS GovCloud and DoD IL deployments, even if those environments are not immediately live
• Identify and mitigate infrastructure and compliance risks early

Bonus:

• Strong software engineering background is a plus, particularly: API development; Distributed or service-oriented systems; Prior experience designing or operating multi-cloud environments is a plus
• Based in the Colorado Springs, CO or Washington, DC (working in customer sites in Crystal City, VA and Herndon, VA) areas
• Active Top Secret // Specially Compartmented Information (TS//SCI) clearance with counterintelligence-scope polygraph (CSP) or full-scope polygraph (FSP)

Must be a US Citizen