Tech Lead – Principal Software Engineer

novulsolutions; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Holidays and time off

401(k) with company match

Health benefits

Tuition reimbursement

Performance bonus

Job summary

novulsolutions is seeking an experienced Tech Lead – Principal Software Engineer to lead architecture, software delivery, and engineering teams supporting mission‑critical environments. This role combines hands‑on software engineering with technical leadership, DevSecOps, Agile delivery, and team development.

The ideal candidate has TS/SCI clearance, 12+ years of experience, and a proven record of delivering secure, scalable systems in high‑tempo environments.

Qualifications

• U.S. Citizen with active DoD Top Secret/SCI clearance required.
• Bachelor’s degree and 12+ years of relevant experience.
• Proven ability to lead multiple engineering teams in mission-critical environments.
• Strong hands-on background across the full SDLC in Agile delivery.
• Experience building DevOps pipelines and security-focused software delivery.

Responsibilities

• Lead Agile software engineering teams and translate priorities into technical plans.
• Design, develop, and integrate secure APIs and data pipelines.
• Build and manage CI/CD pipelines and DevSecOps practices.
• Define long-term architecture, standards, and governance across teams.
• Mentor senior engineers and manage performance and growth.
• Coordinate with stakeholders to align roadmaps and delivery.

Skills

Leadership

Architectural design

Agile

DevSecOps

CI/CD

Mentoring

Stakeholder management

Technical communication

Security compliance

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Jenkins

Artifactory

Ansible

Bitbucket

GitHub

GitLab

Terraform

Job description

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Tech Lead – Principal Software Engineer to lead architecture, software delivery, and engineering teams supporting mission‑critical environments. This role combines hands‑on software engineering with technical leadership, DevSecOps, Agile delivery, and team development. The ideal candidate has experience delivering secure, scalable systems and leading engineering teams in high‑tempo Top Secret/SCI environments.

Primary Responsibilities

Lead Agile software engineering teams and translate mission priorities, backlog items, and customer needs into technical plans, milestones, and sprint goals. Design, develop, and integrate secure APIs, structured/unstructured data pipelines, and scalable software solutions using Python, Java, JavaScript, SQL/PSQL, YAML, and Terraform. Build and manage automated CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, Ansible, Git, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Artifactory. Implement DevSecOps, automated testing, observability, security controls, infrastructure automation, and full‑SDLC practices across Development, Test, QA, and Production environments. Manage software release/version control and ensure consistent, secure, and reliable promotion of software throughout the product lifecycle. Define long‑term technical strategy, architecture, engineering standards, governance, and development best practices across multiple teams. Serve as a senior technical authority and escalation point for complex cross‑team and cross‑domain engineering challenges. Drive engineering excellence in security, reliability, performance, maintainability, CI/CD, and automated testing. Lead, mentor, and develop senior engineers and technical teams, including performance management, career development, succession planning, recruiting, onboarding, and retention. Own delivery outcomes across multiple Agile teams, ensuring quality, predictability, security, and mission alignment while driving continuous improvement through Jira or equivalent tools. Balance near‑term delivery with long‑term modernization, technical debt reduction, and architectural investments. Partner with product owners, program leadership, business stakeholders, cybersecurity, infrastructure, operations, and mission partners to align priorities, roadmaps, and execution. Identify and resolve delivery risks, dependencies, architectural constraints, and resource challenges. Communicate technical vision, architecture, risks, progress, and recommendations to senior leadership and non‑technical stakeholders. Evaluate emerging technologies and guide the responsible adoption of generative AI and AI‑assisted engineering tools.

Requirements

Basic Qualifications: U.S. Citizen with an active DoD Top Secret/SCI clearance. Bachelor’s degree and 12+ years of relevant experience; additional experience may be considered in lieu of a degree. Proven experience leading multiple engineering teams and delivering complex, mission‑critical enterprise software systems. Strong hands‑on background in Agile full‑SDLC software development, including design, development, testing, integration, deployment, production release, and sustainment. Strong experience with DevSecOps, automated testing, CI/CD, release management, configuration management, and version control. Experience building DevOps pipelines using Bitbucket, Git/GitHub/GitLab, Jenkins, Artifactory, and Ansible. Development experience with Python, Java, JavaScript, SQL/PSQL, YAML, and Terraform. Experience with Java Full Stack, Gradle, PowerShell, Oracle 19c, web services, and APIs. Experience managing Agile delivery and project tracking using Jira or equivalent tools. Demonstrated ability to lead and mentor senior technical staff and operate effectively in a high‑tempo TS/SCI environment. Strong leadership, communication, documentation, organizational, and stakeholder management skills.

Benefits

Benefits Core Benefits: Paid Time Off PTO):TEN (10) Paid days off & FIVE (5) Floating days off. Holidays: 11 Paid Holidays. Flex time can be utilized instead of holiday time usage. Payroll: Paid Bi-Monthly. 401(k): Partnered with the SECOND LARGEST Retirement plan provider in the U.S. Guaranteed 3% match. Eligibility – 21 years of age or older, after 3 months of employment Individual or company-wide performance and recognition awards (Quarterly) Health Benefits: UNITED HEALTHCARE PPO, extensive national coverage. INCLUDES: Medical/Dental/Vision/HSA. Eligible on the first of the month, immediately after the start date. Submit the enrollment form within 30 days of your start date otherwise, you will have to wait until October for the new year enrollment. Quality of Life Benefits: Training & Career Development Reimbursement of Tuition and training needed to support career development. $150 monthly reimbursement contribution paid monthly towards parking expenses. Receipts must be submitted by the close of business on the 25th of each month. Reimbursements will be paid on the first payroll AFTER reimbursements are submitted each month. Special Benefits: Performance bonus – Project-based Yearly bonus – Company based