Distinguished AI Software Engineering Lead

FTI - Frontier Technology Inc.

Distinguished Software Engineering Lead at FTI Defense designing and integrating secure software solutions. Collaborating across teams to ensure scalability, security, and alignment with innovation goals.

Posted 6/17/2026full-timeWashington, D.C. • Washington • 🇺🇸 United StatesSeniorWebsite

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Hard Skills

API designmicroservicesdata pipelinesInfrastructure-as-CodeCI/CD automationdata ingestiondata transformationdata orchestrationcoding (Python, Java, C++, TypeScript)cloud-native solutions

Soft Skills

technical leadershipmentoringcommunicationcollaborationguiding design decisionsproblem-solvingstrategic alignmentstakeholder engagementperformance monitoringrelease governance

Tools & Technologies

AWS GovCloudTerraformCloudFormationCDKKafkaAirflowSparkDatabricksDevSecOps toolsMLOps concepts

Certifications & Qualifications

Active Secret clearanceTS/SCI clearanceBachelor’s degree in Computer ScienceBachelor’s degree in Software EngineeringMaster’s degree (preferred)

Industry Keywords

secure software platformsdistributed systemszero-trust principlesmission accreditationATO/RMF processescloud environmentshybrid environmentsoperationalizationmodularity standardsarchitectural principles

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AirflowAWSCloudCyber SecurityJavaKafkaMicroservicesPythonSparkTerraformTypeScript

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Architect and deploy secure, distributed platforms supporting modular, multi-service software environments.
Design and integrate APIs, microservices, and data pipelines that enable interoperability across mission, simulation, and analytical systems.
Define and enforce architectural principles, modularity standards, and software best practices across development teams.
Engineer solutions that bridge cloud, on-prem, and classified enclaves, ensuring interoperability and compliance.
Engineer cloud-native solutions in AWS GovCloud or hybrid IL4–IL6 environments with strict security and accreditation requirements.
Implement Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform, CloudFormation, or CDK) to automate provisioning, configuration, and accreditation workflows.
Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines that embed security, compliance, and automated testing from development through deployment.
Ensure all platform designs support zero-trust principles, multi-enclave deployment, and repeatable accreditation (ATO) processes.
Design or oversee large-scale data ingestion, transformation, and orchestration environments (Kafka, Airflow, Spark, or Databricks).
Shape data architectures that balance throughput, latency, and cost across distributed mission environments.
Enable secure and efficient data access and synchronization across analytical, AI-enabled, and simulation workloads.
Transition software and platforms from prototype to production, ensuring maintainability, observability, and configuration consistency.
Establish automated testing, release governance, and performance monitoring standards for ongoing sustainment.
Partner with program and product leadership to align delivery with mission lifecycle requirements.
Engineer architectures for redundancy and resilience under degraded or disconnected operational conditions.
Design and maintain secure enclave architectures, boundary controls, and cross-domain integration solutions.
Collaborate with cybersecurity and ISSM teams to support ATO and ongoing accreditation automation.
Integrate emerging technologies, open standards, and modern frameworks into operational systems.
Collaborate with AI/ML, data, and simulation teams to enable model integration and inference services within production software (familiarity with MLOps concepts preferred).
Evaluate new tools and frameworks to improve developer productivity, performance, and automation efficiency.
Lead by example as a hands-on technical authority, guiding design and implementation decisions.
Mentor software engineers and architects to raise technical standards, code quality, and architectural maturity.
Partner with fellow Distinguished Engineers and organizational leaders to align platform strategy with enterprise innovation goals.
Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both executive and engineering stakeholders.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Active Secret clearance required; TS/SCI strongly preferred.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field (Master’s preferred).
10–15 years of progressive software engineering experience, with at least 5 years in a technical leadership or architecture role.
Proven success architecting and deploying secure, distributed, cloud-native software platforms.
Deep experience with AWS GovCloud or IL4–IL6 hybrid environments.
Hands-on proficiency with Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform, CloudFormation, or CDK) and CI/CD automation.
Strong understanding of DevSecOps, zero-trust principles, and mission accreditation (ATO/RMF) processes.
Demonstrated ability to operationalize software systems from prototype through accreditation in secure environments.
Strong coding experience in one or more core languages (Python, Java, C++, TypeScript).

Benefits

Comp & perks

Health insurance
401(k) matching
Flexible work hours
Paid time off
Remote work options