About Careertakes

👉 Important disclosure: Careertakes is a third-party recruiting platform supporting this hiring process. If selected, you will be employed directly by our client, IT Services and IT Consulting.

Applicants for this role may also receive access to additional matched opportunities through the Careertakes platform.

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What You’ll Do

You will join a mission-focused engineering team to design, build, test, deploy, and operate backend services that support real-time messaging, search, and analytics. The role centers on Python-based microservices that interact with Kafka and Elasticsearch, run in Kubernetes, and are delivered through CI/CD pipelines.

• Design, develop, test, and maintain Python microservices and backend components
• Implement and maintain Kafka producers and consumers for real-time messaging
• Integrate with Elasticsearch for batch and real-time indexing and search
• Build and maintain unit and integration tests to ensure high code quality and reliability
• Create and maintain CI/CD pipelines (GitLab, Jenkins, or equivalent)
• Containerize services with Docker and deploy to Kubernetes clusters
• Troubleshoot production issues using observability and monitoring tools
• Participate in design discussions, code reviews, and architecture planning
• Document designs, runbooks, and operational procedures
• Collaborate across systems engineering, architecture, and operations to deliver secure, observable, and scalable systems

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Qualifications (Required)

• Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 2 years of relevant software engineering experience
• Active Top Secret/SCI clearance and ability to obtain and maintain a Polygraph
• Strong proficiency in Python and backend frameworks (FastAPI, Flask, or similar)
• Practical experience with Kafka (consumers, producers, streaming patterns)
• Experience integrating and querying Elasticsearch
• Experience containerizing applications with Docker
• Hands-on experience deploying, monitoring, and debugging services in Kubernetes
• Experience with ETL concepts and implementations
• Comfortable working in Linux and using shell scripting (bash or similar)
• Solid understanding of RESTful APIs and microservice architecture
• Familiarity with Git workflows, pull requests, and code review practices
• Experience with CI/CD tooling and DevOps practices (GitLab CI, Jenkins, etc.)
• Experience with Agile development practices
• Strong verbal and written communication skills; collaborative team player and self-starter

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Nice to Have

• Experience building software development kits (SDKs)
• Familiarity with DGX (Deep GPU Xceleration) environments
• Active Security+ or similar certifications and the ability to obtain Privileged User Account (PUA) certification if required
• Elasticsearch or related search-stack certifications
• Experience operating production-grade enterprise systems at scale
• Knowledge of distributed systems patterns (idempotency, eventual consistency)
• Familiarity with schema registries and advanced Kafka streaming patterns
• Experience with AWS (including secure/compliant deployments)
• Experience building applications that use large language models (LLMs) or agentic AI

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Compensation & Benefits

• Pay Range: USD 69,550.00 - USD 125,725.00 (base salary range provided by the client)
• Competitive total compensation packages considered based on experience, skills, and internal equity
• Benefits typically include health and wellness programs, income protection, paid leave, and retirement plans (details provided by the client)

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Location & Additional Details

• Work location: Bethesda, MD (on-site at the client location with a flexible schedule; occasional remote work may be permitted based on client requirements)
• Clearance: Active Top Secret/SCI required; candidate must be able to obtain and maintain a polygraph if needed
• Employment type: Full-time
• This position is posted by a confidential client and supported by Careertakes as the third-party recruiting platform

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Equal Opportunity & Hiring Transparency

Careertakes and our client are Equal Opportunity Employers committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. We prohibit discrimination or harassment of any kind. To support a fair and efficient hiring process, AI tools may be used to assist with application review or resume screening. These tools do not replace human decision-making. Final hiring decisions are made by people.

If you have questions about how your data is used, please contact us directly.