Software Engineer - Software Defined Networking (SDN)

Description

The company needs a software engineer to assess, harden, test and modernize a government-supplied software-defined networking (SDN) baseline. You will sit on the Navy forward deployed engineering team, learning an unfamiliar codebase and leaving it secure, maintainable and dependable enough to sustain as mission needs shift.

The work is hands-on software engineering with a systems and networking angle: source code, build tooling, dependencies, runtime behavior, tests and open source integrations. You will trace problems across application and network layers, fix vulnerabilities, use AI tools inside DevSecOps pipelines, and set up disciplined habits for code quality, release readiness and long-term upkeep.

You will work with the company's platform engineers and government stakeholders to get the application built, tested, packaged, deployed and run in Navy environments.

Responsibilities

• Assess an SDN codebase end to end: architecture, build process, dependencies, runtime components, test coverage, security and upstream open source ties.
• Design and build secure, maintainable changes that fix vulnerabilities and strengthen resilience, keeping clear lines between upstream code, government code, configuration and local patches.
• Write reliable unit, integration, end-to-end, regression and failure-mode tests for hardening and modernization work.
• Set up AI-assisted tooling that supports hardening and upkeep of the codebase.
• Track down faults across application, Linux and network layers, including traffic flow, routing, segmentation, identity, failover, telemetry and performance.
• Work with platform engineers on container readiness, packaging, CI/CD, deployment and automated security scanning, handling code-level triage and fixes yourself.
• Help with lab validation, demos and release sign-off, turning operational findings into lasting fixes and regression tests.
• Write clear technical documentation, join architecture and code reviews, explain trade-offs to stakeholders and mentor other engineers.
• Additional duties may be assigned as needs change, so be ready to adapt.

Requirements

• 5+ years of software engineering experience in C++, Python and Bash, with proven ownership of production or legacy codebases.
• Solid Linux skills: services, processes, permissions, logging, package management and command-line troubleshooting.
• Solid networking knowledge: TCP/IP, routing, DNS, TLS, segmentation, interfaces, policy enforcement and traffic analysis.
• Hands-on experience with secure development, dependency management, vulnerability triage, patching, code review and remediation.
• Strong testing habits across unit, integration, end-to-end and regression testing.
• Working knowledge of containers, version control, build automation, CI/CD, registries, observability and modern release practices.
• Strong problem solving, communication and documentation skills, including design docs, technical assessments and runbooks.
• U.S. citizenship and an ACTIVE US Government SECRET security clearance or higher.
• Preferred: experience building or maintaining SDN, network orchestration, routing, virtual network functions, network appliances or other network-control software.
• Preferred: experience containerizing VM-based or monolithic software and maintaining upstream open source integrations, forks or patches.
• Preferred: working familiarity with agentic AI-assisted engineering tools for maintaining software, speeding codebase analysis and remediation, and supporting automated resilience, failure-mode and chaos testing.
• Preferred: familiarity with Kubernetes, Helm, GitOps, OCI artifacts and/or software delivery.
• Preferred: experience with SAST, DAST, software composition analysis, SBOMs, container scanning, STIGs and automated security checks.
• Preferred: experience with performance, resilience or chaos engineering, and observability for distributed or networked systems.
• Preferred: experience moving applications from VM-based environments to containerized deployments.

Conditions

Remote, within the USA.

Pay is $148,750 - $201,250 USD. Compensation depends on candidate experience and uses national benchmarking data that applies across all US locations.

Candidates who do not meet every preferred item are still encouraged to apply.

Benefits

• Medical, dental and vision, with premiums 100% company paid.
• Health savings account, life insurance and disability insurance.
• 401k retirement plan.
• Company stock options.
• Home office budget.
• Flexible time off (FTO) for all full-time staff, plus all federal holidays, one week for Thanksgiving, and two weeks for Christmas and New Year's.
• Paid parental leave.
• Reimbursement for approved trainings and subscriptions.
• Conference attendance, with travel, lodging and fees covered.