Development Engineer Jobs in Virginia
Development Engineer jobs in Virginia are in strong demand, concentrated in defense and aerospace systems, federal contracting, semiconductor manufacturing, and energy infrastructure, with openings at every level from entry-level associates through senior principal engineers. The busiest hiring metros are Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and Richmond, where established employers like Leidos, Northrop Grumman, and Dominion Energy consistently bring on development engineers across hardware, software, and systems disciplines. The most sought-after specializations include embedded systems development, systems integration, and RF and electronic systems engineering. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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Your work days are brighter here.
We’re obsessed with making hard work pay off, for our people, our customers, and the world around us. As a Fortune 500 company and a leading AI platform for managing people, money, and agents, we’re shaping the future of work so teams can reach their potential and focus on what matters most. The minute you join, you’ll feel it. Not just in the products we build, but in how we show up for each other. Our culture is rooted in integrity, empathy, and shared enthusiasm. We’re in this together, tackling big challenges with bold ideas and genuine care. We look for curious minds and courageous collaborators who bring sun-drenched optimism and drive. Whether you're building smarter solutions, supporting customers, or creating a space where everyone belongs, you’ll do meaningful work with Workmates who’ve got your back. In return, we’ll give you the trust to take risks, the tools to grow, the skills to develop and the support of a company invested in you for the long haul. So, if you want to inspire a brighter work day for everyone, including yourself, you’ve found a match in Workday, and we hope to be a match for you too.
About the Team
Your work matters here. At Workday Government, we focus on outcomes that serve a larger mission. Our work supports U.S. federal agencies as they modernize and transform the full employee lifecycle experience and finance operations.You will join a highly motivated, collaborative engineering team that thrives on teamwork, open communication, and shared problem-solving. Working with modern technologies like Kubernetes, Terraform, and Docker, our goal is to partner closely to build resilient, reliable systems that our customers can depend on. We are looking for driven engineers who take genuine pride in their craft, value strong collaboration across teams, take ownership of initiatives, and consistently deliver impactful outcomes.
The work isn’t theoretical. It’s operational. It’s high-impact. And it demands technical rigor, strong teamwork, and long-term thinking.
About the Role
Location Note:
May be required to be on site at client locations in the DC, MD, and VA (DMV) area.
Role Overview:
As a Software Development Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in guiding Workday’s efforts to build, deploy, and scale solutions for our Kubernetes platform in AWS GovCloud. You will lead infrastructure automation, enhance CI/CD pipelines, build robust observability tools, and drive air-gapped deployment methodologies.
You have a growth mindset and thrive in a collaborative, outcome-driven environment where cross-team partnership is key. You will be part of a team promoting a diverse and inclusive culture where you and your teammates are energized, engaged, and excited to solve complex engineering challenges together every day.
Responsibilities:
- Platform & Workload Management: Run, manage, and scale complex containerized workloads on Kubernetes clusters deployed in AWS GovCloud environments.
- Infrastructure Automation: Provision and automate infrastructure, configurations, and deployment pipelines using Terraform, Terragrunt, Docker, AWS, and Argo CD.
- Air-Gapped & Secure Deployments: Design, implement, and maintain air-gapped deployment methodologies to support strict security, compliance, and isolation requirements.
- Observability & Reliability: Build, maintain, and optimize comprehensive monitoring, logging, and alerting systems to ensure high availability and visibility into our managed services.
- Distributed Systems Troubleshooting: Apply deep expertise in troubleshooting distributed systems to quickly diagnose and resolve complex platform, infrastructure, and network issues.
- Collaboration & Results: Work closely with peer development teams, security leaders, and cross-functional partners across multiple locations to deliver reliable, high-impact outcomes.
- Security & Compliance: Implement and maintain enterprise security standards for the platform, ensuring full compliance with federal industry standards.
- Knowledge Sharing & Documentation: Author clear technical documentation, participate in architectural reviews, and actively mentor team members to foster a culture of continuous learning.
About You
Clearance & Eligibility Requirements:
- U.S. Citizenship: Required due to federal government contract requirements.
- Security Clearance: Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government TS/SCI security clearance with CI Polygraph. An active TS/SCI w/ CI Poly is strongly preferred.
Basic Qualifications (Senior/ P4):
- Experience: 5+ years of hands-on experience building, scaling, and maintaining production cloud infrastructure, DevOps pipelines, or platform engineering systems.
- Infrastructure as Code: Proven proficiency (3+ years) with infrastructure automation tools such as Terraform or Terragrunt.
- CI/CD & GitOps: Hands-on experience (3+ years) managing continuous delivery pipelines using tools like Argo CD, Jenkins, or GitLab CI.
- Software Development: Proficiency in (3+ years) modern scripting or programming languages, with a preference for Go or Python.
- Technical Leadership: Demonstrated ability (3+ years) to independently lead technical initiatives, troubleshoot distributed systems, and mentor junior engineers.
Basic Qualifications (Mid-Level/ P3):
- Experience: 3+ years of hands-on experience building, scaling, and maintaining production cloud infrastructure, DevOps pipelines, or platform engineering systems.
- Infrastructure as Code: Proven proficiency (2+ years) with infrastructure automation tools such as Terraform or Terragrunt.
- CI/CD & GitOps: Hands-on experience (2+ years) managing continuous delivery pipelines using tools like Argo CD, Jenkins, or GitLab CI.
- Software Development: Proficiency in (2+ years) modern scripting or programming languages, with a preference for Go or Python.
- Technical Leadership: Demonstrated ability (1+ years) to independently lead technical initiatives, troubleshoot distributed systems, and mentor junior engineers.
Other Qualifications (preferred):
- Kubernetes & AWS: Deep production experience managing containerized workloads in AWS (ideally AWS GovCloud) using Kubernetes and Docker.
- Air-Gapped Systems: Practical experience implementing or managing air-gapped deployment methodologies and isolated cloud architectures.
- Observability & Telemetry: Background in building robust monitoring, logging, and alerting systems for distributed platforms (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, Splunk, etc).
- Security & Compliance: Familiarity with federal security frameworks (e.g., FedRAMP, NIST 800-53, Zero Trust architecture).
- Certifications: DoD 8570/8140 compliance at IAT Level II or higher (e.g., CompTIA Security+, CySA+, CASP+) along with a current Computing Environment credential.
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent military / practical engineering experience in lieu of a degree).
Posting End Date : 10/31/26
The application deadline for this role is the same as the posting end date stated.
Workday Pay Transparency Statement
The annualized base salary ranges for the primary location and any additional locations are listed below. Workday pay ranges vary based on work location. As a part of the total compensation package, this role may be eligible for the Workday Bonus Plan or a role-specific commission/bonus, as well as annual refresh stock grants. Recruiters can share more detail during the hiring process. Each candidate’s compensation offer will be based on multiple factors including, but not limited to, geography, experience, skills, job duties, and business need, among other things. For more information regarding Workday’s comprehensive benefits, please click here .
Primary Location: USA.VA.Reston Primary Location Base Pay Range: $163,800 USD - $245,800 USD Additional US Location(s) Base Pay Range: $148,200 USD - $264,000 USD
Our Approach to Flexible Work
With Flex Work, we’re combining the best of both worlds: in-person time and remote. Our approach enables our teams to deepen connections, maintain a strong community, and do their best work. We know that flexibility can take shape in many ways, so rather than a number of required days in-office each week, we simply spend at least half (50%) of our time each quarter in the office or in the field with our customers, prospects, and partners (depending on role). This means you'll have the freedom to create a flexible schedule that caters to your business, team, and personal needs, while being intentional to make the most of time spent together. Those in our remote "home office" roles also have the opportunity to come together in our offices for important moments that matter.
Pursuant to applicable Fair Chance law, Workday will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
Workday is an Equal Opportunity Employer including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans.
Workday is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals during our application process, in order to perform one or more essential functions of their job, as well as regarding the use of AI tools for employment decision-making to any degree. Please see below for more details including how to request an accommodation as a qualified veteran, due to a disability or for religious reasons, or as otherwise provided under applicable law.
Workday prohibits taking adverse action against any candidate or employee for reporting a possible violation of this policy, requesting one or more work accommodations, exercising a privacy right, or cooperating in an investigation in accordance with applicable law. Any employee who retaliates against a candidate or employee for doing so may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment, to the fullest extent allowable under applicable law.
If you require a reasonable accommodation, you may email accommodations@workday.com , as far in advance as possible.
Are you being referred to one of our roles? If so, ask your connection at Workday about our Employee Referral process!
At Workday, we value our candidates’ privacy and data security. Workday will never ask candidates to apply to jobs through websites that are not Workday Careers.
Please be aware of sites that may ask for you to input your data in connection with a job posting that appears to be from Workday but is not.
In addition, Workday will never ask candidates to pay a recruiting fee, or pay for consulting or coaching services, in order to apply for a job at Workday.
Your work days are brighter here.
We’re obsessed with making hard work pay off, for our people, our customers, and the world around us. As a Fortune 500 company and a leading AI platform for managing people, money, and agents, we’re shaping the future of work so teams can reach their potential and focus on what matters most. The minute you join, you’ll feel it. Not just in the products we build, but in how we show up for each other. Our culture is rooted in integrity, empathy, and shared enthusiasm. We’re in this together, tackling big challenges with bold ideas and genuine care. We look for curious minds and courageous collaborators who bring sun-drenched optimism and drive. Whether you're building smarter solutions, supporting customers, or creating a space where everyone belongs, you’ll do meaningful work with Workmates who’ve got your back. In return, we’ll give you the trust to take risks, the tools to grow, the skills to develop and the support of a company invested in you for the long haul. So, if you want to inspire a brighter work day for everyone, including yourself, you’ve found a match in Workday, and we hope to be a match for you too.
About the Team
Your work matters here. At Workday Government, we focus on outcomes that serve a larger mission. Our work supports U.S. federal agencies as they modernize and transform the full employee lifecycle experience and finance operations.You will join a highly motivated, collaborative engineering team that thrives on teamwork, open communication, and shared problem-solving. Working with modern technologies like Kubernetes, Terraform, and Docker, our goal is to partner closely to build resilient, reliable systems that our customers can depend on. We are looking for driven engineers who take genuine pride in their craft, value strong collaboration across teams, take ownership of initiatives, and consistently deliver impactful outcomes.
The work isn’t theoretical. It’s operational. It’s high-impact. And it demands technical rigor, strong teamwork, and long-term thinking.
About the Role
Location Note:
May be required to be on site at client locations in the DC, MD, and VA (DMV) area.
Role Overview:
As a Software Development Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in guiding Workday’s efforts to build, deploy, and scale solutions for our Kubernetes platform in AWS GovCloud. You will lead infrastructure automation, enhance CI/CD pipelines, build robust observability tools, and drive air-gapped deployment methodologies.
You have a growth mindset and thrive in a collaborative, outcome-driven environment where cross-team partnership is key. You will be part of a team promoting a diverse and inclusive culture where you and your teammates are energized, engaged, and excited to solve complex engineering challenges together every day.
Responsibilities:
- Platform & Workload Management: Run, manage, and scale complex containerized workloads on Kubernetes clusters deployed in AWS GovCloud environments.
- Infrastructure Automation: Provision and automate infrastructure, configurations, and deployment pipelines using Terraform, Terragrunt, Docker, AWS, and Argo CD.
- Air-Gapped & Secure Deployments: Design, implement, and maintain air-gapped deployment methodologies to support strict security, compliance, and isolation requirements.
- Observability & Reliability: Build, maintain, and optimize comprehensive monitoring, logging, and alerting systems to ensure high availability and visibility into our managed services.
- Distributed Systems Troubleshooting: Apply deep expertise in troubleshooting distributed systems to quickly diagnose and resolve complex platform, infrastructure, and network issues.
- Collaboration & Results: Work closely with peer development teams, security leaders, and cross-functional partners across multiple locations to deliver reliable, high-impact outcomes.
- Security & Compliance: Implement and maintain enterprise security standards for the platform, ensuring full compliance with federal industry standards.
- Knowledge Sharing & Documentation: Author clear technical documentation, participate in architectural reviews, and actively mentor team members to foster a culture of continuous learning.
About You
Clearance & Eligibility Requirements:
- U.S. Citizenship: Required due to federal government contract requirements.
- Security Clearance: Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government TS/SCI security clearance with CI Polygraph. An active TS/SCI w/ CI Poly is strongly preferred.
Basic Qualifications (Senior/ P4):
- Experience: 5+ years of hands-on experience building, scaling, and maintaining production cloud infrastructure, DevOps pipelines, or platform engineering systems.
- Infrastructure as Code: Proven proficiency (3+ years) with infrastructure automation tools such as Terraform or Terragrunt.
- CI/CD & GitOps: Hands-on experience (3+ years) managing continuous delivery pipelines using tools like Argo CD, Jenkins, or GitLab CI.
- Software Development: Proficiency in (3+ years) modern scripting or programming languages, with a preference for Go or Python.
- Technical Leadership: Demonstrated ability (3+ years) to independently lead technical initiatives, troubleshoot distributed systems, and mentor junior engineers.
Basic Qualifications (Mid-Level/ P3):
- Experience: 3+ years of hands-on experience building, scaling, and maintaining production cloud infrastructure, DevOps pipelines, or platform engineering systems.
- Infrastructure as Code: Proven proficiency (2+ years) with infrastructure automation tools such as Terraform or Terragrunt.
- CI/CD & GitOps: Hands-on experience (2+ years) managing continuous delivery pipelines using tools like Argo CD, Jenkins, or GitLab CI.
- Software Development: Proficiency in (2+ years) modern scripting or programming languages, with a preference for Go or Python.
- Technical Leadership: Demonstrated ability (1+ years) to independently lead technical initiatives, troubleshoot distributed systems, and mentor junior engineers.
Other Qualifications (preferred):
- Kubernetes & AWS: Deep production experience managing containerized workloads in AWS (ideally AWS GovCloud) using Kubernetes and Docker.
- Air-Gapped Systems: Practical experience implementing or managing air-gapped deployment methodologies and isolated cloud architectures.
- Observability & Telemetry: Background in building robust monitoring, logging, and alerting systems for distributed platforms (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, Splunk, etc).
- Security & Compliance: Familiarity with federal security frameworks (e.g., FedRAMP, NIST 800-53, Zero Trust architecture).
- Certifications: DoD 8570/8140 compliance at IAT Level II or higher (e.g., CompTIA Security+, CySA+, CASP+) along with a current Computing Environment credential.
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent military / practical engineering experience in lieu of a degree).
Posting End Date : 10/31/26
The application deadline for this role is the same as the posting end date stated.
Workday Pay Transparency Statement
The annualized base salary ranges for the primary location and any additional locations are listed below. Workday pay ranges vary based on work location. As a part of the total compensation package, this role may be eligible for the Workday Bonus Plan or a role-specific commission/bonus, as well as annual refresh stock grants. Recruiters can share more detail during the hiring process. Each candidate’s compensation offer will be based on multiple factors including, but not limited to, geography, experience, skills, job duties, and business need, among other things. For more information regarding Workday’s comprehensive benefits, please click here .
Primary Location: USA.VA.Reston Primary Location Base Pay Range: $163,800 USD - $245,800 USD Additional US Location(s) Base Pay Range: $148,200 USD - $264,000 USD
Our Approach to Flexible Work
With Flex Work, we’re combining the best of both worlds: in-person time and remote. Our approach enables our teams to deepen connections, maintain a strong community, and do their best work. We know that flexibility can take shape in many ways, so rather than a number of required days in-office each week, we simply spend at least half (50%) of our time each quarter in the office or in the field with our customers, prospects, and partners (depending on role). This means you'll have the freedom to create a flexible schedule that caters to your business, team, and personal needs, while being intentional to make the most of time spent together. Those in our remote "home office" roles also have the opportunity to come together in our offices for important moments that matter.
Pursuant to applicable Fair Chance law, Workday will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
Workday is an Equal Opportunity Employer including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans.
Workday is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals during our application process, in order to perform one or more essential functions of their job, as well as regarding the use of AI tools for employment decision-making to any degree. Please see below for more details including how to request an accommodation as a qualified veteran, due to a disability or for religious reasons, or as otherwise provided under applicable law.
Workday prohibits taking adverse action against any candidate or employee for reporting a possible violation of this policy, requesting one or more work accommodations, exercising a privacy right, or cooperating in an investigation in accordance with applicable law. Any employee who retaliates against a candidate or employee for doing so may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment, to the fullest extent allowable under applicable law.
If you require a reasonable accommodation, you may email accommodations@workday.com , as far in advance as possible.
Are you being referred to one of our roles? If so, ask your connection at Workday about our Employee Referral process!
At Workday, we value our candidates’ privacy and data security. Workday will never ask candidates to apply to jobs through websites that are not Workday Careers.
Please be aware of sites that may ask for you to input your data in connection with a job posting that appears to be from Workday but is not.
In addition, Workday will never ask candidates to pay a recruiting fee, or pay for consulting or coaching services, in order to apply for a job at Workday.
See All 170+ Development Engineer Jobs in Virginia
Find roles in Virginia that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Development Engineer JobsDevelopment Engineer Jobs by City in Virginia
Where Virginia roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Development Engineer Job Market in Virginia
A snapshot from current Virginia openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
- Amazon Web Services48
- Amazon43
- Workday11
- Bohler7
- VHB2
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software
- Consulting & Professional Services
- Energy
- Retail
- Science & Research
What Virginia Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in development engineer jobs across Virginia.
- Bachelor's degree in electrical, mechanical, computer, or systems engineering required
- Experience with systems integration, product lifecycle development, or engineering design processes
- Proficiency in CAD tools, simulation software, or embedded development environments
- Ability to obtain or maintain a U.S. security clearance for defense and federal contractor roles
- Familiarity with industry standards such as MIL-SPEC, DO-178, or ISO 9001 relevant to Virginia sectors
- Strong documentation and cross-functional collaboration skills for program and proposal environments
Development Engineer Jobs in Virginia: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a development engineer in Virginia?
Most development engineer roles in Virginia require a bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline such as electrical, mechanical, computer, or systems engineering. Virginia does not mandate a state license for most private-sector development engineer positions, though engineers who sign off on public-facing designs may pursue Professional Engineer licensure through the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. Federal contractor roles in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads also commonly require a security clearance, which employers sponsor after hire.
How much do development engineers make in Virginia?
Development engineers in Virginia earn a median of about $136,380 a year, based on May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, ranging from around $92,540 for the lowest 10% to over $176,950 for the top 10%. Pay rises with experience, specialty, and employer.
Which companies hire development engineers in Virginia?
Employers hiring development engineers in Virginia right now include Amazon Web Services, Amazon, and Workday, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. Virginia's dense concentration of defense primes, federal agencies, and energy utilities means hiring is relatively consistent year-round rather than driven by seasonal peaks.
Which Virginia cities have the most development engineer jobs?
Arlington, Herndon, and Reston account for the largest share of development engineer openings in Virginia. Northern Virginia's proximity to the Pentagon, federal agencies, and a large defense contractor ecosystem drives the highest volume, while Hampton Roads benefits from Naval Station Norfolk and related aerospace and shipbuilding employers, and Richmond draws openings from energy, manufacturing, and commercial technology firms.
Are there remote development engineer jobs in Virginia?
Yes, but they're less common than in purely analytical roles because development engineering often involves lab work, hardware testing, or secure facility access. About 36% of development engineer openings tied to Virginia are remote or hybrid as of September 2026, reflecting partial flexibility where it exists. The portions of the work most likely to shift remote are design reviews, documentation, and software-side development tasks.
How can I get hired as a development engineer in Virginia with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is through a new-graduate associate engineer program at one of Virginia's large defense or energy employers, such as the rotational engineering programs run by Leidos, Northrop Grumman, or Dominion Energy, which are structured around candidates who have a degree but limited professional history. Internship-to-hire pipelines at Virginia Tech, George Mason University, and Old Dominion University give on-campus recruiting priority for Virginia-based openings. Adjacent entry points include test technician, systems analyst, and junior CAD designer roles that frequently convert to full development engineer positions within one to two years.
Where can I find and apply to development engineer jobs in Virginia?
You can find and apply to development engineer jobs in Virginia on Migrate Mate, which lists current Virginia openings updated in real time. Find the roles that fit your background and apply directly from each listing.
See All 170+ Development Engineer Jobs in Virginia
Find roles in Virginia that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Development Engineer Jobs