Lead Software Engineer Jobs in McLean, VA

At MITRE, your passion fuels work that impacts our nation and improves lives. This is where your skills strengthen national security, cybersecurity, health, transportation, and citizen services. We’re a nonprofit engineering, applied research, and advanced technology organization working in the public interest. With objectivity and integrity at our core, we lead federally funded research and development centers for U.S. government agencies – collaborating with industry and academia to deliver integrated, high-impact solutions that advance our nation’s health, security, and prosperity. Our people tackle the toughest technical challenges, supported by competitive benefits, meaningful career development, and a culture of innovation, collaboration, and technical excellence. Choose MITRE for a career with purpose — and help shape the future.

Department Summary:

Do you want to develop software systems that contribute to solving our nation’s most critical problems? Do you want to work alongside engineers and scientists that are experts in their fields? Are you passionate about best practices for delivering the highest quality software solutions?

We're making a difference every day—working for a safer, healthier, and more secure nation and world.

At MITRE you will leverage your background and experience to make a difference in tangible, impactful problems that face our nation. You’ll work on diverse projects that support our Government sponsors and benefit from numerous learning and growth opportunities.

Our workplace reflects our values. We want you to continue to grow your career at MITRE so that you can experience the gratifying work, our competitive benefits, exceptional professional development opportunities, and a culture of innovation that embraces flexibility, collaboration, and career growth.

Roles & Responsibilities:

MITRE is seeking a Senior Full Stack Engineer to support high-priority Intelligence Community (IC) initiatives requiring secure, scalable, and mission-driven application development. This role requires an active TS/SCI with Polygraph.

The selected candidate will serve as a technical subject matter expert responsible for designing, developing, and deploying full stack applications within highly sensitive Intelligence Community environments. This position supports enterprise-level IC challenges related to technology modernization, data integration, analytic enablement, and secure collaboration. Responsibilities include:

• Collaborate directly with IC sponsors and MITRE technical teams to translate complex mission requirements into scalable application architectures.
• Design, develop, and deploy secure front-end and back-end solutions within classified environments.
• Deliver modern software capabilities, improving architecture, platforms, and developer workflows with strong engineering practices (secure coding, reviews, testing, maintainable design).
• Partner with UX, Architecture, Data, Security, and Operations to define technical strategy and influence roadmaps with a customer-centric mindset.
• Lead or support development of enterprise-grade applications addressing cross-IC integration, data visualization, workflow automation, and analytics.
• Develop and maintain robust APIs, database schemas, and backend services supporting high-performance, secure applications.
• Ensure performance, reliability, and security of deployed systems.
• Implement scalable architectures aligned with DevSecOps and Infrastructure-as-Code principles.
• Present technical solutions clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Mentor junior developers and contribute to department-wide technical standards and tradecraft.

The primary responsibilities of this position must be carried out in person in McLean, Virginia or Bethesda, Maryland. The successful candidate will establish regular presence at MITRE and IC locations and may be required to travel within the National Capital Region.

Basic Qualifications:

• Typically requires a minimum of 8 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 6 years and a Master's degree; or a PhD with 3 years’ experience or equivalent combination of related education and work experience. The individual should be able to immediately contribute to this job step.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or Software Engineering.
• Demonstrated experience as a Full Stack Developer or similar engineering role in secure environments.
• Proficiency in front-end and back-end languages such as JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, or Go.
• Proficiency writing SQL queries, data transformations, and designing database schemas.
• Entrepreneurial and innovative spirit and the curiosity to explore and push the boundaries of software development and software solutions.
• Ability to work in Agile development environments with strong documentation practices.
• Ability to work in Agile development environments with strong documentation practices.
• Must have an active Top Secret/SCI with Polygraph U.S Government issued Security Clearance. Per the U.S. Government’s eligibility requirements, you must be a U.S Citizen to be considered for a security clearance.
• This position has an on-site requirement of 5 days a week on-site.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in a technical discipline (including but not limited to Software Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Mathematics, etc.).
• Experience with geospatial applications/stacks, preferably with open-source or ESRI geospatial development experience.
• Experience with modern JavaScript frameworks such as React, Vue, Angular and HTMx.
• Experience developing web applications with different architectures including server-side rendering (SSR), single page applications (SPAs), and hybrid applications (interactive islands pattern).
• Experience with UI-first rapid prototyping and development approaches.
• Experience with CSS frameworks such as Tailwind or Material Design-based libraries.
• Experience with server-side technologies and database systems such as PostgreSQL.
• Experience working within Linux-based environments, including command line and shell scripting.
• Experience using version control systems (Git) and managing code reviews and releases.
• Experience developing applications within Intelligence Community or ODNI environments.
• Expertise in one or more front-end technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or TypeScript.
• Expertise in one or more back-end languages such as Python, Go, or Full Stack TypeScript/JS.
• Experience with AWS-managed services and cloud-native architectures.
• Experience producing high-quality software documentation and design artifacts.
• Familiarity with alternative JavaScript runtimes such as Bun or Deno.
• Experience implementing SecDevOps pipelines in classified environments.

This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s):

Top Secret/SCI/Polygraph

This requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s):

Top Secret/SCI/Polygraph

Salary compensation range and midpoint:

$156,800 - $196,000 - $235,200 Annual

Work Location Type:

Onsite

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, local or international law.

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