Software Engineer II

ALEX is seeking a reliable and motivated Software Engineer (Level 2) to support a mission-critical program within the Intelligence Community at Fort Meade, MD. This is an on-site position in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) environment.

The SWE Level 2 is a capable engineer who implements containerized application workflows and infrastructure automation using modern DevOps and cloud-native tooling in a classified environment. This role works closely with senior engineers, backend, frontend, and infrastructure teams to integrate services, develop deployment pipelines, and support scalable Kubernetes-native application deployments. The ideal candidate is eager to learn from senior teammates, open to working across full-stack and infrastructure boundaries, and values automation, documentation, and code reusability.

Key Responsibilities

Deployment Pipeline and Helm Chart Development

• Contribute to the design and development of deployment pipelines and Helm charts for containerized applications within classified Kubernetes environments.
• Implement and test logic to handle common application deployment patterns, secrets management, and ConfigMap lifecycle.
• Support internal efforts to standardize and document reusable application deployment templates aligned with program standards.
• Follow team engineering standards and participate actively in code reviews, unit testing, and documentation maintenance.

Kubernetes and GitOps Workflows

• Work with Kubernetes tooling - including Helm, GitOps tools (ArgoCD, Fleet), and Kubernetes manifests - to support scalable, reliable deployments in classified enclaves.
• Collaborate with backend, frontend, and infrastructure teams to integrate microservices into the platform and ensure interoperability across deployment components.
• Implement GitOps workflows and contribute to CI/CD pipeline configuration and maintenance.
• Debug and troubleshoot issues in containerized environments; analyze logs, events, and metrics to identify and resolve deployment failures.

Infrastructure Automation and Configuration

• Implement and test infrastructure-as-code components using Docker, Kubernetes manifests, and basic IaC tooling.
• Understand and apply Linux system operations principles to support containerized application environments.
• Support configuration management activities including environment-specific config files, secrets injection, and environment parity across classified deployment tiers.
• Document infrastructure configurations and deployment procedures for team knowledge sharing and audit compliance.

Collaboration and Continuous Improvement

• Collaborate with senior engineers to implement architectural patterns and team standards across deployment pipelines and shared tooling.
• Participate in sprint ceremonies, technical discussions, and design reviews; contribute constructively to team decision-making.
• Learn from senior teammates and apply feedback promptly; demonstrate growth in technical capability over time.
• Contribute to identifying and automating repetitive manual operational tasks within the team's scope.