Principal Software Engineer/Developer

Overview

The Principal Software Engineer/Developer is a highly experienced technical leader and recognized authority responsible for defining and driving enterprise-wide architecture strategies across cloud, application modernization, and secure distributed systems. This role operates at a senior leadership level, influencing technology direction, advising executive stakeholders, and ensuring alignment between enterprise architecture, business objectives, and federal or regulated requirements. The Software Engineer/Developer leads highly complex initiatives involving cloud transformation, Azure-based solutions, systems integration, and secure application development, while mentoring technical teams and establishing architectural standards across the organization. 

Responsibilities

• Define and lead enterprise architecture strategy across cloud, applications, and infrastructure  

• Develop multi-year technology roadmaps aligned with organizational and client objectives  

• Establish architecture standards, reference models, and governance frameworks  

• Advise executive leadership on emerging technologies, risks, and investment priorities  

• Architect and oversee complex Microsoft Azure solutions, including hybrid and multi-cloud environments  

• Lead enterprise cloud adoption, migration, and modernization strategies  

• Design and deploy cloud solutions on Microsoft Azure leveraging tools and services including Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure App Services, Azure Functions (Serverless), networking, security, and advanced Data & AI capabilities to build secure, high-performance, scalable, and resilient enterprise applications 

• Serve as a hands-on technical leader by actively contributing to application design and development efforts using the Microsoft .NET framework and related technologies. 

• Perform hands-on coding, code reviews, prototyping, and technical implementation activities to ensure architectural standards and solution quality are achieved. 

• Develop and maintain Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solutions using Terraform and Azure Bicep to support automated, repeatable, and compliant cloud deployments. 

• Ensure optimization for performance, scalability, resilience, and cost efficiency  

• Lead large-scale application modernization initiatives  

• Establish best practices for microservices, API-first, and event-driven architectures  

• Guide development teams in full-stack and cloud-native development  

• Ensure security-by-design principles  

• Oversee alignment with federal frameworks (e.g., NIST, Zero Trust)  

• Partner with cybersecurity teams  

• Lead cross-functional teams  

• Drive DevSecOps and automation  

• Serve as trusted advisor  

• Redesign data structures to support modern, scalable, and efficient data architectures  

• Plan and execute comprehensive data mapping activities across systems, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and alignment with enterprise standards  

• Develop end-to-end solution designs that align business requirements with system capabilities, ensuring seamless integration and data flow  

• Leverage AI tools and technologies to enhance architectural design, productivity, and decision-making  

• Demonstrate hands-on experience implementing AI-driven solutions that improve business processes, efficiency, and insights  

• Communicate effectively across all levels of the organization, including technical teams, senior leadership, executives, and external customers  

• Serve as the primary technical interface to customers, ensuring clear, consistent, and professional communication of solutions and outcomes  

• Translate complex technical concepts, architectures, and trade-offs into concise, business-friendly language  

• Present solution options with clear pros/cons, risks, and trade-offs to support informed decision-making  

• Develop and communicate reasonable level-of-effort estimates, timelines, and solution assumptions 
• Demonstrated experience leading enterprise-scale transformation initiatives
• Experience in federal, regulated, or large-scale enterprise environments strongly preferred
• Preferred certifications in Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert and Microsoft Azure Developer Associate
• Optional/preferred certifications include CISSP, CCSP, CISM, TOGAF, or equivalent architecture, cloud, or security-related credentials. Candidates are not required to possess securit