Senior Technical Lead — R&D Mission Solutions

Senior Technical Lead — R&D Mission Platforms

Location: United States
Work Model: Remote
Travel: Approximately 15% for R&D events, technical demos, and collaboration sessions
Clearance: U.S. citizenship required. Active Secret clearance preferred; candidates must be eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance.

Role Overview

Rackner is seeking a Senior Technical Lead — R&D Mission Platforms to help design, prototype, demonstrate, and advance mission-relevant software capabilities within our internal R&D environment.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role for someone who can move from concept to working software quickly, operate in ambiguity, and communicate technical ideas clearly to engineering and non-engineering stakeholders. You will work closely with Rackner’s technical leadership and R&D team to build modern platform capabilities, support technical demos, and help translate operational needs into practical software solutions.

The right candidate will be comfortable balancing deep technical work with customer-facing interaction. This role is not a traditional heads-down engineering position. It is designed for someone who can build, explain, iterate, and represent technical work in mission-focused environments.

What You'll Do

• Lead the design, prototyping, and development of mission-relevant software and platform capabilities
• Build backend services, APIs, full-stack applications, and cloud-native components using modern engineering practices
• Translate ambiguous mission needs, user workflows, and technical concepts into working software
• Support rapid build, demo, feedback, and iteration cycles for R&D initiatives
• Collaborate directly with technical leadership, R&D engineers, and stakeholders on architecture and implementation decisions
• Participate in technical demos, customer-facing discussions, and mission-focused events
• Help shape system design, platform direction, and technical tradeoffs across emerging capabilities
• Guide or mentor other engineers through architecture decisions, prototyping efforts, and implementation challenges
• Deploy and support applications in cloud-native, containerized, or Kubernetes-based environments
• Use modern development workflows, including AI-assisted tools where appropriate, to accelerate prototyping, testing, and delivery
• Represent Rackner’s technical work with clarity, professionalism, and credibility in collaborative settings

Minimum Qualifications

• U.S. citizenship required due to federal contract requirements
• Professional background developing software systems, backend services, APIs, full-stack applications, or platform capabilities
• Proficiency with Python, JavaScript / TypeScript, or similar modern programming languages
• Hands-on knowledge of cloud platforms, containers, Kubernetes, DevSecOps, or cloud-native deployment environments
• Ability to work independently in ambiguous, prototype-driven, or fast-moving technical settings
• Strong communication skills with the ability to explain complex concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Demonstrated ownership of engineering outcomes from concept through implementation
• Willingness to travel approximately 15% for R&D events, technical demos, collaboration sessions, or mission-focused engagements

Preferred Qualifications

• Active Secret clearance or higher
• Background supporting DoD, Air Force, Platform One, Big Bang, DevSecOps, mission planning, C2, ISR, autonomy, or defense software programs
• Ability to engage with operators, mission users, customers, or non-engineering stakeholders to understand workflows and translate needs into technical solutions
• Familiarity with Python, TypeScript, JavaScript, React, Go, FastAPI, Postgres, AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, Helm, Terraform, or CI/CD tooling
• History of leading engineering projects, serving as an informal technical lead, or guiding architecture decisions
• Involvement in technical demos, pilots, field events, customer-facing discussions, or live exercises
• Background building in R&D, prototype-heavy, startup-like, defense tech, or mission-focused environments
• Exposure to AI-enabled systems, LLMs, automation-heavy software, data-driven decision tools, or autonomy-adjacent technologies
• Familiarity with secure software delivery, observability, infrastructure-as-code, or compliance-aware engineering practices

Travel & Event Support

This role requires approximately 15% travel for R&