Backend Developer, Data Platform

Reston, VA

Active TS/SCI with Poly Clearance required

@Orchard is retained by a top geospatial technology company supporting important operations missions to U.S. Government customers. Our client is forging the new frontier of spatial intelligence, helping decision makers and operators navigate what’s happening now and shape what’s coming next.  They are a place for problem solvers, changemakers, and go-getters—where people are working together to help our customers see the world differently, and in doing so, be seen differently. Come be part of a mission, not just a job, where you can: Shape your own future, build the next big thing, and change the world.

We are seeking an experienced Backend Developer/Engineer to join a hybrid agile team and help build and scale our client’s data platform to support IC AI efforts.

This position requires an active U.S. Government Security Clearance at the TS/SCI level with CI Polygraph.

Responsibilities:

• Design, build, and maintain backend services and platform components for a modern data architecture
• Build integrations with internal and external data sources, APIs, and event streams
• Partner with data engineering, analytics, and product managers to define scalable data models and platform capabilities
• Improve reliability, observability, and performance of data workflows and backend services
• Implement best practices for testing, monitoring, logging, and deployment
• Contribute to architecture decisions around storage, orchestration, metadata management, and access patterns
• Help establish engineering standards for code quality, documentation, CI/CD, and operational excellence
• Troubleshoot and debug production systems

Minimum Qualifications:

• Active TS/SCI clearance with CI Polygraph.
• Bachelor's degree in a related field, e.g. Computer Science, Systems Engineering or equivalent experience
• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, with strong backend development skills
• Strong proficiency in Python
• Experience building backend systems, APIs, or distributed services in production environments
• PostgreSQL and Elasticsearch proficiency
• Familiarity with AWS, especially S3, RDS, and other data centric services
• Understanding of software engineering fundamentals including testing, version control, CI/CD, and system design
• Tenacious troubleshooting, problem solving and error fixing mentality
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, ability to work, collaborate and thrive on a small technical team.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working with data platforms, data pipelines, ETL/ELT workflows, or large-scale data processing systems
• Gitlab and Gitlab CI experience
• Openshift and Helm experience
• Docker and containerization experience
• DoD 8570 IAT II and Privileged User Access requirements met (Security+, CySA+, CCNA Security, GICSP, GSEC, SSCP)

Established in 2010, @Orchard has an exceptional reputation, providing talent acquisition solutions to time-sensitive, talent scarcity issues to deliver better talent management ROI.  Our specialty lies in the critical area of program talent acquisition and resource management, not in one narrow skillset, but across many areas of technical and functional delivery. To learn more about our other exciting opportunities, visit our Jobs Page at www.atorchard.com.