Freelance Full Stack Software Engineer Jobs in Silver Spring, MD

Full Stack Software Engineer
Job Locations US-DC
Req No. 2026-2028 Category Full Stack Software Engineer – Secure Messaging Systems Type Regular Full-Time Clearance Level Secret
Overview Agile Empowerment Technologies (AET), a division of Brandes Associates, is seeking a Full Stack Software Engineer with 5+ years of experience to support the continued development, modernization, and sustainment of secure mission software products used in DoD, Intelligence Community, and allied mission environments. AET’s products support secure data movement, message transformation, information sharing, and interoperability across mission-critical customer environments. This position offers the opportunity to work across the full application stack while contributing to secure messaging, data integration, CI/CD modernization, AI-assisted software engineering workflows, and future product capabilities. This position is approximately 85% work from home, with limited in-person collaboration as required, and is well suited for a hands-on software engineer who wants to contribute to mission-focused product development within a small, experienced, and technically disciplined team. Candidates should reside in, or be willing to relocate to, the Baltimore/Washington DC metro area to support periodic in-person collaboration, customer-related activities, secure-environment requirements, team meetings, or other business needs. Opportunities for career advancement, excellent benefits and stability are some of the advantages of our well-established, employee-focused company.  Responsibilities The Full Stack Software Engineer will support the design, development, modernization, testing, and sustainment of AET’s secure mission software products. This position contributes across the full application stack, including user interface components, backend services, API layers, integration and messaging services, relational databases, automated testing, and deployment-support activities. The engineer will help AET evolve its software products and engineering practices toward a more scalable, secure, AI-enabled, and well-documented product organization. The individual will work with Product Ownership, Mission Systems Engineering, QA, Operations, Program Management, and technical leadership to translate customer, mission, and product needs into maintainable software capabilities. Primary responsibilities include: Design, develop, unit test, integrate, and maintain Java and JavaScript-based software capabilities.
Support message transformation, routing, and integration involving XML, JSON, custom message formats, and mission-specific data exchange patterns.
Contribute to enhancements, defect resolution, refactoring, and technical debt reduction within AET’s existing product baseline.
Participate in product planning, backlog refinement, technical design discussions, code reviews, implementation, integration testing, release preparation, and post-release support.
Support Git-based workflows, CI/CD improvements, automated testing, static analysis, dependency review, SBOM generation, security scanning, build automation, release quality gates, and repeatable deployment-support practices.
Use AI-assisted engineering tools responsibly to improve productivity in code analysis, test generation, documentation, troubleshooting, refactoring support, and workflow automation.
Support the interface between software development and Mission Systems Engineering by investigating field-reported issues, reproducing defects, evaluating operational feedback, supporting release packaging, and improving product supportability.
Document design decisions, implementation notes, troubleshooting procedures, support-relevant technical information, build and release practices, test approaches, and lessons learned.
Qualifications Years of Experience: Minimum of 5 years of professional software engineering experience; exceptional candidates with 3+ years of highly relevant full-stack, integration, or secure systems experience may be considered
Backend: Strong Java development experience; ability to work on existing Java codebases and modernize/refactor safely
Frontend: JavaScript and preferably TypeScript; experience with modern web UI development
Full Stack Delivery: Ability to work from UI through API/service layer, integration/messaging components, and database persistence
Integration: Experience with REST APIs, XML, JSON, message transformation, schema-driven data exchange, and custom message formats
Databases: SQL and relational database experience, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, or Oracle
Platforms: Comfortable developing and troubleshooting on Linux and Windows
Development Workflow Tools: Experience using Jira, Confluence, GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, or equivalent tools for issue tracking, documentation, source control, code review, and team coordination
Source Control: Git experience, including branching, pull requests, code review, and disciplined commit practices
Testing: Unit testing, integration testing, debugging, and defect resolution
Remote Work: Proven ability to work effectively in a mostly remote, geographically dispersed team
Communication: Ability to explain technical work clearly to product owners, Mission Systems Engineering, QA, support, and leadership
Desired Experience Secure Messaging / Integration: Experience with enterprise messaging, message brokers, ESB/integration frameworks, Apache Camel, Mule, JMS, AMQP, RabbitMQ, ActiveMQ/Artemis, or similar technologies
Defense / IC Environment: Experience supporting DoD, IC, federal, or classified software environments
DevSecOps: CI/CD pipelines, automated analyzers, SBOM generation, security scans, build gates, and release automation
Containers: Docker or containerized development/test environments; Kubernetes helpful but not mandatory
Knowledge Capture: Willingness to document design decisions, support runbooks, troubleshooting procedures, and engineering practices
Product Mindset: Experience balancing roadmap work, customer issues, defects, technical debt, and release readiness
Quality Systems: Familiarity with ISO/QMS, configuration control, change control, or regulated development practices
Security Mindset: Familiarity with least privilege, auditability, secure coding, dependency risk, vulnerability remediation, and controlled release practices
EDUCATION Degree: BA/BS in Computer Science, Software Engineering, related technical field, or equivalent practical experience Allowable Substitution: Seven years of relevant experience may substitute for degree requirement CLEARANCE – Secret Condition of Employment: Applicants must possess an active DoD Secret clearance at the time of hire. The selected candidate will be subject to a security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information. The selected candidate must be eligible and willing to be submitted for a TS/SCI clearance with Full Scope Polygraph after hire. Ability to maintain required clearance eligibility is a condition of continued employment in this role. CITIZENSHIP The applicant must have US citizenship at the time of application. BAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other non-merit based factors made unlawful by federal, state or local laws.