Full Stack Software Developer Contract Jobs in Washington

At Ardent, we hire people who want more than a job - they want to serve a mission that matters. Our teams support the federal government's most critical national security and defense priorities, helping protect the nation, strengthen resilience, and advance the technologies and capabilities that keep America secure. For veterans, cleared professionals, and purpose-driven innovators, Ardent is a place to continue serving alongside a team that understands the importance of the mission and the people behind it.

We also know top talent has choices, which is why we back our mission with benefits and flexibility that stand out: competitive pay, comprehensive health coverage, flexible PTO, federal holidays off, tuition reimbursement, professional development support, wellness stipends, and a culture that values and rewards hard work, dedication, and adaptability. If you want to build something meaningful, while enjoying the kind of flexibility and support that you need to do your best work - Ardent is where your next mission begins.

Ardent is seeking a Full Stack Software Developer to join our team.  

This is a onsite position in Washington DC.

Position Description:

Ardent is seeking a professional full stack software development services to support the design, development, testing, and maintenance of web applications and supporting backend services. This engagement is focused on continuous delivery of working software through iterative development cycles, adherence to modern engineering practices, and close collaboration with technical staff and stakeholders.

The Developer shall provide development expertise across the full application stack, including Python-based backend APIs (FastAPI), ReactJS-based front-end interfaces, PostgreSQL databases, and containerized deployments targeting AWS cloud infrastructure. The Developer shall operate within the trunk-based development workflow, contributing clean, reviewed, and well-documented code through shared branching strategies with frequent integration to the main branch.

Responsibilities and Duties:

Application Development and Feature Delivery
  Design, develop, test, and deploy new features and enhancements across front-end (ReactJS) and back-end (Python/FastAPI) layers of CBO applications.
  Build and maintain RESTful APIs using FastAPI, ensuring proper validation, error handling, versioning, and documentation (e.g., OpenAPI/Swagger).
  Develop responsive, accessible front-end interfaces using ReactJS, adhering to CBO UX standards and Section 508 accessibility requirements.
  Implement and manage data models, queries, migrations, and stored procedures within PostgreSQL databases, with attention to performance and data integrity.

Trunk-Based Development and Collaboration
  Operate within CBO's trunk-based development workflow, committing small, incremental changes frequently to the main branch to reduce integration risk and maintain a releasable codebase.
  Participate in code reviews, providing and receiving constructive technical feedback to maintain code quality and consistency.
  Collaborate with CBO engineers, product owners, and analysts to understand requirements, refine user stories, and deliver working software iteratively.
  Adhere to CBO's branching, commit, and merge standards, including the use of short-lived feature branches and feature flags where applicable.

Containerization and Cloud Deployment
  Package applications and services using Docker, maintaining clean, minimal, and reproducible container images.
  Support deployment of containerized workloads to AWS environments (e.g., ECS, EKS, or equivalent managed services), working within existing cloud infrastructure patterns established by CBO's infrastructure team.
  Demonstrate working knowledge of AWS services relevant to application hosting and operation, including but not limited to EC2, S3, RDS, CloudWatch, IAM, and VPC networking concepts.
  Collaborate with CBO infrastructure staff on environment configuration, secrets management, and cloud resource usage. The Contractor is not expected to serve as a dedicated IaC or CI/CD engineer but should be comfortable working within automated deployment pipelines and contributing pipeline-compatible code.

Maintenance, Bug Fixes, and Technical Debt Reduction
  Investigate, diagnose, and resolve application defects, performance issues, and security vulnerabilities across all layers of the stack.
  Proactively identify and address technical debt, refactoring code to improve maintainability, readability, and test coverage.
  Monitor application behavior and logs (e.g., via AWS CloudWatch or equivalent) and respond to operational issues as needed.

Testing and Quality Assurance
  Write and maintain automated unit, integration, and regression tests for both back-end (pytest or equivalent) and front-end (Jest, React Testing Library, or equivalent) code.
  Ensure new features and bug fixes are accompanied by appropriate test coverage prior to merge.
  Participate in functional and user acceptance testing in coordination with CBO stakeholders.

Documentation
  Maintain accurate, up-to-date technical documentation for all developed systems, including API documentation, data model diagrams, architecture decision records (ADRs), and developer setup guides.
  Document operational procedures, environment configurations, and known issues in CBO's designated knowledge management platform.

Requirements: 

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or a related technical field (or equivalent combination of education and experience)
• 5+ years of professional experience in full stack software development.
• Demonstrated experience developing and maintaining web applications using Python and FastAPI.
• Strong proficiency in ReactJS, JavaScript/TypeScript, HTML5, and CSS.
• Experience designing, developing, and supporting RESTful APIs, including API documentation and versioning.
• Hands-on experience with PostgreSQL database design, query optimization, data modeling, and database administration concepts.
• Experience building, deploying, and managing applications using Docker containers.
• Working knowledge of AWS cloud services, including EC2, S3, RDS, IAM, VPC, and CloudWatch.
• Experience participating in Agile development environments, including sprint planning, backlog refinement, code reviews, and retrospectives.
• Experience using Git-based source control and collaborative development workflows.
• Strong understanding of software development best practices, including secure coding, testing, debugging, and documentation.
• Ability to troubleshoot and resolve application, database, and infrastructure-related issues.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to collaborate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Due to the nature of the work we support, all candidates in consideration for this role must be willing to undergo the government issued background investigation process.

Ardent is an equal opportunity employer. We will not discriminate in employment, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment against any employee or job applicant on the bases of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran's status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or any other basis protected by state, local, or federal law.