Senior R&D Software Developer Jobs in Frederick, MD

Job ID: 114693
DRS RADA Technologies, a subsidiary of Leonardo DRS, is focused on proprietary radar solutions and legacy avionics systems supporting the defense industry globally. The company is a global pioneer of AESA tactical radars for active military protection, counter-drone applications, critical infrastructure protection, and border surveillance.
Job Summary
DRS RADA Technologies in Germantown, MD, is hiring a Senior Software Engineer-Applied AI. This position is full time and on-site.
We are a global pioneer in AESA tactical radar, as a Senior Software Engineer-Applied AI, you'll build the tools, backend services, and internal applications that bring AI/ML into our software development and business workflows. This is a hands-on engineering role: you'll ship LLM integrations, retrieval and summarization pipelines, workflow automation, and classification tooling on a Linux-based platform, working in Python alongside engineers building Rust microservices and TypeScript UIs.
You'll partner with technical leads and domain experts to turn AI/ML requirements into maintainable, production-grade software, owning the engineering that takes models from prototype to production. As a senior member of the team, you'll also mentor engineers and set the bar on design, code quality, and engineering practices.
Job Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain internal tools, backend services, and automation workflows in Python on a Linux platform
• Develop AI/ML-enabled features: document search, summarization, extraction, retrieval-based workflows, and intelligent automation
• Integrate LLMs, APIs, and internal/external services; define service interfaces and data contracts across Python, Rust, and TypeScript
• Support the ML lifecycle (dataset preparation, labeling, training/evaluation automation, and model integration) in partnership with technical leads and domain experts
• Write testable, production-quality code and own deployment, logging, troubleshooting, and documentation in Linux environments
• Mentor engineers and provide technical leadership on design and sound engineering practices

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• 5+ years of professional software development experience
• Strong Python proficiency and experience building software in Linux environments
• Experience building backend services, internal tools, automation, or APIs, working with both structured and unstructured data
• Hands-on experience with AI/ML-enabled applications (e.g., document search, summarization, extraction, prompt-based workflows, model evaluation/integration, or classification pipelines)
• Familiarity with modern engineering practices: version control, testing, debugging, and code review
• Strong problem-solving skills and effective collaboration across backend, platform, and UI teams and with domain experts

Preferred Qualifications

• RAG pipelines, embeddings, vector search, or document retrieval workflows
• Ollama, open-source LLMs, or private/local model deployment
• LangChain, LlamaIndex, or similar orchestration frameworks
• FastAPI, Flask, or similar backend frameworks; microservice and service-integration patterns
• Docker, CI/CD, logging, and observability in Linux environments
• Model evaluation or classification work using structured, image, time-series, or sensor-derived datasets

U.S. Citizenship required. This position requires an active DOD security clearance or the ability to obtain such clearance within a reasonable time after commencement of employment.
The salary range for this position is $107,089.00-$155,000.00. This range reflects the good faith estimate of pay the employer is willing to offer at the time of posting. Several factors can influence the pay scale, including but not limited to: Federal contract labor categories and contract wage rates, collective bargaining agreements, geographic location, business considerations, scope, and responsibilities of the position, local or other applicable market conditions, and internal equity. Other factors include the candidate's qualifications such as prior work experience, specific skills and competencies, education/training, and certifications. In addition to base pay, employees may be eligible for: annual performance-based bonuses, equity awards, and overtime pay (for non-exempt employees as applicable. Our benefits package includes comprehensive health insurance (medical, dental, vision), employer matching 401(k) retirement plan, paid time off including vacation, holidays, and sick leave (including ant state-mandated paid sick leave), parental leave benefits, tuition reimbursement, professional development support, and life and disability insurance coverage.
Taking care of our people is a top priority at Leonardo DRS. We are proud to offer competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, a company contribution to a health savings account, telemedicine, life and disability insurance, legal insurance, and a 401(k) savings plan. We champion wellness programs that focus on physical, emotional, and financial well-being. We develop our talent by offering programs and activities to support career-growth, professional development, and skill enhancement. And we understand there is more to life than work, and the importance of offering flexible work schedules with our 9/80 program, competitive vacation, health/emergency leave, paid parental leave, and community service hours.
*Some employees are eligible for limited benefits only
Leonardo DRS, Inc. and its subsidiaries provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.
Our Vision. To be the leading mid-tier defense technology company in the U.S.
Our Values. The Leonardo DRS culture is defined by our Core Values and Principles:
- Integrity
- Agility
- Excellence
- Customer Focus
- Community & Respect
- Innovation
We strive to uphold them in all aspects of our business practices to inspire our employees and provide outstanding support for our customers.