Software Architect Contract Jobs in Reston, VA (NOW HIRING)

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Job Description:

Parsons is looking for an amazingly talented Software Architect to join our team!

In this role you will lead the architecture, technical evolution, and operational design of a large-scale, globally distributed mission platform deployed across multiple countries and managed remotely from the United States.

This platform supports real-time transaction processing, distributed data management, integration with external government and commercial systems, peripheral/device orchestration, and centralized observability and administration.

The successful candidate will be the overall software architecture authority for a modern Linux-based platform composed of approximately 25 core microservices and a broad set of supporting/integration services. The environment is cloud-heavy, distributed, operationally critical, and deployed in both constrained edge settings and larger centralized/cloud environments.

This role requires someone who can define and govern architecture while remaining grounded in the realities of runtime operations, resilience, fieldability, and maintainability.

What You'll Be Doing:

• Own the overall software architecture for a distributed microservices platform running across global environments

• Maintain and evolve an ecosystem of approximately:

  • 25 core Java-based microservices

  • a comparable set of supporting and integration services

• Define and govern architecture across:

  • service boundaries and contracts

  • data flows and event patterns

  • control plane and backplane behavior

  • node roles and deployment topologies

  • observability, fault tolerance, and service recovery

• Lead architecture for a platform based on:

  • RHEL / Rocky Linux

  • Java (JDK 21+)

  • Vue.js 3 frontends

  • MongoDB for persistent data

  • Elasticsearch / Logstash and RabbitMQ for ephemeral/search/event data flows

  • Consul, Nomad, and Vault for service discovery, orchestration, and secrets management

• Architect deployment patterns for multiple node types, including:

  • server nodes

  • data nodes

  • arbiter nodes

  • workstation/user-facing nodes

• Guide the technical design of core operational services responsible for:

  • transactional processing

  • rules/screening/correlation workflows

  • authorization and access control

  • reference/master data management

  • language/internationalization support

  • health/status services

  • biometric or matching-oriented services built on open-source components

• Oversee architecture for peripheral/device services supporting integration with a broad set of external devices and sensors

• Lead integration architecture for external standards-based and partner system interfaces, including:

  • third-party government systems

  • commercial travel/identity/manifest-style systems

  • country/customer-specific extensions

• Ensure the platform remains remotely observable, supportable, and maintainable across all deployments

• Partner with cloud, network, security, data, field engineering, and operations teams to align architecture with deployment realities

• Review and guide software design decisions, technical debt reduction, modernization priorities, and roadmap sequencing

• Serve as a senior technical authority in design reviews, readiness reviews, problem resolution, and major incident analysis

What Required Skills You'll Bring:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Engineering, Information Systems, or related technical field. 4 Additional years of experience can substitute for a degree.

• 12+ years of software engineering experience, including significant time in software architecture roles for distributed or mission-critical systems

• 5+ years architecting microservices-based platforms in production

• Demonstrated ability to serve as the technical authority over a multi-service software ecosystem

• Experience guiding multiple development teams and reviewing architecture across service boundaries

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including ability to produce design artifacts and present architecture decisions clearly

• Experience balancing long-term architecture quality with delivery constraints and operational realities

• Deep hands-on expertise with:

  • Java on modern JDKs, preferably JDK 21+

  • Linux-based production environments, preferably RHEL / Rocky Linux

  • distributed service design and operational patterns

• Strong experience with:

  • MongoDB

  • Elasticsearch / Logstash

  • RabbitMQ or equivalent event/messaging platforms

  • service discovery/orchestration/secrets technologies such as Consul, Nomad, Vault, Kubernetes, or similar

• Experience designing systems that operate across:

  • constrained edge environments

  • centralized or cloud-heavy environments

  • globally distributed deployments with intermittent or variable connectivity

• Proven ability to architect for:

  • resilience and graceful degradation

  • observability and diagnosability

  • secure service-to-service communication

  • multi-role user administration and authorization

  • remote support and lifecycle management

• TS/SCI minimum clearance required.

• Domestic and/or international project travel may be required.

What Desired Skills You'll Bring:

• Master's degree in Data Engineering, Computer Science, Analytics, or related field

• Experience with Vue.js 3 and modern frontend architecture patterns for administrative or operational interfaces

• Experience with hybrid cloud and cloud-heavy deployments where backend services are centralized and edge nodes are thin

• Experience integrating with external standards-based government, identity, travel, or partner ecosystems

• Experience designing platforms that manage or integrate with peripherals/devices such as scanners, readers, imaging devices, kiosks, or other edge hardware

• Experience with Nomad/Consul/Vault specifically in production

• Experience architecting systems with zero/low downtime upgrade paths

• Experience with semantic, cognitive, or advanced search use cases on Elasticsearch

• Familiarity with event replay, reconciliation, and offline-sync patterns

• Experience working closely with field engineering or remote deployment teams

• Experience with large-scale modernization of legacy monoliths to service-oriented or microservices-based platforms

• Familiarity with open-source biometric, matching, search, or image processing components

• Experience with multilingual/internationalized systems deployed across multiple countries or regions

• Experience supporting operational analytics/reporting services built on transaction/event data

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and release discipline for multi-service distributed systems

Security Clearance Requirement:

An active Top Secret SCI security clearance is required for this position.This position is part of our Federal Solutions team.The Federal Solutions segment delivers resources to our US government customers that ensure the success of missions around the globe. Our intelligent employees drive the state of the art as they provide services and solutions in the areas of defense, security, intelligence, infrastructure, and environmental. We promote a culture of excellence and close-knit teams that take pride in delivering, protecting, and sustaining our nation's most critical assets, from Earth to cyberspace. Throughout the company, our people are anticipating what's next to deliver the solutions our customers need now.Salary Range: $148,300.00 - $266,900.00We value our employees and want our employees to take care of their overall wellbeing, which is why we offer best-in-class benefits such as medical, dental, vision, paid time off, Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), 401(k), life insurance, flexible work schedules, and holidays to fit your busy lifestyle!Parsons is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other protected status.We truly invest and care about our employee's wellbeing and provide endless growth opportunities as the sky is the limit, so aim for the stars! Imagine next and join the Parsons quest-APPLY TODAY!

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