Senior Applications Engineer (DLA)
Expression is seeking an experienced Senior Applications Engineer to support the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Defense Automatic Addressing System (DAAS) Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) Support effort.
The Senior Applications Engineer will serve as a key technical contributor responsible for analyzing complex system requirements, designing and implementing software solutions, and supporting the development, deployment, configuration management, testing, and sustainment of AI/ML capabilities within the DAAS environment. This role will work closely with software architects, developers, requirements analysts, cybersecurity personnel, and Government stakeholders to deliver secure, scalable, and maintainable solutions in an AWS GovCloud Impact Level 5 (IL5) environment.
The position will contribute across the software lifecycle, from requirements and solution design through implementation, testing, production deployment, and sustainment. The role will also help ensure that software solutions meet DLA cybersecurity, configuration management, accessibility, and operational requirements.
Clearance/Security: Secret clearance or above.
Location: Hybrid in VA. You must be available to periodically support meetings at DLA Headquarters at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, or other locations in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Contract travel is also anticipated, including travel to Dayton, Ohio.
Key Responsibilities
- Analyze complex system and business requirements and translate them into scalable software designs, technical specifications, architectures, and implementation approaches.
Design, develop, integrate, and sustain reusable software components, applications, and AI/ML capabilities within DLA’s AWS GovCloud environment.
Collaborate with architects, engineers, Government stakeholders, and contractor teams to integrate approved data sources, including application data, infrastructure and application logs, and transaction information, in support of AI/ML use cases.
- Develop, integrate, test, deploy, and sustain software solutions across development, test, and production environments using formal software engineering and design practices.
Review existing applications and software components and recommend improvements to performance, scalability, maintainability, reliability, availability, and operational efficiency.
Support technical planning and estimation, including development effort, dependencies, schedules, implementation risks, and changing workload demands.
Design and support scalable architectures incorporating high availability, load balancing, authentication, monitoring, dashboards, and other operational requirements.
Apply DevSecOps practices, including automated CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code, configuration management, software baselines, change control, and release management.
Develop and maintain technical documentation, including requirements traceability, design and solution architecture documentation, configuration records, release documentation, and deployment artifacts.
Plan and support applicable unit, system, interface, regression, performance, integration/interoperability, negative, security, and Section 508 testing.
Troubleshoot and resolve application defects, integration issues, and production incidents, including break/fix, post-deployment monitoring, and sustainment activities.
Incorporate cybersecurity requirements into solution design and implementation, including role-based access control, CAC and PKI-based authentication, encryption, and secure interfaces.
Operate within applicable DLA configuration management, cybersecurity, Risk Management Framework (RMF), and Authority to Operate (ATO) processes.
Participate in technical interchange meetings, requirements working groups, design reviews, Configuration Control Boards, and other technical forums to resolve dependencies, support decision-making, and facilitate knowledge transfer.
Support the development, integration, deployment, and sustainment of AI/ML models and associated user-facing capabilities across approved DAAS use cases.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor's degree (BA/BS) in a technical discipline with minimum 10 years of professional experience in applications engineering, software engineering, software development, systems engineering, or closely related technical work.
- Experience developing or sustaining applications in AWS or AWS GovCloud, particularly environments supporting DoD workloads.
- Experience supporting AI/ML applications, advanced analytics platforms, predictive models, or production ML integrations.
- Experience with cloud-native application architectures, scalable services, high availability, load balancing, monitoring, and observability.
- Experience with DevSecOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, automated deployments, and infrastructure as code.
- Experience supporting applications operating in DoD Impact Level 5 (IL5) environments.
Demonstrated experience analyzing complex system requirements and translating requirements into software designs and implementations.
Experience applying structured software engineering and design techniques throughout the software development lifecycle.
Experience supporting software configuration management, change control, and release processes.
Ability to develop and maintain clear technical specifications, design documentation, and other engineering artifacts.
Strong written and verbal communication skills appropriate for technical documentation, design discussions, and Government/customer engagements.
Preferred Qualifications
Familiarity with DoD cybersecurity requirements, RMF, ATO processes, STIGs, vulnerability remediation, or zero-trust principles.
Experience developing applications using role-based access controls, CAC/PKI authentication, and encryption.
Experience with automated and manual software testing across unit, integration, regression, performance, security, and user-acceptance testing.
Experience supporting Agile software development and sustainment teams.
Experience developing Section 508-compliant web capabilities.
Experience supporting DLA, DoD, or other Federal Government enterprise IT programs.
Experience supporting production applications requiring ongoing enhancement, break/fix support, performance optimization, and configuration management.
Benefits:
Expression offers competitive salaries and benefits, such as:
- 401k matching
- PPO and HDHP medical/dental/vision insurance
- Education reimbursement up to $10,000/yr
- Complimentary life insurance
- Generous PTO and 11 days of holiday leave
- Onsite gym facility and trainer
- Commuter Benefits Plan
- In-office Cold Brew Coffee
About Expression:
Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Washington DC, Expression provides data fusion, data analytics, AI/ML, software engineering, information technology, and electromagnetic spectrum management solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of State, and national security community. Expression’s culture focuses on creating immediate and sustainable value for our clients via agile delivery of tailored solutions built through constant engagement with our clients. Expression was ranked #1 on the Washington Technology 2018's Fast 50 list of fastest-growing small business Government contractors and a Top 20 Big Data Solutions Provider by CIO Review.
We make sure to provide everyone with the tools and opportunities to grow while working on some of the newest technologies in the industry. We get excited about celebrating our professionals' milestones, accomplishments, promotions, overcoming challenges, and many other aspects that make an engaging collaborative environment.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled
Expression is an Equal Opportunity Employer. If you require a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please submit your request to our Human Resources department through the application portal.