Senior Software Developer - Forward Deployed Model
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Oct 1, 2026. First seen by Alion on Oct 1, 2026.
Title: Senior Software Developer
Department: Software Development
Location: Herndon, VA (Hybrid)
Compensation: $110,000-$170,000 annually
About Idea Entity
At Idea Entity, we transform customer pain points into insightful, scalable, agent-powered workflows built with empathy, clarity, and speed. Our work bridges strategy and execution, helping organizations simplify complex processes and make smarter, faster decisions. We take pride in being a partner our clients can trust, delivering meaningful outcomes through innovation, collaboration, and accountability. Every project we take on is driven by the shared goal of creating lasting impact for our customers and their businesses.
Role Summary
We are looking for an experienced Senior Software Developer to design, build, test, deploy, and support scalable software solutions that solve complex customer problems.
This role follows a forward-deployed engineering model and goes beyond traditional software development. The Software Developer will work directly with customers to understand operational challenges, rapidly translate those needs into technical solutions, and remain engaged through implementation, deployment, adoption, and iteration.
We are looking for a strong, versatile engineer who can take broad ownership, work independently, collaborate effectively with project and customer teams, and use AI to increase development speed and quality.
Requirements
Key Responsibilities
- Architect, design, develop, test, deploy, and support high-quality software solutions with appropriate availability, reliability, security, performance, and maintainability.
- Use AI-enabled development tools and techniques as an integral part of software design, coding, testing, troubleshooting, documentation, and delivery.
- Work directly with customers and end users to discover operational challenges, clarify requirements, identify root problems, and translate those needs into practical technical solutions.
- Own technical solution delivery alongside the customer from discovery and prototyping through demonstrations, implementation, deployment, adoption, and iterative improvement.
- Rapidly prototype, develop, and iterate portals, dashboards, workflows, APIs, integrations, and other application capabilities based on real customer feedback and operational needs.
- Perform and lead code and design reviews, maintaining strong engineering practices, code integrity, security, and quality standards.
- Collaborate across the full software lifecycle, including requirements definition, architecture, development, automated testing, deployment, maintenance, and production support.
- Take end-to-end ownership of ambiguous technical and operational problems, independently driving them from investigation and solution design through implementation and resolution while communicating tradeoffs and recommendations clearly.
- Manage development priorities, deadlines, and deliverables across assigned projects while taking ownership for successful completion.
- Work alongside customers during implementation, deployment, adoption, and optimization, gathering feedback and rapidly adjusting the solution as operational needs evolve.
- Mentor and support other developers and contribute to consistent engineering standards, reusable development patterns, and improved team practices.
- Evaluate emerging technologies, AI capabilities, frameworks, and engineering approaches and apply them where they improve customer outcomes or delivery efficiency.
- Other tasks assigned based on business needs.
Required Skills & Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering, information technology, or a related technical discipline.
- Five (5) + years of professional software development experience covering design, development, testing, deployment, release, and maintenance.
- Strong software engineering fundamentals, including object-oriented design, scalable application architecture, database design, code quality, security, and data protection.
- Active CompTIA Security+ certification or ability to obtain within six (6) months of hire.
- Demonstrated hands-on experience using AI-assisted software-development tools and techniques for core development work, rather than AI knowledge limited to general end-user applications.
- Proficiency with relevant web-development technologies and frameworks, including JavaScript, React, HTML/CSS, REST APIs, and version-control/development tools such as Git and Azure DevOps.
- Experience with cloud and application technologies such as Azure or AWS, ASP.NET Core, SQL/PostgreSQL, or comparable modern platforms.
- Demonstrated ability to work directly with customers and end users, navigate ambiguous requirements, uncover underlying business or operational problems, and communicate technical solutions and tradeoffs clearly.
- Experience taking solutions from customer discovery through design, rapid prototyping, development, testing, deployment, and iterative improvement as part of a multidisciplinary delivery team.
- Department of War, U.S. Air Force, ACC, aircraft maintenance, maintenance operations, or related mission experience preferred, along with experience supporting applications in government or operational customer environments.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication and presentation skills.
- Interest and ability to learn other coding languages as needed.
Core Values Alignment
We are looking for someone who aligns with our core values and who:
- Acts with Customer First mindset - empathizing and building trust through service.
- Takes initiative and Gets Stuff Done without waiting for direction.
- Demonstrates a Strive for Excellence approach in quality and delivery.
- Is a Growth-Through-Learning thinker, always seeking to improve.
- Communicates as a Team-First Communicator, fostering clarity and collaboration.
Benefits
Why Join Us
- Competitive Pay and Health Care Plans incl. Health Savings Account (HAS)/Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
- Retirement Plan 401(k) with employer match
- Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick, Personal Days, and Federal Holidays)
- Hybrid work environments
- Opportunities for continuous growth and learning
Equal Employment Opportunity
Idea Entity is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, age, disability, military status, ethnic or national origin, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Qualified individuals with disabilities and individuals with needs related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions may request reasonable accommodation during the application process or employment.