DevOps/Software Engineer - R143 at Expedition Technology (Herndon, VA)

Expedition Technology· Herndon, VA·1d ago

Role details

Work type

Onsite

Employment

Full-Time

Job description

Are you a software engineer who thrives at the intersection of development and operations? Do you believe DevOps is just good engineering practice? At Expedition Technology (EXP), we’re building a team of engineers who automate everything, deploy with precision, and write clean, maintainable code—all in support of mission-critical systems for the DoD and Intel communities.

We’re looking for a DevOps-minded Software Engineer who can lead the charge in deploying applications into Kubernetes environments, building robust CI/CD pipelines in GitLab, and writing production-grade Python code. You won’t be managing Kubernetes clusters—you’ll be optimizing deployments on third-party infrastructure. You won’t just be writing Helm charts—you’ll be engineering scalable, observable, and resilient systems.

What You’ll Do:

Design and implement GitLab CI/CD pipelines to automate deployment of containerized and source-built applications
Optimize Kubernetes deployments for performance, reliability, and maintainability
Build internal tools and Python-based applications to support mission workflows
Collaborate across teams to establish best practices in software engineering, testing, and observability
Mentor teammates and help grow engineering capabilities across the team
Contribute to the design of verification, validation, and evaluation environments

What You Bring:

U.S. Citizenship - for security clearance eligibility purposes
An active TS/SCI security clearance
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field
5+ years of experience in software engineering with a strong foundation in Python
Ability to write clean, modular, and well-tested code using modern software engineering practices
Strong software engineering fundamentals and experience writing production-quality Python
Deep experience deploying & optimizing deployments in Kubernetes
Strong Docker fundamentals and experience optimizing images
Expertise in GitLab and GitLab CI/CD for automation and delivery
Familiarity with modern DevOps practices including logging, monitoring, and observability
A collaborative mindset and a passion for coaching and mentoring
Familiarity with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS) is a plus, but not the primary focus

Compensation

Salary Ranges by Career Level: Early-career: $95,600 - $147,200 Mid-career: $130,300 - $209,900 Late-career: $154,600 - $242,900

We recognize that every candidate brings a unique combination of experience and expertise. This position may be filled at multiple career levels, and compensation within the posted range will be determined based on relevant experience, education, technical expertise, specialized skills, the level at which the position is filled, and other job-related considerations.

Why work at Expedition Technology

Unique Management Structure: Replaces traditional “bosses” with “coaches” who advocate for career progression and connect employees to learning opportunities. Employees choose their own coach annually.
Exceptional Benefits & Flexibility:
- Individual Benefit Account (IBA): Employees receive a pool of funds to allocate as they wish across healthcare, PTO, and a bonus. Unused IBA dollars are paid out at year-end.
- Flexible Cash PTO: Can take up to 45 days of PTO per calendar year and can cash out unused time.
- Retirement: Up to 12% contribution to a 401(k) (employer match/profit sharing) plus student loan repayment plans.
- Parental Leave: 12 weeks paid for primary caregivers; 2 weeks for secondary.
Learning Culture: Autonomy to guide careers with support from coaches. Benefits include tuition assistance, conference attendance, and internal “brown bag” discussions.
Mission-Driven Work: The opportunity to work on cutting-edge technology that directly impacts national security.
Work Policy: Likely on-site or hybrid, given the classified nature of much of the work (Herndon, VA location).
Commitment to Accessibility: Explicit accommodations policy for candidates with disabilities.

About Expedition Technology

Company Overview

One-liner: Expedition Technology (EXP) applies AI/ML, signal processing, and computer vision to deliver signals intelligence and multi-INT solutions for the U.S. defense and intelligence communities.
Entity Type: Private (Bootstrapped)
Headquarters: Herndon, Virginia, USA
Founded: 2013
Founders: Not publicly available

Core Business

Primary Industries: Defense & National Security, Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Signal Processing, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR/C4ISR)
Target Customers: U.S. Department of Defense, Intelligence Community (IC), and prime defense contractors (B2G/Enterprise)
Mission or Purpose Statement: Build innovative, advanced signal, image, and multi-INT solutions to solve customers’ most complex, demanding, and urgent C4ISR challenges, preserving national safety.

Products & Services

EXP is a research and development (R&D) services and product-oriented company. They do not market off-the-shelf consumer products; they develop custom, mission-focused solutions:

Signal Processing Solutions: Combining traditional signal processing with machine learning algorithms to process gigasamples of data at the edge and in the cloud.
Computer Vision Solutions: Detecting and tracking real-world objects across multiple sensing modalities, capable of performing with scarce training data.
Deep Learning Solutions: Researching and deploying novel neural networks for real-time, raw sensor data challenges.
Embedded Systems Solutions: Implementing FPGA and GPU subsystems for image and signal data classification.
Web / Cloud / DevOps: Building robust, secure solutions using Docker, Kubernetes, and CloudFormation with a focus on CI/CD and automation.

Market Standing

Valuation: Not publicly available (private, non-VC-backed entity).
Key Metric: Over a decade of sustained operations (founded 2013) with a strong reputation in the defense tech sector.
Notable Clients/Partners: U.S. Department of Defense, Intelligence Community (IC), and prime defense contractors. The company’s work is classified and unclassified.
Growth Signals: Active hiring in multiple technical areas (Computer Vision, Deep Learning, Embedded Systems, Cloud) indicates consistent demand and growth. The company states their skills are “in high demand.”

Competitive Advantages

Deep Domain Expertise: Specialized in a highly technical intersection of AI/ML, signal processing, and national security, creating a high barrier to entry.
Research-Driven Culture: Actively performs applied research to advance the state of the art, differentiating them from pure implementation contractors.
Unique Organizational Model: Operates as a “team of teams” using coaches instead of traditional managers, designed to foster autonomy, continuous learning, and rapid reconfiguration for specific project goals.
Product-Oriented Mindset: Unlike many government-services firms, EXP focuses on seeing ideas through to actualized, deployable products.

Strategic Focus

Continuous Research & Innovation: Keeping pace with and pushing the boundaries of AI/ML, sensor processing, and edge computing to solve urgent national security problems.
Talent Retention & Development: Investing heavily in a unique coaching and benefits model to attract and keep top-tier technical talent in a competitive defense-tech labor market.
Agile, Client-Centric Delivery: Maintaining flexibility in project planning to meet specific, unique mission requirements of the DoD and IC.

Sources

Job description

Compensation

Why work at Expedition Technology

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