Zachary Piper Solutions is seeking a Senior AI Software Developer to support the development and modernization of real-time, mission-critical software systems in Gaithersburg, MD. The Senior AI Software Developer will design and develop microservices-based applications while providing technical leadership across Agile development teams and leveraging AI-assisted development tools to improve software delivery, testing, and reliability. This position is hybrid in Gaithersburg, MD with three days onsite per week and requires the ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance!
Responsibilities of the Senior AI Software Developer:
- Design, develop, and maintain scalable microservices-based applications supporting real-time, mission-critical systems
- Lead Agile sprint planning to establish team priorities, deliverables, and technical objectives
- Provide technical leadership and mentorship to software developers while promoting engineering best practices and continuous improvement
- Develop clean, maintainable, testable, and high-performance software using Java, Python, C++, or similar programming languages
- Leverage AI-assisted development tools to accelerate coding, debugging, refactoring, documentation, and automated test creation
- Support development and integration of AI-enabled, data-driven, and intelligent software capabilities
- Collaborate with systems engineering, product owners, architects, DevSecOps engineers, and other technical teams to translate requirements into production software
- Participate in system architecture, application design, and technical decision-making
- Design and integrate REST APIs, databases, messaging systems, and external services
- Develop software for distributed and event-driven application environments
- Implement automated testing strategies including unit, integration, contract, and end-to-end testing
- Integrate automated testing into CI/CD pipelines to improve software quality and deployment reliability
- Support application troubleshooting, debugging, performance tuning, and root cause analysis
- Work closely with QA, DevSecOps, and platform engineering teams to ensure reliable software delivery
- Participate in Agile/SAFe ceremonies including sprint planning, daily standups, reviews, and retrospectives
- Support containerized and cloud-based application environments using technologies such as Docker, Kubernetes, and AWS
Qualifications for the Senior AI Software Developer:
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline with 8+ years of relevant experience; Master's degree with 6+ years of relevant experience; equivalent professional experience may be considered
- Hands-on experience designing, developing, and supporting microservices-based applications
- Strong programming experience with Java, Python, C++, or a similar modern programming language within Linux environments
- Experience or exposure to AI/ML-enabled systems, AI-assisted software development, automation, or intelligent platforms
- Experience with AI development tools such as Claude Code or similar AI coding assistants
- Strong understanding of APIs, distributed systems, and modern software architecture concepts
- Experience developing software within Agile environments
- Experience collaborating across software development, systems engineering, QA, DevSecOps, and product teams
- Experience developing automated unit, integration, or end-to-end tests
- Strong troubleshooting, debugging, and software performance optimization skills
- Ability to provide technical leadership and mentorship within a software development team
- Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience with Git-based source control and CI/CD pipelines
- Experience working within Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) environments
- Experience with relational and/or NoSQL databases
- Hands-on experience with Kafka or other event-streaming and messaging technologies
- Experience with AWS cloud environments; Azure or GCP experience also applicable
- Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and containerized application environments
- Experience working within DevSecOps software delivery environments
- Experience integrating automated test suites into CI/CD pipelines
- Experience developing real-time, highly available, or safety-critical software systems
Compensation for the Senior AI Software Developer includes:
- Salary: $160,000 - $180,000
- Comprehensive Benefits Package including Medical, Dental, Vision, 401(k), PTO, and Paid Holidays
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