Job Details

Title: Lead Software Engineer (Full Stack)
Location : Rockville, MD or McLean, VA
Target Start Date : ASAP
Type: contract
Pay Rate: DOE

We are seeking an experienced Lead Software Engineer with strong technical leadership skills and an entrepreneurial mindset to drive the design and development of large-scale, business-critical platforms. This role blends hands-on engineering with architectural leadership, mentorship, and strategic influence across complex distributed systems.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned technologist who balances deep technical expertise with the ability to lead, mentor, and set technical direction. This role offers clear growth toward Staff or Principal Engineer levels.

Key Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership: Lead architecture and design of complex, distributed systems; define technical direction, evaluate emerging technologies, and drive best practices.
• Team Mentorship: Mentor and guide engineers through code reviews, technical coaching, and career development.
• Full-Stack Development: Design and build enterprise applications using Java, JavaScript/Angular, Spring Boot, REST APIs, and big data technologies.
• Cloud-Native Architecture: Architect and implement scalable, resilient solutions on AWS using serverless and container technologies (e.g., Lambda, ECS, S3, RDS, EMR).
• Agile Collaboration: Partner with architects, product owners, and engineering leadership to translate business requirements into robust technical solutions.
• Distributed Systems: Lead initiatives involving microservices, event-driven architectures, and data-intensive platforms.
• AI Integration: Drive adoption of AI technologies (including generative AI and LLMs) to improve developer productivity and enable product innovation.
• DevOps & Quality: Champion CI/CD, infrastructure as code, automated testing, observability, and operational excellence.
• Innovation: Lead proof-of-concepts, assess new technologies, and drive adoption of solutions that deliver measurable business value.
• Cross-Team Influence: Collaborate across teams to establish engineering standards and influence organization-wide technical initiatives.
• Ownership: Set a high bar for code quality, tackle complex technical challenges, and demonstrate strong ownership and initiative.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related engineering discipline (Master's preferred).
• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including 3+ years in a technical leadership or lead engineer role.
• Proven experience leading AI integration efforts and applying AI technologies to real-world software solutions.
• Strong full-stack development experience with Java, JavaScript, Angular, Spring Boot, and RESTful services.
• 7+ years of experience designing and building solutions on AWS.
• 5+ years of experience with big data technologies (e.g., Hadoop, Spark, Presto, EMR).
• Strong database design and SQL optimization skills.
• Proficiency in scripting languages such as Python, Unix shell, Perl, or Groovy.
• Excellent technical communication and stakeholder engagement skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience architecting enterprise-scale systems with complex business requirements.
• Deep knowledge of AWS Well-Architected Framework and architecture review practices.
• Hands-on experience leading AI/ML or GenAI solutions in production; familiarity with MLOps, RAG, vector databases, or similar patterns.
• Expert-level CI/CD and DevOps experience at scale.
• Strong experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes/EKS).
• Infrastructure-as-code expertise (Terraform, CloudFormation, CDK).
• dvanced observability and SRE practices.
• Expertise in microservices, event-driven architectures, and distributed systems.
• Strong background in secure coding and cloud security best practices.
• Proven ability to lead large, business-critical initiatives with multiple stakeholders.
• Experience influencing across teams without direct authority.
• Contributions to innovation (POCs, open source, publications, patents, or thought leadership).
• Experience participating in technical interviews and hiring decisions.

Welcome to ConsultNet, a premier national provider of technology talent and solutions. Our expertise spans across project services, contract-to-hire, direct search, and managed services onshore, nearshore, and hybrid. For over 25 years, we have connected thousands of consultants with meaningful roles through a personal, communication-driven approach, partnering with a diverse client base to build high-performing teams and create lasting impact. Our comprehensive service offerings cover a wide range of technology and engineering positions across key markets nationwide. Learn more at www.consultnet.com .

We champion equality and inclusivity, proudly supporting an Equal Opportunity Employer policy. We welcome applicants regardless of Race, Color, Religion, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, National Origin, Age, Genetic Information, Disability, Protected Veteran Status, or any other status protected by law.