Software Engineer II at Core4ce – Charleston, South Carolina

Core4ce LLC, a Data-Minded National Security Partner, is seeking a Software Engineer II to join the Autonomy, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning (AAIM) Lab and contribute to a data analysis platform supporting Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community (IC) mission customers. This is a hands-on engineering role embedded within a small, fast-moving team where you will design, build, and ship production software — not sit behind layers of abstraction. The ideal candidate is a versatile software engineer who is comfortable working across the stack, from cloud infrastructure and containerized services to backend APIs and data pipelines. You should be the kind of engineer who builds things on the side, contributes to open source, and takes ownership of problems end-to-end. You will work closely with government customers and mission partners, so the ability to translate user needs into working software quickly and iteratively is essential.

Responsibilities:

Platform Development & Engineering

Design, develop, and maintain software components for a data analysis platform supporting DoD/IC customers

Build and optimize backend services, APIs, and data pipelines using Python

Implement containerized microservices architectures using Docker, deploying via AWS ECS and Lambda.

Develop and manage database solutions (DynamoDB, RDS/PostgreSQL, or equivalent) for structured and semi-structured data at scale

Write clean, well-tested, and well-documented code following modern software engineering best practices

Cloud Infrastructure & DevOps

Provision and manage AWS cloud infrastructure using Infrastructure as Code (CloudFormation).

Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines for automated testing, deployment, and environment management

Implement monitoring, logging, and alerting for production services

Support cloud environments across both commercial AWS and AWS GovCloud as required by program needs

Manage container registries, networking configurations, and security group policies

Customer Engagement & Delivery

Work directly with government customers and end users to understand requirements, gather feedback, and iterate on solutions

Participate in agile development cycles including sprint planning, standups, demos, and retrospectives

Deliver working software incrementally, prioritizing user value and mission impact over perfection

Support technical demonstrations, program reviews, and customer engagements as needed

Communicate technical decisions and trade-offs clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

Collaboration & Team Contribution

Operate as a core contributor within a small, high-tempo engineering team where every team member’s output matters

Conduct and participate in code reviews, architecture discussions, and technical planning

Contribute to shared tooling, documentation, and internal engineering standards

Support integration with broader AAIM Lab capabilities including AI/ML pipelines, data fusion systems, and analytics tools

*This position is designed to be flexible, with responsibilities evolving to meet business needs and enable individual growth.

Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a closely related STEM discipline

2–5 years of professional software engineering experience building and shipping production applications

Strong proficiency in one or more high-level languages: Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Go, or equivalent

Hands-on AWS experience including

- Containerized services (ECS, EKS, Fargate, or similar)

- Database services (DynamoDB, RDS, Aurora, or similar)

- Infrastructure as Code (CloudFormation, Terraform, CDK, or similar)

Practical experience building, managing, and deploying Docker containers in production environments

Proficiency with Git including branching strategies, pull requests, and collaborative workflows

U.S. Citizenship required; must be able to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret security clearance

Preferred Qualifications:

Strongly Preferred

Demonstrated history of personal projects, side builds, or open-source contributions with a public commit history (GitHub, GitLab, etc.)

Experience working in small, fast-paced teams (startup-like or skunkworks environments) where engineers own problems end-to-end

Direct experience working with customers or end users — not abstracted behind multiple layers of product management

Active DoD Secret clearance

Nice to Have

Experience with data pipeline frameworks (Apache Airflow, Step Functions, Prefect, or similar)

Familiarity with data analysis or visualization tools and libraries (Pandas, Plotly, D3.js, etc.)

Experience with serverless architectures (Lambda, API Gateway, EventBridge)

Familiarity with Kubernetes beyond managed offerings (cluster management, Helm charts, service mesh)

Exposure to AI/ML systems, model serving infrastructure, or data science workflows

Experience with PostgreSQL and extensions such as pgvector for vector search applications

Experience supporting DoD or IC programs, particularly AFRL, DARPA, or Space Force

Familiarity with AWS GovCloud and FedRAMP compliance considerations

Why Work for Us?

Core4ce is a team of innovators, self-starters, and critical thinkers—driven by a shared mission to strengthen national security and advance warfighting outcomes.

We offer:

401(k) with 100% company match on the first 6% deferred, with immediate vesting

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage—employee portion paid 100% by Core4ce

Unlimited access to training and certifications, with no pre-set cap on eligible professional development

Tuition assistance for job-related degrees and courses

Paid parental leave, PTO that grows with tenure, and generous holiday schedules

Got a big idea? At Core4ce, The Forge gives every employee the chance to propose bold innovations and help bring them to life with internal backing.

Join us to build a career that matters—supported by a company that invests in you.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, disability, veteran status, age, genetic information, or other legally protected status.