Back End Engineer (Java/Python/AWS)

Software Guidance & Assistance, Inc., (SGA), is searching for Back End Engineers for contract assignments with one of our premier Regulatory clients. Must work hybrid in one of these offices: Rockville MD or Tysons VA.
Must be local and attend onsite interview 10/6 (non-negotiable)
Hiring 5 mid-level and 5 senior-level
Develop software products and drive improvements to overall product quality across the software development life cycle, providing technical leadership within the team. Incumbents work on broad problems of scope that require decision-making and creativity - designing and maintaining applications that ingest multiple data sources and surface insights through correlation and analysis - while operating independently under general guidance to impact team-level goals.
Responsibilities :

• Designs, develops, and maintains applications that ingest multiple data sources and surface insights through correlation and analysis, ensuring code quality, performance optimization, and adherence to best practices.
• Provides technical leadership and mentorship to junior engineers, and guides the team on effective, responsible use of AI-assisted development tools.
• Participates in architecture discussions, contributes to technical strategy, and defines technical solutions or operational processes that improve efficiency with meaningful, measurable impact.
• Preemptively identifies and resolves technical risks and cross-team dependencies early to ensure successful project execution, delivering many of the team's goals on time and to a high standard of quality.
• Supports production systems and troubleshoots complex technical issues, simplifying code and infrastructure to lower maintenance and migration costs.
• Applies computer science fundamentals - algorithm design, problem solving, complexity analysis, and data structures - and strong experience with Big Data technologies to solve complex business problems.
• Uses AI-assisted development tools to work more effectively, applying good judgment to review generated output for correctness, security, and quality.
• Builds productive relationships with senior internal/external partners to remove barriers and align on priorities; avoids blame, disagrees and commits when needed, and demonstrates the firm's values through in-person and virtual collaboration in furtherance of the firm's mission of investor protection and market integrity.

Required Skills :

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related discipline with at least seven (7) years of related experience, or the equivalent combination of education and work experience.
• Requires system design experience; strong experience in object-oriented development, cloud technologies, and data storage technologies (both relational and NoSQL); and experience in performance tuning and optimization, DevOps and CI/CD, test automation and unit testing, and software security.
• Strong proficiency in Java, Python, and/or Node.js, with strong object-oriented development and RESTful API design and microservices architecture.
• Big Data processing frameworks: Apache Spark, EMR (Presto, Trino), and Athena.
• Design and development of ETL/ELT pipelines for large-scale data ingestion, transformation, and loading, including batch and streaming processing.
• Data lake and data warehouse patterns - partitioning, schema management, and file formats (Parquet, ORC, Avro) - with SQL performance tuning for analytical workloads.
• Workflow orchestration and scheduling (AWS Glue, Step Functions, Airflow) and data quality, validation, and pipeline monitoring.
• Relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Aurora) and NoSQL databases (DynamoDB, MongoDB, Cassandra).
• Core AWS services (EC2, S3, Lambda, RDS, ECS, API Gateway), CloudWatch/CloudTrail, IAM, VPC networking, and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform/CloudFormation).
• CI/CD pipelines, test automation and unit testing, and software security best practices.

Preferred Skills :

• QuickSight for dashboards and data visualization.
• Frontend applications (React, Angular).
• GitLab CI/CD exposure.
• AI development tools (e.g., Amazon Q or similar code assistants), with the ability to validate generated code for correctness, quality, and security, and good judgment about when human review is required.

By applying for a job with SGA, you agree to allow SGA to process your application for this and future opportunities in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Also, to ensure timely processing, you agree to be contacted by our AI recruiter via email, text, or phone. Message frequency varies and data rates may apply, but you can reply STOP to any SMS message to opt-out of texts and may contact SGA at to opt-out of AI communications. The choice not to engage with AI will not adversely impact your consideration for placement. AI is not used to make any hiring determinations.
SGA is a technology and resource solutions provider driven to stand out. We are a women-owned business. Our mission: to solve big IT problems with a more personal, boutique approach. Each year, we match consultants like you to more than 1,000 engagements. When we say let's work better together, we mean it. You'll join a diverse team built on these core values: customer service, employee development, and quality and integrity in everything we do. Be yourself, love what you do and find your passion at work. Please find us at .
SGA is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of Race, Color, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Religion, National Origin, Disability, Veteran Status, Age, Marital Status, Pregnancy, Genetic Information, or Other Legally Protected Status. We are committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, and our services, programs, and activities. Please visit our company to request an accommodation or assistance regarding our policy. #LI-SG1