Technical Lead with Security Clearance

About the Role
We are seeking a Tech Lead to own the technical direction and delivery of a suite of applications that support bioinformatics analysis tools. You will define architecture and engineering standards, translate stakeholder needs into clear technical work, guide the development team, and drive continuous improvement across a modern data platform.

Project Context We develop and maintain applications that support bioinformatics analysis workflows
Core data management platform built on PostgreSQL and Elasticsearch
Data processing and analysis pipelines orchestrated with Apache Airflow
Local development runs in Docker containers
Production deployments on Kubernetes (OpenShift) and AWS
Agentic development workflows using Grok (primary models) inside VS Code, with additional models available via AWS Bedrock Key Responsibilities
Technical Direction Define and communicate system architecture, engineering standards, technology choices, interfaces, and development approaches.

Focus on building systems that can run on one network while deploying cleanly across others. Requirements Translation Partner with product owners, users, and program stakeholders to convert functional needs into clear technical requirements, user stories, designs, and implementation tasks. Balance competing priorities across concurrent efforts. Team Leadership Guide developers through design decisions, code reviews, troubleshooting, estimation, and prioritization. Mentor less-experienced engineers and raise the overall technical bar of the team.

Quality & Security Set and enforce expectations for code quality, testing, documentation, configuration management, cybersecurity practices, ATO support, and technical debt management. Delivery Support Identify technical risks, dependencies, and resource constraints. Help sequence work and remove blockers to keep releases on track. Collaborate with the operations team to triage production issues and escalate as needed for mission support.

Stakeholder Communication Provide clear, concise technical status, trade-offs, risks, and recommendations to project leadership and non-technical stakeholders. Work with external subcontractors to standardize, grow, and mature platform capabilities. Continuous Improvement Drive improvements in development processes, tooling, automation, observability, and system performance based on real-world lessons learned.

Ideal Background Proven experience as a Tech Lead, Staff Engineer, or equivalent technical leadership role
Strong hands-on background with data platforms (PostgreSQL, Elasticsearch), workflow orchestration (Airflow), containerization (Docker), and Kubernetes (ideally OpenShift)
Comfortable operating in AWS environments
Experience translating complex domain needs (scientific / bioinformatics preferred) into robust technical designs
Ability to mentor engineers and communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences
Familiarity with secure software development practices and ATO processes is a plus