Senior Software Engineer
Belay Technologies · Columbia, MD
$190,000–$240,000from the description
Jul 13, 2026
Columbia, MD
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A senior engineering role building Python-based backend services, data pipelines, and an AI-driven decision-support platform for Computer Network Operations analysts. The work centers on an AI copilot and research agent that pulls from multiple operational data sources, with observability tooling via ElasticSearch, Kibana, and Grafana. The position suits an experienced engineer ready to take on a technical lead or mentorship role within a small development team, and requires an active TS/SCI clearance with polygraph.
Senior level · 12+ years · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD · Bachelor's required · TS/SCI clearance · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
Posted 2 times — it's one opening, so apply once.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $141,954 (middle half $107,994–$205,328). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (7)
The posting requires a TS/SCI clearance WITH polygraph — this is a hard gate explicitly stated in the qualifications section.
The degree requirement is a B.S. in a technical discipline, but the JD offers 4 additional years of experience (16 total) in lieu of the degree. Since a degree substitute is offered, the degree requirement is set to Bachelors only as the baseline path; candidates without a degree can qualify with 16 years.
The '12 yrs.' experience requirement is tied to holding a B.S.; without one, 16 years are required. The minimum (12) is used for the overall years minimum.
The role is internally labeled 'SWE3' and explicitly mentions growing into a leadership/tech-lead role, but the primary day-to-day work remains hands-on software engineering (Python services, pipelines, agent orchestration), so 15-1252 is preferred over 11-3021. The management/leadership angle is noted as the runner-up.
AI technologies (LLMs, RAG, agent frameworks, MCP) appear under 'Nice to Haves' and are marked preferred accordingly. 'Experience with or interest in emerging AI technologies' is listed under Skills Requirements but is framed permissively ('or interest in'), so it is captured via the preferred AI-related skills rather than as a hard gate.
The role is based in Columbia, MD (Baltimore/Washington area); no remote option is indicated.
Requires a TS/SCI clearance — the cleared population is a small fraction of this occupation, so the real candidate pool is materially smaller than the estimate below, which does not model clearance.
Read the full posting
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