Software Engineer - TS/SCI at Xcelerate Solutions
Bethesda, MD
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Jul 22, 2026
Bethesda, MD
Jul 23, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A backend software engineering role on a government intelligence program, focused on building and maintaining Python-based microservices that use Apache Kafka for real-time messaging and Elasticsearch for data indexing and search. Day-to-day work spans ETL pipelines, Kubernetes deployment, CI/CD, and observability, within a cloud and AI/ML-oriented data architecture. An active TS/SCI clearance is required.
Mid level · 4+ years · Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV · Bachelor's required · TS/SCI clearance · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
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
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $158,337 (middle half $126,441–$180,105).
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 (12)
The role is primarily on-site in Bethesda, MD; remote work is described as occasional and client-dependent, so remote=false is the appropriate classification.
An active TS/SCI clearance is a hard gate; the posting also requires the ability to obtain and maintain a Polygraph, though the polygraph itself is not stated as currently active/required — only the TS/SCI is a firm gate.
The degree requirement is a Bachelor's with 4–8 years OR a Master's with 2–6 years. Bachelor's is set as the minimum formal degree since equivalent experience is not offered as a substitute.
The overall years minimum is set to 4, the lower bound of the Bachelor's-track experience range.
FastAPI and Flask are listed together as interchangeable backend framework examples under the requirements section; FastAPI is named first with Flask in alternatives.
GitLab and Jenkins are listed as interchangeable CI/CD tool examples in the requirements section; GitLab is named first with Jenkins in alternatives.
ETL is listed as a required skill by name ('Extraction, Transformation, and Load'); it is retained as a concrete named capability gate despite being a methodology term, because the JD explicitly calls it out as a requirement.
AWS (specifically AWS/C2S) and LLMs (building applications around Large Language Models/Agentic AI) appear only under Preferred Qualifications.
Security+ certification appears only under Preferred Qualifications.
DGX (Deep GPU Xceleration) familiarity is listed as preferred but names no widely-recognized standalone technology product; omitted from the skills list.
No compensation figures are provided in the posting.
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.
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