Software Engineer / Application Developer

QualityWorks Consulting Group

Software Engineer / Application Developer

Job Description

Focus: Application Support, Defect Resolution & AI Model Optimization
Department: Technology
Location: United States – Remote
Experience Level: Mid-Level
Security Requirement: Must be eligible to obtain and maintain the required Public Trust determination and DoD system access

About the Role

We are seeking a Mid-Level Software Engineer / Application Developer to support the stability, maintenance, security, and continuous improvement of an AI-enabled software platform operating within a federal/DoD technology environment.

The primary responsibility of this role is to investigate and resolve application defects, system issues, and technical problems identified through autonomous testing, human validation, monitoring, or user feedback.

The engineer will also perform quarterly AI model tuning and optimization, analyzing system performance and AI behavior and implementing controlled improvements to prompts, configurations, model interactions, workflows, and related application components.

Key Responsibilities

• Investigate, troubleshoot, and resolve application bugs and system issues.
• Address confirmed defects identified through autonomous testing and human Test Engineer validation.
• Perform root-cause analysis for recurring and complex technical issues.
• Develop, test, document, and deploy reliable application fixes.
• Analyze application logs, APIs, databases, integrations, and infrastructure when diagnosing issues.
• Collaborate with Test Engineers to reproduce defects and validate implemented fixes.
• Address production issues and provide technical support for application incidents.
• Support application maintenance, upgrades, dependency updates, and security-related remediation.
• Participate in code reviews and follow established secure coding and development practices.
• Maintain technical documentation for application fixes, system behavior, configurations, and integrations.
• Support controlled application releases and deployments.
• Follow applicable government configuration-management and change-control processes.
• Protect government, sensitive, proprietary, and Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), when applicable, in accordance with organizational and contractual requirements.
• Follow applicable access-control, cybersecurity, data-handling, and acceptable-use requirements.

Quarterly AI Model Tuning & Optimization

• Conduct scheduled quarterly reviews and tuning of AI/model performance.
• Analyze AI behavior using autonomous testing results, human validation findings, production observations, and user feedback.
• Identify patterns of inaccurate, inconsistent, incomplete, or undesirable AI behavior.
• Adjust approved prompts, configurations, model parameters, workflows, guardrails, and integrations as appropriate.
• Establish baseline measurements before significant tuning activities.
• Validate proposed model/configuration changes in approved non-production environments before release.
• Collaborate with Test Engineers to independently validate AI behavior following tuning.
• Document significant model, prompt, configuration, and behavioral changes.
• Maintain appropriate traceability and version history for AI-related changes.
• Evaluate tuning results against defined quality and performance criteria.
• Monitor for regressions and unintended behavior following updates.
• Ensure model tuning activities comply with applicable government security, privacy, data-handling, and AI governance requirements.

What We're Looking For

• 3–5 years of professional software engineering or application development experience.
• Strong experience developing and maintaining production web applications.
• Demonstrated experience troubleshooting and resolving application defects.
• Strong debugging and root-cause analysis skills.
• Experience working with APIs, databases, integrations, and distributed application components.
• Proficiency in JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, Java, C#, or another relevant programming language.
• Experience with modern frontend and/or backend development frameworks.
• Experience with Git and modern source-control workflows.
• Familiarity with CI/CD and controlled software deployment processes.
• Experience collaborating with QA/Test Engineers to reproduce and resolve defects.
• Understanding of secure software development principles.
• Strong technical documentation and communication skills.

Nice to Have (not required)

• Experience supporting U.S. federal government or Department of Defense applications.
• Experience developing or maintaining applications incorporating generative AI or Large Language Models.
• Experience integrating applications with AI/LLM APIs.
• Experience with prompt engineering, model configuration, evaluation, or optimization.
• Familiarity with AI model evaluation and performance measurement.
• Experience with autonomous or agentic AI systems.
• Experience with AWS, Azure, or other cloud environments.
• Experience with application monitoring and observability.
• Familiarity with Docker or other container technologies.
• Familiarity with government cybersecurity, CUI, access-control, and change-management requirements.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary commensurate with competence and experience
• Referral bonus in accordance with existing referral programme
• A collaborative team environment supported by AI

Security & Eligibility Requirements

This position supports systems and environments that may require U.S. Government access authorization.

Candidates must:

• Be based in the United States.
• Be legally authorized to work in the United States.
• Be able to successfully complete the background investigation and adjudication required for the position.
• Be eligible to obtain and maintain the required Public Trust determination for the assigned government program.
• Be eligible to obtain and maintain access to applicable DoD/government information systems, including completion and approval of DD Form 2875 – System Authorization Access Request (SAAR) when required.
• Complete required cybersecurity, information assurance, privacy, and security-awareness training.
• Comply with government and organizational requirements governing credentials, system access, sensitive information, source code, application data, and acceptable use.
• Maintain continued eligibility for government system access throughout employment when required by the assigned program.

Existing Public Trust eligibility or previous federal/DoD experience is preferred but is not required unless specified by the applicable contract.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role means the application remains stable, secure, reliable, and continuously improving.

Confirmed defects are addressed efficiently and through appropriate change-control processes. Root causes are identified and documented, fixes are independently validated, and recurring problems lead to broader technical improvements where appropriate.

Quarterly AI tuning should produce measurable improvements in the accuracy, consistency, reliability, and usefulness of the platform's AI capabilities while maintaining appropriate security, human oversight, traceability, and change control.