Forward Deployed Engineer (Technical Architect)

NetImpact Strategies builds software for Federal agencies, and we build it with AI. We are hiring engineers who own a solution end to end: sit with the customer, turn what they need into a specification, direct AI coding agents to build it, prove it works, get it into a Federal production environment, and hand it to sustainment. You will work in Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, and our proprietary AI software generation platform every day.

The Technical Architect extracts meaning from what a customer is asking and converts it into the right technology. The role is senior enough to own the architecture, close enough to the customer to understand the intent behind a request, and accountable when the solution goes live. The Core functions of the role are Research, Design, Architect, Code with AI, Solution Validation, and discipline to be productive with Client intimacy.

What makes the role different

This is not a conventional architect who designs and hands off, a people manager, or a quota-carrying salesperson. AI generation changes how code is produced, but it does not transfer accountability: production code ships under this role's ownership.

Responsibilities

Participate directly in requirements capture, translate customer needs into fit-for-purpose solutions, and define the technical scope and boundaries for fixed-price engagements.
• Convert customer requirements into structured specifications, acceptance criteria, and architectural decisions that enable AI-assisted software development, while validating generated solutions before release.
• Lead production integration, guide deployments, and remain accountable through deployment, stabilization, customer acceptance, and knowledge transfer to ensure successful delivery.
• Ensure solutions are extensible, maintainable, and transferable so they can be supported and enhanced by other qualified team members.
• Deliver production-ready solutions by supporting cloud deployments, CI/CD, legacy system integration, and compliance with ATO/RMF, Section 508, and NIST requirements.
• Create reusable assets, share lessons learned across the organization, and identify opportunities for follow-on work while transitioning commercial activities to the appropriate stakeholders.

Required qualifications

• Demonstrate a strong foundation in software engineering principles and manual coding, with the ability to architect and deliver solutions across modern programming languages, frameworks, cloud platforms, AI-assisted development tools, and low-code platforms.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
  6+ years of professional software delivery, including enterprise systems you carried into production and supported after go-live.
• A complete solution built primarily with agentic AI coding tools. At least one working, end-to-end application you built by directing Claude Code, Codex, Copilot agent mode, Cursor, or an equivalent tool. Work or substantive personal projects both count. You will be asked to show it and to build live during the interview.
• Enterprise delivery experience. Demonstrated ownership of enterprise-scale software delivery, including production integration, deployment, operational constraints, and post-launch stabilization.
• Architect-level depth. Strong systems-design judgment plus working fluency across analysis, product ownership, software development, project delivery, security, data, integrations, and operations.
• AI-directed solution delivery. Evidence of independently building complete working solutions primarily through AI-assisted generation. Substantive personal projects may demonstrate this capability.
• Generated-code verification. Ability to read unfamiliar generated logic, identify failure modes, design appropriate tests, and determine whether the system is safe and correct enough to ship.
  Technology breadth. Ability to compare and select technologies based on context rather than defaulting to a familiar stack.
• Customer and contextual judgment. Ability to uncover the meaning behind stated requirements, read stakeholders, and adapt the approach to the engagement's real constraints.
• Problem solving and persistence. A record of making progress through ambiguity, obstacles, incomplete information, and cross-organizational dependency.
• Software-delivery orientation. Hands-on experience must be primarily in delivering software solutions rather than infrastructure or operations alone.
  Willingness and demonstrated ability to work across greenfield builds, modernization, integration-heavy environments, and inherited in-flight work.
• Full-stack fluency across the environments above, with production experience in at least one .NET or Java enterprise ecosystem and at least one major cloud.
• Verification mindset. You define acceptance criteria, design test strategies, use automated testing, and instrument systems so behavior can be observed. You treat "the agent said it works" as the start of verification, not the end.
• Customer-facing communication. You can run a discovery session, demo to a skeptical stakeholder, and explain a technical trade-off to a non-technical program owner.
• US citizenship and eligibility for a Secret clearance.

This role is probably not for you if:

• You want to design the system and let someone else build it.
• You want to be handed a design and build exactly that.
• You use AI coding tools as autocomplete and prefer to write the code yourself.
• You need a single familiar stack to be productive.
• You would rather not demo to a customer, or hear from one that the first version missed.

At NetImpact Strategies, we post salary ranges in compliance with the specific labor laws and regulations of each county and state, ensuring transparency and fairness in our hiring practices. This approach reflects our commitment to adhering to legal requirements and promoting equitable pay standards across all regions where we operate. The posted salary range for this role is $170,000-210,000. The posted salary range is not an exact indication of the actual compensation offered and is instead a range of what NetImpact, in good faith, could compensate at the lowest and most high end of the salary market. In general, NetImpact may not pay the top of the salary range. Compensations are determined by several mitigating factors including skillset, experience, trainings, location, and other factors including benefits packages.

Perks of working at NetImpact Strategies

• Your health comes first - we offer comprehensive medical, dental, & vision insurance that starts the first of the month after you join the team

• Invest in your future - 401(k) Plan - Immediately vested employer contributions; no matching required

• Work hard, play hard - we offer a generous Paid Time Off (PTO) policy, one (1) additional day of paid wellness leave per calendar year, and observe ten (10) federal holidays

• Pawsitively pawesome - Pet Insurance (because our little critters are part of our families, too!)

• Invest in your education - Tuition reimbursement, internal training programs, & company-sponsored industry certifications!

• Be part of a dynamic and collaborative work environment recently ranked by The Washington Post as a Top Work Place in 2019, 2021,2022, 2023, & 2024!

• Have fun and celebrate and give back - Team building activities, community volunteering, quarterly HQ days, wellness events, happy hours, family fun events, and more!

NetImpact Strategies Inc. (NetImpact) has been a Trusted Advisor driving impact through digital transformation for the Federal Government for over a decade. We solve complex problems with innovation and agility to create meaningful, transformative, and enduring change. As Trusted Advisors, NetImpact professionals partner with customer agencies to deliver solutions that empower them to not only meet their missions but also realize their strategic vision through agile, outcome-focused solutions addressing both strategic and tactical requirements. We design and implement comprehensive, tailored solutions that are both mindful of the client's culture and organizational dynamics. NetImpact's core values and commitment to a customer and results-oriented delivery approach has propelled our growth and enabled us to deliver impactful value across Strategic Consulting, Process Automation, Cloud, DevSecOps, Data and Analytics, and Cyber Security for the Federal Government.

ACCESSIBILITY NOTE

NetImpact Strategies is committed to complying with all applicable provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended ("ADA"), and applicable state and local laws. It is NetImpact's policy not to discriminate against any qualified person or applicant with regard to any terms or conditions of employment on the basis of such individual's disability. Consistent with this policy of non-discrimination, NetImpact will provide reasonable accommodations to an individual with a disability, as defined in the ADA or applicable law, who has made NetImpact aware of his/her disability, unless doing so would cause undue hardship to NetImpact. If you are an applicant and need reasonable accommodation when applying for job opportunities within NetImpact, or request reasonable accommodation to utilize NetImpact's online employment application, please contactcareers@netimpactstrategies.com.