Zachary Piper Solutions · 18 hours ago
Backend Engineer (Secret Cleared)
Denver, CO
Full-time
Onsite
Mid Level
$120K/yr - $180K/yr
3+ years expZachary Piper Solutions is seeking a skilled Backend Engineer to assist with building modern, cloud-native mission operations software. The role involves developing backend services and APIs using Python and AWS, while also contributing to AI integrations and DevSecOps tooling.
GovernmentInformation ServicesInformation TechnologySoftware
No H1B
Security Clearance RequiredU.S. Citizen Only
Responsibilities
Design, build, and maintain backend services and APIs (GraphQL/REST) in Python
Integrate and optimize workloads across AWS (Lambda, ECS/EKS/Fargate, EC2, RDS, S3, CloudWatch, EFS/EBS)
Containerize services with Docker and deploy to EKS/ECS; manage IaC via Terraform (or equivalent)
Collaborate cross-functionally to refine requirements, ship new features, and resolve production issues
Implement observability (logging, metrics, tracing), performance tuning, and cost controls
Call and manage APIs for OpenAI, Anthropic, AskSage or similar LLM platforms
Handle rate limits, retries, timeouts, and failure modes with guardrails and backoff strategies
Manage prompt templating/versioning, secure key management, and typed/structured outputs
Build AI features into production systems with human-in-the-loop and safety measures
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's in Computer Science (or related); or equivalent hands-on experience
3+ years in backend or full stack engineering
Secret Clearance; Ability to obtain a U.S. Security Clearance
Python for production-grade backend services (FastAPI/Flask/Django), including async/await and testing (pytest)
APIs: GraphQL (schemas, resolvers, pagination, security) and/or REST; API performance troubleshooting
Containers: Docker (Dockerfiles, multi-stage builds, env/secrets, networking basics)
Infrastructure as Code: Terraform (modules, remote state, IAM/VPC, ECS/EKS, RDS, S3)
AWS: Lambda, ECS/EKS/Fargate, EC2, S3, RDS, CloudWatch, EFS/EBS—service selection, reliability, cost/perf tradeoffs, and basic IAM security
Kubernetes (EKS): Pods, services, deployments, YAML, debugging failed deployments
Git & Collaboration: Clean commit history, solid PRs, constructive reviews, CI pipelines
Preferred
Production experience with OpenAI/Anthropic/AskSage or similar LLM APIs
Secure key management (e.g., AWS Secrets Manager/SSM), rate limiting, retries/backoff, timeout control
Prompt templating/versioning, token budgeting, observability, and cost dashboards
Guardrails: confidence thresholds, schema validation (e.g., JSON), human-in-the-loop, staged rollouts, and feature flags
Benefits
Healthy work-life balance: required 15 days off, unlimited PTO, and most U.S. federal holidays.
Quarterly health & wellness benefits; comprehensive health insurance with 100% coverage for employees.
401(k) with 4% match.
Company
Zachary Piper Solutions
Zachary Piper Solutions is an IT company providing government contracting solutions in support of the nation’s Intelligence Community.
201-500 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageTotal Funding
$3M2018-02-22Series Unknown· $1.3M
2014-04-10Series Unknown· $1.7M
Leadership Team
Christopher Stroud
Partner Outreach & Engagements
Justin Jordan
Founder and Chairman
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