Full-Time

Software Engineer 2

Multiple Teams

Updated on 9/4/2026

Captivation

Captivation

11-50 employees

Software engineering for mission-focused teams

Compensation Overview

$130k - $270k/yr

No H1B Sponsorship

Annapolis Junction, MD, USA

In Person

US Citizenship, US Top Secret Clearance Required

Bachelor's, Master's

Category
Software Engineering (1)
Required Skills
RabbitMQ
Bash
Kubernetes
Python
NoSQL
Git
SQL
Postgres
Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
Docker
JIRA
Ansible
MongoDB
Confluence
DevOps
Linux/Unix
Helm

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Requirements
  • A Master's degree in Computer Science or a related discipline from an accredited college or university, plus three years of software engineering experience in programs and contracts of similar scope, type, and complexity; or a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related discipline from an accredited college or university, plus five years of such experience; or seven years of such experience without a stated degree requirement.
  • Currently holding a Top Secret/SCI U.S. Government security clearance with a favorable polygraph and U.S. citizenship.
  • Experience using the Linux command-line interface and tools.
  • Experience developing scripts using Bash.
  • Recent Python 3.x software development experience.
  • Experience with NoSQL databases, including MongoDB.
  • Experience with containerization technologies such as Docker and containers.
  • Experience with continuous integration and continuous delivery principles, methodologies, and tools, including GitLab CI.
  • Familiarity with container orchestration technologies such as Kubernetes.
  • Familiarity with Helm charts for deploying containerized services on Kubernetes.
  • Familiarity with messaging frameworks, including RabbitMQ.
  • Familiarity with infrastructure as code principles, methodologies, and tools such as Ansible.
  • Experience using the Git source control system.
Responsibilities
  • Develop, sustain, and troubleshoot the project's software suite of applications, including DINO.
  • Implement, test, and integrate software with commercial off-the-shelf, government off-the-shelf, and free and open-source software products, packages, and libraries.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience with SQL databases, including PostgreSQL.
  • Experience with the Atlassian Tool Suite, including Jira and Confluence.

Captivation builds digital software for mission makers by delivering engineering services across a wide range of disciplines. The work is collaborative, with teams that move quickly like a small business and take pride in what they develop. The company emphasizes transparency, a flat organizational structure, and a developer-focused culture, which enables engineers to work directly and iteratively with clients. Compared with larger firms, Captivation differentiates itself through its focus on timely delivery, practical problem solving, and actively pursuing challenging projects for the Intelligence Community, using modern software technologies. The goal is to produce solutions that clients value, on time, while growing the team and empowering its engineers to take ownership of their work.

Company Size

11-50

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

Columbia, Maryland

Founded

2014

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Greenhouse listed 75 openings on August 28, 2026, signaling active demand.
  • Haystack posted a DevOps role on August 14, 2026 with $130,000-$270,000 pay.
  • Captivation launched AI machine learning, platform, and network roles in August 2026.

What critics are saying

  • Captivation had 55-75 openings in 2026, suggesting constant contract-driven hiring churn.
  • Most roles require Top Secret/SCI and favorable polygraph, shrinking the candidate pool immediately.
  • A single program loss in Annapolis Junction would hit revenue and trigger rapid headcount cuts.

What makes Captivation unique

  • Captivation serves Armed Forces and Intelligence Community customers from Baltimore and Annapolis Junction.
  • Captivation hires cleared engineers across Java, AWS, Kubernetes, and DevOps roles in 2026.
  • Captivation offers direct-hire roles with 20% 401(k), 6 weeks PTO, and paid insurance.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

Health Savings Account/Flexible Spending Account

Unlimited Paid Time Off

401(k) Retirement Plan