Sr Backend Developer

Title: Senior Back-End Engineer
Location: Rockville, MD
Terms: Full-time
Clearance: Must be a U.S. Citizen and able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance
Travel: None

RESULTS. INNOVATION. VALUES. ACCOUNTABILITY.

That’s RIVA. Our employee-first approach has manifested a culture that attracts the best and brightest. By investing in people first and providing a flexible work environment, our employees have higher morale, higher productivity rates, and lower turnover. At RIVA, people are our #1 priority.

Program Overview

RIVA Solutions supports the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Program Support Center (PSC) modernization efforts under the Financial Management Platform (FMP) initiative. This program focuses on migrating legacy financial and administrative systems to secure, scalable cloud-based environments to enhance efficiency, transparency, and audit readiness across HHS.

Position Overview

RIVA Solutions is seeking a Senior Back-End Engineer to support the migration and modernization of federal financial systems. The developer will play a key role in transitioning from an existing legacy mainframe system to a new cloud-based architecture.

The ideal candidate has extensive experience designing, developing, and optimizing back-end services, RESTful APIs, and containerized applications while applying modern DevSecOps practices in an Agile environment.

Responsibilities

• Architect, design, and develop backend services and RESTful APIs using Node.js with Express.js or Nest.js, ensuring scalability and performance.
• Own end-to-end backend feature development — from design to testing, deployment, and optimization.
• Implement secure authentication and authorization using Keycloak and JWT.
• Design and optimize database schemas and queries using PostgreSQL and TypeORM.
• Utilize Docker to package, deploy, and run backend services; support CI/CD improvements.
• Implement caching, versioning, and encryption mechanisms within Nest.js to ensure secure and performant services.
• Develop and maintain workflow automation and rule-based processing using Node-RED.
• Collaborate across infrastructure, security, DevOps, and product teams to deliver robust solutions.
• Mentor junior developers and promote adherence to clean architecture standards.
• Apply DevSecOps principles throughout the development lifecycle.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field.
• 7+ years of professional software development experience, with 5+ years in backend development using Node.js.
• Strong hands-on experience with RESTful API design and Nest.js/Express.js frameworks.
• Expertise in PostgreSQL and TypeORM, including schema design and query optimization.
• Proficiency in containerization (Docker) and CI/CD pipeline support.
• Experience implementing authentication and authorization frameworks (Keycloak, JWT).
• Strong JavaScript/TypeScript proficiency and knowledge of design patterns.
• Excellent problem-solving and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience with federal civilian clients.
• Familiarity with Node-RED for workflow automation.
• Experience with Apache Superset or Apache Tika integrations.
• AWS Certification or Node.js Backend certification.

Salary

Up to $140,000, depending on experience.

RIVA Benefits

• Paid Time Off / Sick Leave
• Health, Dental, and Vision Coverage
• Life Insurance
• 401K Retirement Plan with Company Match
• HSA/FSA Spending Accounts
• Long- and Short-term Disability
• Pet Insurance
• Wellness Program Initiatives
• RIVA Flex (Flexible Hours and Hybrid Work Support)
• Additional Perks & Workplace Benefits

Equal Opportunity Statement

RIVA Solutions is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any protected class. If you need a reasonable accommodation to search for a job opening or to submit an online application, please email accommodations@rivasolutionsinc.com. Only messages left for this purpose will be returned.