Account Backend Engineer

Location: Bethesda, Maryland

Department: Front-End / Back-End / UI-UX

Overview

Black Canyon Consulting (BCC) is searching for an NCBI Login and MyNCBI Account Backend Engineer. This role will play a critical role in supporting and modernizing the authentication and account management infrastructure for the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), part of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at NIH. This engineer will be responsible for maintaining legacy systems, facilitating migration to modern identity platforms, and ensuring robust, secure, and scalable backend services for millions of biomedical users worldwide.

Key Responsibilities

• Maintain and Stabilize Legacy Systems:
• Provide operational support for NCBI Login System, including troubleshooting, patching, and ensuring production stability during migration phases.
• Support MyNCBI Account backend services, resolving session and account linking issues, and maintaining the Backend storage databases.
• Backend Development & Integration:
• Build, deploy, and maintain backend binaries and CGI scripts across multiple environments on Almalinux and other Unix/Linux platforms.
• Integrate third-party identity providers (IDPs) and manage federated account data feeds such as the Incommon organizations.
• Develop and optimize backend services using C++, Python, Django, and SQL, with a focus on security, compliance, and performance.
• Compliance & Security:
• Ensure backend systems meet FISMA Moderate and other compliance requirements.
• Apply best practices in authentication, authorization, and IT security standards (SAML, OAuth 2.0, OIDC, JWT).
• Monitor and support ongoing user issues, collaborating with partner agencies for resolution.
• Modernization & Migration:
• Lead and participate in migration efforts from legacy authentication systems to NIH ICAM (Identity, Credential, and Access Management) standards.
• Implement integration patterns for federated login, account consolidation, and application-owned authorization.
• Support user account migration, including linking, merging, and retiring local credentials for NCBI applications.
• DevOps & CI/CD:
• Manage code and configuration repositories, build pipelines, and deployment processes for backend services.
• Troubleshoot build and deployment issues, including OS upgrades and library dependencies.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience.
• Strong proficiency in backend programming (C++, Python, SQL) and Linux environments.
• Experience with authentication and authorization protocols (OAuth, OIDC, SAML, JWT).
• Extensive experience with Microsoft SQL server and relational database design and optimization
• Experience with version control (Git, SVN), CI/CD tools, and DevOps practices.
• Experience integrating with third-party applications and secured data sharing.
• Experience working with of XML and XSLT.
• Experience with agile development processes.
• Ability to work with legacy systems and facilitate migration to modern platforms.
• Strong troubleshooting, teamwork, and communication skills; ability to work independently.