Senior Software Systems Engineer

Job ID: 10096
Date Posted: November 4, 2026
Join the Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) team, where you'll contribute to groundbreaking innovations! We are seeking applicants for a senior technical leader. This role combines software engineering, systems engineering, and infrastructure expertise with strong customer engagement and technical leadership.
This role will maintain a broad, working understanding of environment, including its applications, operating systems, virtualization platforms, container infrastructure, and supporting services. They will evaluate system capabilities and limitations, identify technical risks and dependencies, and help translate customer objectives into practical solutions.
As a technical adviser to our customer, the selected candidate will lead technical discussions, clarify system capabilities and configuration options, coordinate across engineering and operations teams, and maintain alignment between customer expectations and technical realities. They will be capable of investigating technical issues and engaging in implementation when needed, while keeping their primary focus on system-level understanding, technical direction, and mission outcomes.
We are looking for a technically versatile leader who can connect software, infrastructure, and operations; exercise technical judgment; and guide teams without needing to be the deepest specialist in every technology.
Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, management information systems, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• 15+ years of relevant experience in software engineering, systems engineering, infrastructure engineering, or a related technical field, with increasing responsibility
• Broad technical understanding of complex software systems and their supporting infrastructure, including the interactions between applications, operating systems, virtualization, containers, and services
• Working knowledge of Linux environments, particularly RHEL, and familiarity with enterprise virtualization or container platforms
• Experience guiding technical execution and coordinating across software, infrastructure, and operations teams
• Strong customer-facing communication skills, including experience leading technical meetings, advising stakeholders, and explaining complex technical concepts and tradeoffs to technical and non-technical audiences
• Ability to translate customer objectives into technical priorities while maintaining a system-level perspective
• Sound technical judgment, initiative, and the ability to balance hands-on problem-solving with broader technical leadership
• U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance with the DoW and required program access approvals
• Willingness and ability to travel up to 20% as required by the program

• Experience with VMware and enterprise virtualization environments
• Experience with Red Hat OpenShift, Kubernetes, and containerized applications
• Familiarity with application architecture and development in Python, Java, C++, or other programming languages
• Experience with system administration, platform operations, or infrastructure troubleshooting
• Familiarity with system architecture, requirements management, integration, verification and validation
• Understanding of networking, cybersecurity, and DoW mission operations environments
• Experience with CI/CD, automated deployments, infrastructure as code, or configuration management
• Familiarity with messaging technologies such as gRPC, Kafka, or ZeroMQ
• Experience coordinating across developers, system administrators, infrastructure engineers, vendors, and customer organizations
• Familiarity with Agile development and tools such as Git, Jira, and Confluence
• Active security clearance

• Maintains a reliable, system-wide understanding of the software and the environment and how its components interact
• Leads customer discussions, clarifies expectations, and explains what the system can and cannot do
• Identifies technical risks, dependencies, and gaps before they become larger program issues
• Keeps technical decisions aligned with customer objectives, system capabilities, and mission needs

• $143,000 - $178,000
  • Salary commensurate on education and relevant experience

This range serves as a general guideline and may vary based on factors such as role, level, location, market conditions, and individual qualifications, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. The range displayed in the job advertisement reflects the minimum and maximum target salaries across all US locations. Specific salary details for a candidate’s preferred location can be provided by the recruiter or HR manager during the hiring process.
Why Join SDL?
*SDL offers competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package. Visit our Benefits Page to learn more about what we offer.
SDL delivers advanced multi-domain solutions to protect national security and enable scientific discovery. Our expertise in satellites, sensors and instruments, ground systems and data processing, and autonomous systems plays a critical role in missions supporting NASA and the Department of Defense. Join our team of engineers, scientists, technicians, and business professionals in our seventh decade of delivering mission success.
At SDL, we strive to uphold a culture of respect, collaboration, empowerment, and accountability. We listen with open minds, seek to understand diverse perspectives, and engage in thoughtful dialogue. We work together by sharing knowledge, involving others, and offering support. We trust and empower our team members to take ownership, act with integrity, and be accountable. Above all, we deliver on our commitments to each other and to our mission partners.
The application window for this position is expected to remain open for approximately 7 days; however, it may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates. We encourage interested candidates to submit their applications promptly.