Senior Software Systems Engineer Space Dynamics Laboratory 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

Preferred Qualifications

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





What Success Looks Like

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

Salary Range

$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 Perks 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.

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