Principal Software Engineer

About the Team

STR’s Intelligence Division researches and develops advanced analytics and machine learning-based solutions to solve challenging problems related to national security. Our team consists of passionate and motivated engineers with advanced degrees in engineering, computer science, mathematics, and data science, who are seeking opportunities to use their deep technical knowledge and creativity to tackle some of the hardest problems that our customers face. Our projects span multiple different data modalities and incorporate advanced algorithms, deep learning, and statistical techniques to uncover patterns in social media, structured and unstructured text, time series, geospatial, and imagery data, and must operate under challenging constraints not typically found in the commercial world. The tools and technologies we develop have real world impact and US Government analysts use them to extract and enrich intelligence information around the globe.

The Role

As a Principal Software Engineer, you will leverage your skills in systems and software development to operationalize advanced statistical machine learning algorithms and support production-level systems. You will work closely with other software engineers and researchers to design cutting-edge solutions to challenging problems impacting national security including classification, anomaly detection, forecasting, and much more. You will also interact with customers to understand requirements and use cases and apply feedback to respond to their most critical problems.

Positions are available in both Woburn, MA and Arlington, VA. Due to the nature of our work, applicants should expect to primarily work onsite.

What You'll Do:

• Collaborate to create and maintain software for data pipelines, algorithms, storage, and access
• Productize research capabilities with team members into standardized software packages
• Deploy new tools and capabilities into operational environments
• Monitor system performance with standardized tools to ensure robustness, system up-time, and reliability
• Develop and implement software standards across a team of diverse skillsets

Who You Are:

• Active Secret security clearance, for which U.S Citizenship is needed by the U.S government
• Enjoys working hard and seeing mission impact
• Motivated collaborator looking to work with a large and distributed team
• Ability to lead and direct development initiatives from inception to prototype and production
• BS degree with 12 + years of experience in one or more high level programming languages, like Python (equivalent experience considered)
• Fluent in containerization technologies, such as Docker
• Experience developing software for big data applications
• Experience with orchestration technologies, such as Kubernetes

Even Better:

• Active Top Secret security clearance
• Possession of Security+ or other certifications
• Experience with data engineering tools and standards, such as ETL pipelines, SQL, and database storage
• Experience with Continuous Integration / Continuous Deployment tools
• Experience with user interfaces and APIs
• Experience with user authentication and access controls

Pay Information
Full-Time Salary Range: $220,000 - $280,000

The salary range listed is based on external market data. Offers are based on factors, such as but not limited to, the candidate’s experience, education, training, key skills/critical skills, security clearances, and prevailing market and business conditions.

STR is a growing technology company with locations near Boston, MA, Arlington, VA, near Dayton, OH, Melbourne, FL, and Carlsbad, CA. We specialize in advanced research and development for defense, intelligence, and national security in: cyber; next generation sensors, radar, sonar, communications, and electronic warfare; and artificial intelligence algorithms and analytics to make sense of the complexity that is exploding around us.

STR is committed to creating a collaborative learning environment that supports deep technical understanding and recognizes the contributions and achievements of all team members. Our work is challenging, and we go home at night knowing that we pushed the envelope of technology and made the world safer.

STR is not just any company. Our people, culture, and attitude along with their unique set of skills, experiences, and perspectives put us on a trajectory to change the world. We can't do it alone, though - we need fellow trailblazers. If you are one, join our team and help to keep our society safe! Visit us at for more info.

STR is an equal opportunity employer. We are fully dedicated to hiring the most qualified candidate regardless of race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

If you need a reasonable accommodation for any portion of the employment process, email us at View email address on aiapply.co and provide your contact info.

Pursuant to applicable federal law and regulations, positions at STR require employees to obtain national security clearances and satisfy the requirements for compliance with export control and other applicable laws.