Senior Software Engineering

Description Are you passionate about building secure, mission-critical software that directly supports some of our nation's toughest space challenges?
Do you enjoy solving complex engineering problems involving distributed systems, cloud-native architectures, DevSecOps, and high-performance applications?
Are you excited to collaborate with talented engineers to develop resilient software solutions where reliability, security, and mission impact truly matter?
We are seeking a skilled Senior Software Engineer to design, develop, and maintain critical software applications supporting National Security Space in a TS/SCI environment. You will build scalable, secure, and observable software systems for space domain applications, including command and control, data processing, mission planning, and multi-domain integration tools. We are passionate about creating software engineering solutions that address our sponsors' toughest problems.
This role emphasizes DevSecOps practices, cloud-native architectures, and secure development/deployment in classified environments. You will work on complex, distributed systems where reliability, security, and performance are paramount.
As a Senior Software Engineer you will...

Design and implement robust backend services, APIs, and data pipelines for space operations software.
Build and maintain containerized, orchestrated applications with full CI/CD pipelines.
Ensure applications meet compliance requirements for classified environments, including air-gapped deployments and controlled updates.
Identify and solve issues, monitor, and improve system performance and observability in production-like environments.
S. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or a related field
Have 5+ years of full software engineering experience, including software design methodology, requirements development, configuration management, trade studies, and product defect tracking
Strong proficiency in at least one modern language/stack (Java/Spring Boot, Python, C++, or equivalent).
Hands-on experience with Docker/Podman (multi-stage builds, optimization) and Kubernetes (Deployments, Services, ConfigMaps, Secrets, Helm/Kustomize).
Demonstrated experience building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines (GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, or Jenkins) including build, test, security scanning, and deployment stages.
Experience with testing practices: unit, integration, and API testing in containerized environments.
Are able to obtain a Top-Secret Clearance. Possess a Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field.
Practical experience working with cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, Google Cloud.
Experience with space-related software, real-time systems, or large-scale data processing.
This is a high-impact role building resilient software that directly supports space superiority missions in a secure, forward-leaning development environment.
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) brings world-class expertise to our nation's most critical defense, security, space and science challenges. While we are dedicated to solving complex challenges and pioneering new technologies, what makes us truly outstanding is our culture. Our employees enjoy generous benefits, including a robust education assistance program, unparalleled retirement contributions, and a healthy work/life balance. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, creed, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, occupation, marital or familial status, political opinion, personal appearance, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.APL is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals of all abilities, including those with disabilities. Actual compensation may vary based on factors such as geographic location, work experience, market conditions, education/training and skill level with consideration for internal parity. APL may offer bonuses or other forms of compensation per internal policy and/or contractual designation. Additional compensation may be provided in the form of a sign-on bonus, relocation benefits, locality allowance or discretionary payments for exceptional performance. APL provides eligible staff with a comprehensive benefits package including retirement plans, paid time off, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability, flexible spending accounts, education assistance, and training and development. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.