Senior Principal Software Engineer

General Dynamics Mission Systems, Inc. is hiring a Senior Principal Software Engineer for work in Annapolis Junction, MD, with hybrid/Flex options. This role centers on taking ownership of the end-to-end software development lifecycle, providing technical leadership, and guiding software from prototype or R&D maturity through production-quality delivery.

The position requires U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain a Department of Defense TS/SCI security clearance at the time of hire. The work supports research oriented efforts alongside teams developing practical solutions for national security.

What you’ll do

• Demonstrate ownership of the full software development lifecycle.
• Provide technical leadership for software engineers.
• Take software from prototype/R&D maturity to production-quality, maintainable, deliverable products.
• Apply software engineering best practices including testing, version control, design review, documentation, and technical debt management.
• Develop C2, device management, or platform control software for custom or proprietary hardware.
• Design software interfaces for FPGA-based systems and bespoke embedded hardware.
• Lead stateful system design across state machines, operational sequencing, configuration management, and fault handling.
• Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines.
• Support Kubernetes administration and operations, including authoring Helm charts for application packaging and deployment.
• Use containerization technologies including containerd, Docker, and Podman.
• Apply enterprise software design principles such as API design, service-oriented architecture, and modular or layered system design.
• Develop embedded software in a Linux environment.
• Work with optical, RF, or other communication system modem hardware.
• Apply hardware-software co-design workflows and FPGA integration patterns.
• Drive software platform reuse across multiple programs or product lines.
• Stand up development environments, toolchains, and engineering infrastructure for small-to-mid-size teams.
• Apply AI/ML tools to accelerate engineering workflows.
• Support software lifecycle execution while growing others by building long-term subject matter experts.
• Coordinate across multidisciplinary hardware and software teams using exceptional communication.
• Develop and integrate MCP (Model Context Protocol) server capabilities and related AI-tooling integration.

Required qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering or a related STEM field plus 10+ years of relevant experience; or a Master’s degree plus 8+ years of relevant experience.
• Security clearance: Ability to obtain a Department of Defense TS/SCI security clearance required at time of hire, including successful completion of a U.S. Government security investigation and meeting eligibility requirements for access to classified information.
• Citizenship: U.S. citizenship required due to the nature of work performed within company facilities.

Technologies

• C2
• Helm
• Kubernetes
• containerd
• Docker
• Podman
• FPGA
• AI/ML
• Linux
• MCP (Model Context Protocol)

Compensation & location details

• Salary range: USD 183,381 - 193,049 per year.
• Workplace option: fully on-site or hybrid/Flex as desired; the role supports the Annapolis Junction, MD facility.
• Posting note: This estimate reflects a typical salary range based on experience and factors such as geography; actual pay may vary. The posting will remain open until the position is filled.

Benefits

• 401k matching
• Flex time off
• Paid parental leave
• Healthcare benefits
• Health & wellness programs
• Employee resource and social groups
• Flexible schedules with every other Friday off work (9/80 schedule), if desired
• Research oriented work with award winning teams developing practical solutions for national security
• Career path with opportunities for continuous learning and development