Job Description

Worker Type

Regular

AV's Specialized Exploitation & Targeting (SET) Department is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to provide technical leadership and strategic direction in support of NASIC at Wright-Patterson AFB. You will lead the architecture, development, and maintenance of multiple source code repositories for mission-critical data analysis tools that support the production of technical intelligence products for warfighters, senior decision-makers, and the Intelligence Community. As a senior technical contributor, you will mentor development teams, drive architectural decisions, and establish engineering best practices. Technologies used in this position range from languages such as C++, Python, and TypeScript to document stores such as Elasticsearch and SQL stores such as PostgreSQL.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, architecture, and implementation of complex software systems across multiple applications and websites on both Windows and Linux environments.
• Mentor and provide technical guidance to mid-level and junior software engineers, conducting code reviews and promoting engineering excellence.
• Drive technical strategy and architectural decisions for current and future development initiatives.
• Lead software design meetings and architecture reviews, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards and mission requirements.
• Collaborate with stakeholders, product owners, and intelligence analysts to translate complex operational requirements into scalable technical solutions.
• Establish and enforce coding standards, development workflows, and quality assurance processes.
• Lead troubleshooting efforts for critical production issues and provide technical oversight for incident response.
• Design and implement comprehensive testing strategies including unit, integration, and functional test plans.
• Evaluate and recommend new technologies, tools, and frameworks to enhance team productivity and system capabilities.

Required Qualifications

• BA/BS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Math, or a closely related technical field. MS preferred.
• U.S. Citizenship required.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in software design, development, coding, testing, and debugging.
• 3+ years of experience in a technical leadership or senior engineering role.
• Proven track record of leading software architecture and design for complex, distributed systems.
• Deep expertise in web/service-based design, programming, and requirements analysis.
• Advanced proficiency in front-end technologies including JavaScript, TypeScript, CSS3, and HTML5 and frameworks such as Angular or React.
• Expert-level knowledge of server-side programming languages such as Java, C++, Python, and Go.
• Extensive experience with document stores (Elasticsearch or similar) and SQL stores such as PostgreSQL, including performance optimization and schema design.
• Strong background in containerization technologies, including creation, deployment, and orchestration of Open Container Images.
• Demonstrated expertise in designing and managing production Kubernetes environments, including networking, storage, workload management, and security configurations.
• Expert-level proficiency in git version control, branching strategies, and establishing team git hygiene standards.
• Proven experience implementing and championing test-driven development practices.
• Experience with CI/CD pipeline design and implementation (Gitlab CI/CD or similar).
• Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers and lead technical teams.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience designing and implementing comprehensive interface validation and testing strategies for both synchronous interfaces (HTTP APIs) and asynchronous interfaces (Kafka message bus, etc.).
• CompTIA Security+ certification or higher (CISSP, CEH, etc.).
• Advanced experience with Gitlab CI/CD, including pipeline optimization and security scanning integration.
• Proven experience refactoring and modernizing large, legacy code bases.
• Demonstrated experience designing enterprise-level Kubernetes application architectures for large-scale distributed systems.
• Strong background in software architecture patterns, design principles, and system integration.
• Experience leading requirement analysis efforts, including creating formal written requirements from stakeholder descriptions and facilitating requirements workshops.
• Experience with DevSecOps practices and tools.
• Background in Intelligence Community systems and workflows.
• Experience with Agile/Scrum in a leadership capacity (Scrum Master, Tech Lead, or similar).

Competencies & Work Environment

• Proven ability to lead in a collaborative team environment and drive results across cross-functional teams.
• Experience working within Agile, Scrum, or other project management frameworks, ideally in a leadership or mentorship capacity.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, code bases, and tools simultaneously while maintaining technical excellence.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities with a focus on mission impact.

Salary Range: $115000 - $170000

Location: Dayton, Ohio (In Office and On Site at or near Wright-Patterson AFB) or Remote

Organization: AV Specialized Exploitation & Targeting (SET) Department

ITAR Requirement:

This position requires access to information that is subject to compliance with the International Traffic Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) and/or the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”). In order to comply with the requirements of the ITAR and/or the EAR, applicants will be asked to provide specific documentation to verify U.S. person status under the ITAR and the EAR. A “U.S. person” according to their definition is a U.S. citizen, U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), or protected individual such as a refugee, or asylee. See 22 CFR § 120.15. Some positions will require current U.S. Citizenship due to contract requirements.

Benefits AV offers an excellent benefits package including medical, dental vision, 401K with company matching, a 9/80 work schedule and a paid holiday shutdown. For more information about our company benefit offerings please visit: http://www.avinc.com/myavbenefits

We also encourage you to review our company website at http://www.avinc.com to learn more about us.

Principals only need apply. NO agencies please.

Who We Are

Based in California, AeroVironment (AVAV) is a global leader in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and tactical missile systems. Founded in 1971 by celebrated physicist and engineer, Dr. Paul MacCready, we’ve been at the leading edge of technical innovation for more than 45 years. Be a part of the team that developed the world’s most widely used military drones and created the first submarine-launched reconnaissance drone, and has seven innovative vehicles that are part of the Smithsonian Institution’s permanent collection in Washington, DC.

Join us today in developing the next generation of small UAS and tactical missile systems that will deliver more actionable intelligence to our customers so they can proceed with certainty – and succeed.

What We Do

Building on a history of technological innovation, AeroVironment designs, develops, produces, and supports an advanced portfolio of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and tactical missile systems. Agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense and allied military services use the company’s hand-launched UAS to provide situational awareness to tactical operating units through real-time, airborne reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition.

We are proud to be an EEO/AA Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability/veterans. AeroVironment, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and welcomes all qualified applicants. Qualified applicants will receive fair and impartial consideration without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic data, sexual orientation, gender identity or other legally protected status.

ITAR