Lead Software Engineer

Basic Qualifications

Requires a Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering, or a related Science, Engineering or Mathematics field. Also requires 5+ years of job-related experience, or a Master's degree plus 3 years of job-related experience. Agile experience preferred.

 

CLEARANCE REQUIREMENTS: Department of Defense Secret security clearance is required within a reasonable period of time. Applicants selected will be subject to a U.S. Government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information. Due to the nature of work performed within our facilities, U.S. citizenship is required.

Responsibilities for this Position

ROLE AND POSITION OBJECTIVES:

As a Lead Software Engineer, you will lead and work with a cross functional software team responsible for the entire software development life cycle. You will provide technical leadership and coordination across all software engineering activities to ensure alignment between system architecture, requirements, subsystem implementation, and program milestones.

In this role, you will:

• You’ll lead and grow a team of software engineers — setting technical direction, coaching skills, and driving delivery
• You’ll design and build performance-critical software in C/C++ — the backbone of our real-time systems
• You’ll use Python for automation, tooling, and rapid prototyping alongside our core C/C++ codebase
• You’ll work in Linux environments daily — from user-level development to system administration
• You’ll collaborate through modern source control (GitLab, Git) with branching strategies that keep the team moving fast
• You’ll leverage containers to build portable, reproducible development and deployment environments
• You’ll shape the technical baseline — from requirements and design through test documentation and diagrams
• You’re the kind of engineer who pulls the thread on hard problems until you find the root cause
• You communicate complex technical concepts clearly to diverse audiences — from fellow engineers to program leadership
• You never stop learning — and you bring what you learn back to the team

What sets you apart:

• You’ve led software teams through full delivery cycles and know how to balance technical excellence with schedule reality
• You dig into tough problems — ambiguous requirements, complex architectures, hard debugging — and come out with clean solutions
• You raise the bar for the engineers around you through code reviews, mentoring, and setting technical direction
• You communicate clearly across disciplines — translating between systems engineers, test teams, and program management
• You stay current on industry trends and bring new ideas back to the team, including practical applications of AI and automation
• You care about the mission and take pride in delivering software that people depend on

Our Commitment to You:

• An exciting career path with opportunities for continuous learning and development — including tuition reimbursement, conference attendance, and dedicated professional growth time
• Research oriented work, alongside award winning teams developing practical solutions for our nation’s security
• Flexible schedules with every other Friday off work, if desired (9/80 schedule) and hybrid work arrangements
• Competitive benefits, including 401k matching, flex time off, paid parental leave, healthcare benefits, health & wellness programs, employee resource and social groups, and more
• See more at gdmissionsystems.com/careers/why-work-for-us/benefits

Workplace Options:This position is primarily on-site with opportunities for Hybrid work/Flex as allowable.While on-site, you will be a part of the GDMS Pittsfield, Massachusetts Engineering Team.

Salary Note

This estimate represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience and other factors (geographic location, etc.). Actual pay may vary. This job posting will remain open until the position is filled.

Combined Salary Range

USD $110,175.00 - USD $122,225.00 /Yr.

Company Overview

General Dynamics Mission Systems (GDMS) engineers a diverse portfolio of high technology solutions, products and services that enable customers to successfully execute missions across all domains of operation. With a global team of 12,000+ top professionals, we partner with the best in industry to expand the bounds of innovation in the defense and scientific arenas. Given the nature of our work and who we are, we value trust, honesty, alignment and transparency. We offer highly competitive benefits and pride ourselves in being a great place to work with a shared sense of purpose. You will also enjoy a flexible work environment where contributions are recognized and rewarded. If who we are and what we do resonates with you, we invite you to join our high-performance team!

Equal Opportunity Employer / Individuals with Disabilities / Protected Veterans