Principal Lead Software Engineer at SAIC
Colorado Springs, CO
$160,001–$200,000from the description
Aug 4, 2026
Colorado Springs, CO
Sep 24, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A hands-on software engineering lead role at SAIC, onsite in Colorado Springs, supporting 2–4 simultaneous mission-critical defense/government projects in a rapid-prototyping environment. The role spans cloud-native application development, microservices architecture, DevSecOps pipeline work, and team technical leadership — balancing direct code contributions with setting software development standards across the broader program.
Senior level · 15+ years · Colorado Springs, CO · Bachelor's required · Full-time
Advertised as Principal, but the requirements read as Senior.
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 10 people in the Colorado Springs, CO area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (software developers). range 6–15
Applicant volume Light — Few people clear these requirements, so an application that does clear them gets looked at. Worth applying to even if you miss a nice-to-have.
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $137,233 (middle half $108,638–$170,529). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Aug 5, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (8)
The title says 'Principal Lead' but the role's actual scope — leading 2–4 projects simultaneously with hands-on contributions and some standards-setting — is consistent with a Senior engineer rather than a true org-wide Principal. The advertised seniority reflects the title; the assessed seniority reflects the requirements.
The 15+ years total experience requirement is for a Bachelor's holder; a Master's degree reduces it to 13+ years. The lower bound (13) was not used as the overall years minimum because the Bachelor's path is the baseline stated first.
The 7+ years figure covers back-end AND/OR front-end development collectively, not any single language or framework. It is set on Python (as the first-named back-end language) as a proxy; it does not mean 7 years of Python specifically.
Python, Java, C#, and Go are listed as interchangeable back-end options; React, Angular, and Vue.js as interchangeable front-end options — each group is captured as one skill with alternatives.
Trivy is mentioned only as an example of vulnerability scanning ('e.g., Trivy') within a responsibilities narrative, not in the formal requirements block — listed as preferred.
The posting mentions 'DAF Cloudworks' as a multi-cloud platform alongside AWS, Azure, and GCP. It is a DoD-specific platform and not a widely recognized commercial cloud; it is not emitted as a separate skill but is noted here for awareness.
No security clearance is explicitly required or gated in this posting, though the defense/government context and SAIC's mission suggest clearance eligibility may be informally expected. Candidates should be prepared for that possibility.
AWS Certified Solutions Architect certification is listed under Desired Qualifications — preferred, not required.
Read the full posting
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