Engineer Principal Ground/Application Software at BAE Systems
Aurora, CO
$118,095–$200,762from the description
Aug 7, 2026
Aurora, CO
Sep 24, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A hands-on embedded satellite software engineering role at BAE Systems supporting a portfolio of space programs. The engineer will develop command-and-control, mission planning, and data analysis software across the full lifecycle — from requirements and architecture through integration and test. The position is fully on-site and requires an active TS/SCI clearance; the stack spans C/C++, Rust, Python, Ruby, cloud services, and containerization.
Senior level · 6+ years · Colorado Springs, CO · Bachelor's required · TS/SCI clearance · 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.
Posted 5 times — it's one opening, so apply once.
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
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 9, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (7)
The job title is 'Engineer Principal Ground/Application Software,' which maps to Principal in advertised seniority. However, the actual requirements — a BS plus 6+ years and a broad but standard technology stack — are consistent with a Senior-level role. The 'Principal' label here appears to be an internal job grade at BAE Systems rather than an indication of org-wide technical authority.
The posting does not name a specific city. BAE Systems SMS (Space and Mission Systems) is headquartered in Colorado Springs, CO; the on-site requirement and the division name make that the most likely primary location, though other BAE SMS campuses (e.g., San Diego, CA) are possible.
The required skills section lists technology areas as 'experience in one or more of the following,' meaning candidates need depth in at least one area rather than all listed technologies. The must-have flags reflect that these are gating requirements as a group, with the individual named tools being the stated options within each area.
Lambda is mentioned in the required section alongside AWS/Docker/Kubernetes but is a sub-service of AWS rather than a standalone tool; it is captured under the AWS skill rather than emitted separately.
JPA/ORM appears in the required section as a back-end technology but names no specific product; it is omitted per the rule against generic concepts with no canonical tool name.
UML diagramming experience appears in both the required and preferred sections; it names no specific tool in the required section (captured under Cameo/PlantUML in preferred).
Requires a TS/SCI clearance — the cleared population is a small fraction of this occupation, so the real candidate pool is materially smaller than the estimate below, which does not model clearance.
Read the full posting
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