Senior Associate, Software Engineer
L3Harris · Herndon, VA
$112,500–$135,000from the description
Jul 24, 2026
Herndon, VA
Jul 25, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A software engineering role focused on developing and maintaining desktop applications for military mission systems and image processing, running on Linux and/or Windows. The position also involves hardware communications interfacing. It is aimed at candidates who hold or recently completed a Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related discipline, with C, C++, or Java experience preferred.
Mid level · Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV · Master's required · Full-time
Advertised as Senior, but the requirements read as Mid.
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
Posted 2 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
Roughly 10,400 people in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (software developers). range 7,800–13,500
Applicant volume Heavy — This req sits in a large pool with little in its requirements to thin it, and auto-apply tools fire at everything in the occupation. Applying early and leading with the rare skills below is what gets read.
What the occupation pays Median $158,337 (middle half $126,441–$180,105). 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 Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (8)
The title 'Senior Associate, Software Engineer' is L3Harris's internal leveling convention — 'Senior Associate' at L3Harris typically maps to an early-career/associate band, not a senior IC. The actual requirements (a Master's degree in progress or recently completed, no stated years of experience) support a Mid-level classification at most.
A Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field is a hard gate — applicants must be currently enrolled or have graduated within the last 12 months.
No overall years-of-experience requirement is stated anywhere in the posting.
Linux and/or Windows application development is described in the job description body as the primary work; treated as a required platform context rather than a specific named tool gate, but captured to reflect the domain.
C, C++, Java, and Windows OS experience all appear exclusively under 'Preferred Additional Skills' and are therefore preferred, not required.
Hardware communications interfacing is called out as 'a plus' in the job description body — omitted from skills as it names no specific technology.
The salary range quoted ($112,500–$135,000) applies to the Greater D.C./NYC/Denver areas; a lower range ($98,000–$117,600) applies to Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New York state, Cleveland OH, and Vermont.
The posting notes that many L3Harris positions require the ability to obtain a security clearance, but this role does not explicitly gate on holding or obtaining one — no clearance requirement is set.
Read the full posting
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