Senior Software Engineer III
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory · Seattle, WA
$133,100–$210,400from the description
Jul 2, 2026
Seattle, WA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A senior engineering role focused on building AI-driven systems for national security applications, including agentic AI platforms, large-scale data pipelines, and real-time processing infrastructure. The work spans cloud-native deployments, MLOps, and geospatial analytics within multidisciplinary teams. Suited to experienced engineers comfortable with Python, distributed systems, and production AI/ML integration who can also guide less senior colleagues on technical decisions.
Senior level · 5+ years · Kennewick-Richland, WA · Secret clearance · Full-time
“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
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 $130,610 (middle half $99,920–$168,281). 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 (11)
The role is based in Richland, WA or Seattle, WA with required onsite presence Monday–Thursday; it is not fully remote. The CBSA is coded for Kennewick-Richland, WA (the primary PNNL campus location), though Seattle is also listed as an option.
Clearance: the JD states the role 'requires the ability to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance' and references access to classified matter under 10 CFR 710. The specific level is not named, but DOE national lab clearances at this level are typically Secret; coded accordingly.
Degree requirement: the JD offers a sliding scale of degree + experience (PhD+1yr through HS/GED+16yrs), so no single degree is hard-required — equivalent experience is explicitly accepted.
Total years minimum is set to 5, reflecting the BS/BA + 5 years path as the most common baseline; higher-degree paths require fewer years.
The second language requirement ('.NET/C#, Go, C++, or Rust') is listed as a single requirement with named alternatives; .NET is used as the primary name with the others in alternatives.
Cloud platform (AWS/Azure/GCP) is listed as a hard gate under 'What You Bring'; AWS is the primary name with Azure and GCP as alternatives.
Distributed processing frameworks (Spark, Kafka, Flink, Ray) appear under 'What You Bring' as a group; Spark is the primary with the others as alternatives.
ETL cloud tools (AWS Glue, Azure Data Factory, Step Functions), MLOps, and RAG appear only under Preferred Qualifications and are marked accordingly.
AI-assisted development tools (Copilot, Claude, Cursor) are listed under 'What You Bring' but name no single canonical technology and function as context/tooling examples rather than a gateable skill; omitted from the skills list.
The alternative occupation runner-up (15-1243 Database Architects) reflects the significant data engineering and pipeline architecture scope, though software development is clearly the primary day-to-day work.
Requires a Secret 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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