Principal Software Engineer (MS&A)
BAE Systems · Hill AFB, UT
$120,874–$205,486from the description
Jul 14, 2026
Hill AFB, UT
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A senior engineering role focused on building and maintaining high-fidelity six-degrees-of-freedom simulation models for the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program. Day-to-day work involves coding and testing rocket and missile dynamics simulations, validating results against physical principles, and communicating findings to program stakeholders. The role suits an experienced software engineer with a background in defense systems and simulation, requiring an active Secret clearance and the ability to obtain Top Secret.
Senior level · 12+ years · Ogden-Clearfield, UT · Bachelor's required · Secret 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 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
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $112,296 (middle half $88,576–$146,860). 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 job title is inconsistent throughout the posting: the header and requisition number reference 'Principal MS&A Software Engineer' / 'Principal Software Engineer (MS&A)', while the body text repeatedly describes the role as 'Senior MS&A Developer Engineer'. Advertised seniority is set to Principal based on the formal title; actual scope and experience requirements (12 years, no explicit org-wide authority) support Senior.
The clearance gate is layered: a current active Secret clearance is a hard requirement, with the ability to obtain Top Secret also required. The role is classified as on-site at Hill AFB due to the classified environment.
C and Python are listed together under a single 'coding languages such as' qualifier — they are treated as interchangeable alternatives for the coding language requirement, though in practice both may be used on the program.
Git is listed under required skills with the qualifier 'such as', indicating another configuration management tool could substitute; no specific alternative is named in the posting.
The 12-year experience requirement applies with a bachelor's degree; 10 years is accepted with a graduate degree. The lower bound (10 years) is not used here because the baseline stated requirement is 12 years.
6-DOF simulation experience, rocket/missile modeling, optimization algorithms, and DoD Acquisition Lifecycle experience all appear under the 'Preferred Education, Experience, & Skills' section.
Ignored 2 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): rocket/missile modeling, DoD Acquisition Lifecycle.
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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