Sr. Associate, Software Engineer at L3Harris
Colorado Springs, CO
$74,500–$138,500from the description
Jul 21, 2026
Colorado Springs, CO
Jul 22, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A hands-on individual contributor role focused on building and maintaining backend mission software for a space surveillance program that tracks objects in orbit. Day-to-day work centers on C++ and Java development in Linux environments, covering data ingest, orbit and track processing workflows, automated testing, and CI/CD pipelines. Suits an early-career software engineer with backend or systems development experience and an active Secret clearance.
Junior level · 2+ years · Colorado Springs, CO · Secret clearance · Full-time
Advertised as Mid, but the requirements read as Junior.
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 Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (7)
The title 'Senior Associate' is L3Harris's internal band name for an early-career level (roughly 2 years of experience required), not a true 'Senior' role in the conventional sense — the requirements support a Junior/entry-level band despite the 'Senior' word in the title.
The degree requirement accepts a Bachelor's + 2 years, a Graduate degree + 0–2 years, OR 4 years of experience in lieu of any degree, so no formal degree is hard-gated.
An active Secret clearance is explicitly required as a hard gate.
C++, Java, and Linux appear in the required qualifications section with firm language ('Experience with software development… in Linux, backend, or systems-oriented environments'); C++ and Java are also reinforced in the Essential Functions.
CI/CD, DevSecOps, SGP4, Space Domain Awareness workflows, orbital mechanics, distributed systems, data-processing pipelines, and performance tuning all appear under 'Preferred Additional Skills' and are marked accordingly.
The salary range ($74,500–$138,500/year) is stated as Colorado-specific and is not a guarantee of final compensation.
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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