Lead Software Developer
STR · Woburn, MA
$157,000–$223,000from the description
Jul 13, 2026
Woburn, MA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A lead software developer role focused on building embedded, real-time signal processing systems for radar, sonar, and electronic warfare applications. Day-to-day work involves designing, implementing, and testing software in C/C++ on Linux-based platforms, with potential use of FPGAs, GPUs, and DSPs. The role suits an experienced engineer comfortable working across hardware-software boundaries and eligible to obtain a Top Secret security clearance.
Senior level · 5+ years · Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH · Bachelor's required · Top Secret clearance · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
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 $169,742 (middle half $134,780–$187,781). 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 title is 'Software Developer' with 'Lead' used only in the body description, not the formal title — advertised seniority is treated as Unspecified; the 5-7+ years requirement and lead responsibilities support a Senior classification.
Clearance: the JD hard-gates on the *ability to obtain* a Top Secret clearance (US citizenship required); an active Secret or TS/SCI is listed under 'Even Better' as a preferred bonus, not a hard gate.
C and C++ are presented as interchangeable options ('C, C++, or similar') — emitted as one skill with C++ as an alternative.
Python and MATLAB are presented as interchangeable ('Python and/or MATLAB') — emitted as one skill with MATLAB as an alternative; MATLAB also appears separately under the 'Even Better' preferred section in the context of signal processing optimization.
VHDL and Verilog are presented as interchangeable ('VHDL and/or Verilog') — emitted as one skill with Verilog as an alternative.
GPU, DSP, and FPGA hardware accelerators are listed under 'Even Better' as a single preferred requirement — emitted as one skill (GPUs) with DSPs and FPGAs as alternatives.
Xilinx MPSoC and RFSoC are listed together under 'Even Better' — emitted as one preferred skill with RFSoC as an alternative.
The degree requirement is a BS, MS, or PhD in a relevant technical discipline — minimum is Bachelor's; the years of experience (5-7+) vary by degree level.
The role is based in the Boston area; STR has multiple locations but this posting is for the Boston/Space Mission Sector team.
Ignored 2 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): device driver development, real-time multi-threaded embedded software.
Requires a Top 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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