Autonomy Algorithms Software Engineer at STR
Arlington, VA
$115,000–$145,000from the description
Aug 11, 2026
Arlington, VA
Sep 24, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
An autonomy-focused software engineering role at a national-security R&D firm, building algorithms and software systems for autonomous and uncrewed platforms, multi-agent coordination, and mission planning. Work spans the full development lifecycle from early prototypes to integrated systems, with a strong emphasis on backend algorithmic development in C++ or Java. The position is hybrid out of Woburn, MA or Arlington, VA.
Mid level · 2+ years · Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH · Bachelor's required · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
Posted 3 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 2,900 people in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (software developers). range 2,200–3,800
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 $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 Aug 13, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (6)
The role is based in either Woburn, MA or Arlington, VA; the Boston CBSA is used as the primary location since it is listed first, but candidates in the DC/Arlington area are equally targeted.
An active security clearance is listed under 'Even Better' (preferred), not required — the JD does not gate on holding or obtaining one.
The JD explicitly states that candidates with experience primarily in front-end UI/UX or database management will not meet requirements, reinforcing the backend algorithmic focus.
Many 'Even Better' items (Collection Orchestration, Satellite Constellation Management, Electronic Warfare, Agentic AI, TCPED, UxV coordination, knowledge representation/ontologies) are domain-specific concepts rather than named tools and are omitted from the skills list per extraction rules; the concrete named technologies from that section (Python, ROS, MAVLINK, Unreal Engine, TAK, CI/CD, DevSecOps, constraint satisfaction algorithms) are captured as preferred.
C++ and Java are presented as interchangeable ('1+ years' experience with C++ or Java'), so they are combined into one skill with Java as an alternative.
Ignored 1 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): Test-driven development.
Read the full posting
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