SOFTWARE DATA ENGINEER - Enterprise Infrastructure - 5+ yrs of Experience - TS/SCI w/Poly clearance is required - ES
ESEA II—Peraton · Laurel, MD
$168,000–$172,000
Jul 2, 2026
Laurel, MD
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A software engineering role focused on designing, deploying, and managing cloud infrastructure — primarily using OpenStack — while also developing, testing, and maintaining complex software systems against documented requirements. The work involves analyzing system performance, integrating COTS/GOTS solutions, and supporting IT operations in an onsite environment. Suited to engineers with a strong Linux and Python background and an active TS/SCI polygraph clearance.
Senior level · 5+ years · Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV · Bachelor's required · TS/SCI clearance · Full-time
Pay in the description: $168,000–$172,000
“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
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $158,337 (middle half $126,441–$180,105). 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 title says 'Software Data Engineer' but the body describes a general software engineering role focused on cloud infrastructure design, deployment, and management — there is no meaningful data-engineering workload (pipelines, ETL, warehousing) described. The role is classified as Software Developers (15-1252); Database Architects (15-1243) is noted as a runner-up only because of the 'Data Engineer' title framing.
The clearance requirement is explicitly TS/SCI with a polygraph, which is the most restrictive tier.
The degree requirement is a hard gate, but the JD offers three equivalent paths (Bachelor's + 5 yrs, Master's + 3 yrs, PhD + 6 yrs). The minimum formal degree across all paths is a Bachelor's, so that is reported; the Master's and PhD paths are alternative routes, not additional gates.
Total years minimum is set to 5, reflecting the lowest-bar path (Bachelor's + 5 years). The Master's path requires only 3 years, but since a Master's is not the minimum degree required, 5 years is the conservative floor.
Cloud security, operations familiarity, and broad system engineering experience appear only under the 'Desired' section and are not emitted as named-tool skills since they name no specific technology.
AWS Certified Solutions Architect and Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect are listed as a plus (desired), so they are marked preferred; they are treated as interchangeable certifications for the same capability.
Ignored 1 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): network automation.
Requires a TS/SCI 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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