The Aerospace Corporation

Software Modernization Engineer

The Aerospace Corporation$129K — $193K *
Aerospace & Defense
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, or a STEM-related field.
  • Six or more years of experience in software engineering or software architecture.
  • Proven ability to manage multiple tasks and quickly adapt to new technologies and languages.
  • Experience in software engineering and full lifecycle development.
  • Experience in modernizing legacy systems, designing backend services or working with AI/ML applications.

Responsibilities

  • Provide high-level software systems engineering and architectural direction for large-scale applications.
  • Lead the evolution of legacy architectures into microservices-based configurations.
  • Conduct technical studies and prototyping for cloud-native technologies.
  • Serve as a technical liaison to translate customer objectives into architectural milestones.
  • Champion modern software development methodologies and mentor junior engineers.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health care and wellness plans.
  • Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation.
  • Standard and alternate work schedules, including telework options.
  • 401(k) Plan with a total company-paid benefit and immediate vesting.
  • Flexible spending accounts.
Full Job Description

The Information Systems and Cyber Division (ISCD) integrates modern software technologies—including elastic compute clouds, containerization, microservices, real-time operating systems, and visualization frameworks—with expertise in cyber security, software architecture, software engineering, data science, artificial intelligence, process improvement, and software development to deliver resilient, high0performance software systems for Intelligence Community, DoD, and civilian customers.

The Software Tools & Assurance Department advances modern software engineering and digital engineering practices to deliver responsive and reliable mission software, with a focus on cloud platforms, microservices, workflow automation, and system modernization.

Work Model

  • This is a full-time position based in El Segundo, CA.

What You0ll Be Doing

  • Technical & Architecture Leadership:Provide high-level software systems engineering and architectural direction for complex, large-scale applications across space, ground, and launch domains.
  • Software Modernization:Lead the evolution of legacy monolithic architectures into modern, resilient, microservices-based configurations deployed across cloud and virtualized environments.
  • Cloud-Native & Containerization Strategy:Lead rigorous technical trade studies and rapid prototyping efforts to evaluate and securely implement emerging cloud-native, containerization, and orchestration technologies.
  • Stakeholder & Customer Interfacing:Serve as a core technical liaison, translating high-level customer mission objectives into actionable architectural milestones, driving alignment across program managers, engineering teams, and external stakeholders.
  • Culture of Innovation:Champion modern software development methodologies, driving positive change by introducing new commercial perspectives, challenging established practices, and mentoring junior engineers.

What You Need to be Successful 6 Engineering Specialist 6 Software Architecture Engineering & Cloud Computing Architecture

Minimum Requirements:

  • Bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, or a STEM related field.
  • Six or more years of experience with increasing responsibility in software engineering or software architecture.
  • Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent tasks and to quickly learn and adapt to new software technologies and languages.
  • Experience in software engineering, full lifecycle development, and advanced problem solving.
  • Experience in at least one of the following areas:
    • Modernizing legacy systems into unified, maintainable, automated software applications
    • Model-based systems engineering and complex systems modeling
    • Designing and maintaining backend services and REST APIs using modern frameworks with integrations across enterprise services, workflow systems, and cloud environments
    • AI/ML applications, including large language models (LLM), retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), or NLP
    • Building or extending data ingestion pipelines 6 including large-scale content ingestion, metadata extraction, change detection, indexing, and automated job monitoring
    • Cloud and microservices architecture, including managed services for compute, storage, and monitoring
    • Experience integrating systems across on-prem, cloud, and hybrid environments, including Linux-based deployments and enterprise search ecosystems
    • Agile methodologies, DevOps, and CI/CD practices to deliver maintainable and reliable software solutions
  • Willingness to travel occasionally to other domestic work locations or customer sites.
  • This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance, which is issued by the U.S. government. U.S. citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance.

How You Can Stand Out

It would be impressive if you have one or more of these:

  • Advanced degree (Master0s or Doctorate) in a STEM or related technical field.
  • Experience interfacing with customers from the intelligence community, DoD, or other civilian agencies (NASA, NNSA, NOAA, etc.)
  • Demonstrated expertise in designing, developing, testing, or maintaining complex software for satellite operations.
  • In-depth knowledge and experience in two or more of the following areas, with the ability to independently lead associated tasks:
    • A track record of leading modernization efforts that consolidate multi-step manual processes, legacy scripts, or fragile data pipelines into reliable, automated applications
    • Experience architecting or scaling enterprise data ingestion systems
    • AI/ML applications, including LLM-based tools, RAG architectures, or NLP
    • Backend service development using modern frameworks with REST API design, systems integration, and database interaction (relational and cloud-hosted)
    • Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure) for storage, compute, monitoring, and certificate management
    • Agile workflows, CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins), and rapid prototyping of internal software tools
  • Demonstrated ability to bring industry knowledge of modern software practices to drive innovation within established teams.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly convey complex technical information to a wide range of audiences.
  • Strong track record of building, mentoring, and leading technical teams or working groups from the ground up.
  • Active TS/SCI clearance.

We offer a competitive compensation package where you0ll be rewarded based on your performance and recognized for the value you bring to our business. The grade-based pay range for this job is listed below. Individual salaries within that range are determined through a wide variety of factors including but not limited to education, experience, knowledge and skills.

(Min - Max)

$129,000.00 - $193,500.00

Pay Basis: Annual

Leadership Competencies

Our leadership philosophy is simple: every employee, regardless of level and role, can demonstrate leadership. At Aerospace, our commitment is our people. To cultivate our talent and ensure that we have a strong pipeline of future leaders, we want individuals who:

  • Operate Strategically
  • Lead Change
  • Engage with Impact
  • Foster Innovation
  • Deliver Results

Ways We Reward Our Employees

During your interview process, our team will provide details of our industry-leading benefits.

Benefits vary and are applicable based on Job Type. A few highlights include:

  • Comprehensive health care and wellness plans

  • Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation

  • Standard and alternate work schedules, including telework options

  • 401(k) Plan 6 Employees receive a total company-paid benefit of 8%, 10%, or 12% of eligible compensation based on years of service and matching contributions; employees are immediately eligible and vested in the plan upon hire

  • Flexible spending accounts

  • Variable pay program for exceptional contributions

  • Relocation assistance

  • Professional growth and development programs to help advance your career

  • Education assistance programs

  • An inclusive work environment built on teamwork, flexibility, and respect

We are all unique, from various backgrounds and all walks of life, yet one thing bonds all of us to each other 6the belief that we can make a difference. This core belief empowers us to do our best work at The Aerospace Corporation.

About The Aerospace Corporation

The Aerospace Corporation is a nonprofit corporation that operates a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) headquartered in El Segundo, California. The corporation provides technical guidance and advice on all aspects of space missions to military, civil, and commercial customers. Aerospace also designs and develops spacecraft, sensors, and other systems in support of national security, civil, and commercial customers. The corporation has more than 4,000 employees and operates a number of laboratories and test facilities across the United States.
Learn more about The Aerospace Corporation
Size
4,000 employees
Industry
Founded
1960

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