Senior Principal Software Engineer
General Dynamics Mission Systems
Annapolis Junction, MD · Posted October 7, 2026
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Where Annapolis Junction, MD ranks
Where Annapolis Junction, MD placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #15Best cities for software and engineering jobs in the Mid-Atlantic147 openings · of 68
- #17Best cities for mid-career professionals in the Mid-Atlantic60% · of 85
- #20Best cities for mid-career professionals60% · of 100
- #24Best cities for junior jobs in the Mid-Atlantic33% · of 85
- #25Best cities for AI-skill jobs in the Mid-Atlantic9% · of 85
Rankings about engineering jobs
- Best cities for software and engineering jobs #1 San Francisco (3,412 openings)
- Best cities for engineering pay after cost of living #1 San Mateo ($216k)
- Most requested AI skills in engineering jobs #1 AI tools in daily work (6.1%)
- AI tools named most often in engineering jobs #1 Claude (1.7%)
- Employers with the most engineering jobs #1 Amazon (2,992 roles)
How AI is used in this kind of work
Among software developers, AI is already used for some of the tasks. Measured exposure for software developers: 29% (some).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
Skills this job asks for
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About the job
Basic Qualifications
EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS: Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering, or related Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics field, plus a minimum of 10 years of relevant experience; or Master's degree, plus 8 years relevant experience.
CLEARANCE REQUIREMENTS: Ability to obtain a Department of Defense TS/SCI security clearance is required at time of hire. Applicants selected will be subject to a U.S. Government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information. Due to the nature of work performed within our facilities, U.S. citizenship is required.
Responsibilities for this Position
We encourage you to apply if you have any of these preferred skills or experiences:
Demonstrated ownership of the full software development lifecycle
Proven technical leadership of software engineers
Track record of taking software from prototype/R&D maturity to production-quality, maintainable, deliverable products
Strong grounding in software engineering best practices (testing, version control, design review, documentation, technical debt management)
Developing C2, device management, or platform control software for custom/proprietary hardware
Designing software interfaces to FPGA-based systems or bespoke embedded hardware
Stateful system design: state machines, operational sequencing, configuration management, and fault handling
Building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines
Kubernetes administration and operations, including authoring Helm charts for application packaging and deployment
Containerization technologies (containerd, Docker, Podman)
Enterprise software design principles: API design, service-oriented architecture, modular/layered system design
Embedded software development in a Linux environment
What sets you apart:
Experience with optical, RF, or other communication system modem hardware
Familiarity with hardware-software co-design workflows and FPGA integration patterns
Track record of driving software platform reuse across multiple programs or product lines
Experience standing up development environments, toolchains, and engineering infrastructure for small-to-mid-size teams
Experience applying AI/ML tools to accelerate engineering workflows
Creative thinker with demonstrated success leading the software development life cycle
Commitment to growing and developing others, building long-term subject matter experts, not just executing on current contracts
Exceptional communication skills with the capacity to coordinate across multidisciplinary hardware and software teams
MCP (Model Context Protocol) server development and AI-tooling integration
Our Commitment to You:
An exciting career path with opportunities for continuous learning and development.
Research oriented work, alongside award winning teams developing practical solutions for our nation’s security
Flexible schedules with every other Friday off work, if desired (9/80 schedule)
Competitive benefits, including 401k matching, flex time off, paid parental leave, healthcare benefits, health & wellness programs, employee resource and social groups, and more
See more at gdmissionsystems.com/careers/why-work-for-us/benefits
Workplace Options:
This position is fully on-site or hybrid/Flex as desired.
While on-site, you will be a part of the Annapolis Junction, MD facility.
#LI-Hybrid
Salary Note This estimate represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience and other factors (geographic location, etc.). Actual pay may vary. This job posting will remain open until the position is filled.
Combined Salary Range USD $183,381.00 - USD $193,049.00 /Yr.
Company Overview
General Dynamics Mission Systems (GDMS) engineers a diverse portfolio of high technology solutions, products and services that enable customers to successfully execute missions across all domains of operation. With a global team of 12,000+ top professionals, we partner with the best in industry to expand the bounds of innovation in the defense and scientific arenas. Given the nature of our work and who we are, we value trust, honesty, alignment and transparency. We offer highly competitive benefits and pride ourselves in being a great place to work with a shared sense of purpose. You will also enjoy a flexible work environment where contributions are recognized and rewarded. If who we are and what we do resonates with you, we invite you to join our high-performance team!
Equal Opportunity Employer / Individuals with Disabilities / Protected Veterans