Software & Systems Development Engineer - Test Framework Security Clearance

Position: Software & Systems Development Engineer - Test Framework with Security Clearance
LCS Defense is seeking a Software & Systems Development Engineer to design, develop, and maintain the software infrastructure that enables automated testing of next-generation cloud hardware platforms.
This is not a traditional Systems Test Engineering role focused on writing test plans, TEMPs, or test procedures. Instead, this position is responsible for building and maintaining the test framework, automation, and hardware/software interfaces used by engineering teams to validate complex hardware systems within a dedicated development laboratory.
The ideal candidate is a software engineer with experience developing automation, hardware interfaces, embedded or low-level software, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test environments.
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Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain software-based test frameworks used to validate next-generation hardware platforms.

• Develop software that interfaces directly with hardware devices, instruments, and systems under test.

• Build and maintain hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing environments supporting engineering development.

• Develop automation, utilities, scripts, and software tools that improve engineering productivity.

• Create software interfaces, drivers, and communication layers between test infrastructure and hardware devices.

• Support integration, debugging, troubleshooting, and validation of hardware/software systems.

• Collaborate closely with hardware, FPGA, embedded software, and cloud software engineers.

• Maintain laboratory software infrastructure supporting engineering development activities.

• Participate in code reviews and software design discussions.

• Support continuous improvement of automated testing capabilities.
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Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related field.

• 5+ years of professional software development experience.

• Strong programming experience in Rust (preferred) and/or Python.

• Experience developing software that interfaces directly with hardware.

• Experience with hardware/software integration.

• Experience with Linux development environments.

• Experience developing software used for automation or engineering infrastructure.

• Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills.

• Familiarity with Git version control.
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Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test environments.

• Embedded software development experience.

• Experience writing device drivers or hardware interface software.

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and Dev Ops tooling.

• Experience with AWS cloud services.

• Experience with Bash scripting.

• Experience working with FPGA-based hardware systems.

• Experience with automated testing frameworks.

• Familiarity with networking protocols used for hardware communication.
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Preferred Technical Skills

• Rust

• Python

• C++

• Linux

• Bash

• Git

• AWS

• Docker

• Kubernetes

• CI/CD

• Hardware Interfaces

• TCP/IP

• Serial Communications

• Embedded Linux