Principal Software Engineer, Cyber Mission Systems

This position is fully funded and ready for impact.

Location:

Columbia, MD

Telework:
Telework policy is being defined as this is a new contract, subject to manager approval and tasking

Clearance Required:

TS/SCI with Polygraph

Salary Range: $185,000 to $205,000

At Shadow Strategies, you will join a culture defined by innovation, purpose, and meaningful impact. We seek principal software engineers who shape technical strategy, guide architectural evolution, and solve the most complex mission challenges. If you are inspired by complexity, motivated by clarity, and committed to excellence, we invite you to become part of something exceptional.

This role supports the creation of a declarative, mission-adaptable workflow interface for cyber operations. The capability will enable operators to express mission intent, define parameters and boundaries, understand system behavior, and guide automation through a unified operational experience. You will influence the design and direction of mission-critical cyber capabilities, mentor senior engineers, and help define how software, automation, and mission systems evolve to support operational outcomes.

You will serve as a trusted technical leader whose decisions influence programs, architectures, and mission success across organizational boundaries.

• Define the technical vision and architectural roadmap for mission-adaptable cyber operations capabilities
• Lead the design of complex distributed systems supporting mission execution, automation, and operational decision-making
• Serve as technical authority for software architecture, integration strategy, and system evolution
• Partner with program leadership, system engineering, cybersecurity, and mission stakeholder to align technical solutions with mission priorities
• Identify technical risks and drive mitigation strategies across the program lifecycle
• Mentor senior engineers and provide technical leadership across the team
• Lead architecture reviews and customer technical exchanges
• Support proposal development, technical roadmaps, and future mission capability planning

• You are recognized as a technical leader whose influence extends beyond a single team
• You have defined architectures and technical direction for large-scale software systems
• You excel at solving ambiguous, high-impact technical challenges
• You can balance mission requirements, operational realities, technical risk, and long-term maintainability
• You are comfortable advising program leadership and customers on technical strategy
• You have successfully led cross-functional engineering efforts spanning multiple teams or organizational boundaries
• You enjoy mentoring senior engineers and raising technical standards across an organization

• Large-scale software architecture
• Technical leadership across multiple teams
• Technological roadmap development and presentation
• Risk analysis and technical decision making
• Full-stack software design and development
• Secure software development in classified or operationally constrained environments
• Software integration across services, platforms, and data sources
• CI/CD and Dev Ops practices
• Software testing, troubleshooting, and technical documentation

• Offensive cyber operations or related national security mission environments
• Declarative workflow systems or mission automation
• Legacy system modernization and platform evolution
• Operator-facing mission applications
• Human-centered software development with UX teams
• Real-time operational systems

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field and 1 4 years of experience

OR an associate degree and 1 8 years of experience

OR 20 years of experience without a degree

Degrees must…