Software Engineer II

Job

113689

DRS Daylight Solutions business provides industry-changing mid-infrared laser light technology for government and commercial markets, including: defense and security; life sciences; and industrial process control. As a mid-IR technology pioneer, Daylight Solutions has delivered more mid-IR systems to more applications world-wide than any other company.

We are seeking a Software Engineer II to join our Software Development Team, contributing to the design and implementation of C++ software for instrument communication, hardware control, and user interface applications. In this role, you will develop cross-platform GUI applications using Qt C++, create reliable interfaces for various devices, and support automation workflows through Python scripting. You will write clean, maintainable code, participate in code reviews, and collaborate closely with cross‑functional teams to deliver integrated solutions.

This position offers opportunities to work with optical instrumentation while enhancing performance, reliability, and manufacturability of advanced systems.

• Develop and maintain C++ software for instrument communication, hardware control, and GUI applications.
• Build and enhance Qt based user interfaces for scientific, industrial, and automation systems.
• Design reliable software components that interface with cameras, motors, power meters, wavelength meters, and other USB/TCP IP devices.
• Create Python automation scripts to support optical alignment and manufacturing workflows.
• Develop and maintain databases, image processing routines, signal processing algorithms, and optimization tools.
• Support robotic alignment stations and contribute to automation framework development.
• Build hands on skill in optical instrumentation, including assembling and aligning laser based optical bench setups.
• Participate in code reviews, follow best practices, and maintain clear technical documentation.
• Collaborate with cross functional teams (hardware, firmware, manufacturing, design) to gather requirements and deliver integrated solutions.
• Debug, profile, and optimize software for performance and reliability.
• Contribute prototypes to reduce technical risk and support design for manufacturability goals.

• Solid understanding of modern C++ (C++11/14/17/20) and experience with CMake.
• Proficiency with Qt C++ for cross platform GUI development.
• Hands on experience with Visual Studio IDE for C++ development and debugging.
• Experience developing hardware support libraries and working with instrument communication protocols (SCPI, FTDI USB, Ethernet, Serial).
• Familiarity with unit testing frameworks such as Catch2 or Google Test.
• Experience with Python and other scripting languages for automation, tooling, and data processing.
• Proficient in debugging, profiling, and performance optimization skills.
• Working knowledge of Git SCM, including branching workflows, pull requests, rebasing, merging, and common commands (add, commit, push, fetch, merge, cherry pick, stash).
• Experience in agile development environments.
• Hands on experience with optical bench alignment and first order optics.
• Comfortable with multi threaded programming, concurrency, and real-time system development.
• Demonstrated problem solving ability, clear communication skills, and the ability to work both independently and collaboratively.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or related technical field or equivalent experience and a minimum of 2 years of experience
• Competent technical expertise and application domain knowledge
• Ability to work independently

U.S. Citizenship required. This position requires an active DOD security clearance or the ability to obtain such clearance within a reasonable time after commencement of employment.

The salary range for this position is $91,907.00/year- $/year. This range reflects the good faith estimate of pay the employer is willing to offer at the time of posting. Several factors can influence the pay scale, including but not limited to:
Federal contract labor categories and contract wage rates, collective bargaining agreements, geographic…