Principal Software Engineer

KBR Careers; El Segundo (CA); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan with company match

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Flexible spending account

Paid time off

Flexible work schedule

Job summary

KBR Careers is looking for a Principal Software Engineer in El Segundo, CA. This role involves hands-on software development and technical leadership across various teams supporting U.S. Space Force capabilities. You'll design and maintain distributed systems, mentor engineers, and optimize software delivery processes.

The ideal candidate possesses a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and over 10 years of experience, with expertise in Angular, Kafka, and DevSecOps methodologies.

Competitive compensation ranges from $150,000 to $190,000 annually, plus attractive lifestyle benefits.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional software development experience.
• Strong understanding of DevSecOps practices and CI/CD delivery pipelines.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret clearance.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test and maintain mission‑critical software applications.
• Provide hands‑on technical leadership across multiple software teams.
• Help define and evolve application architectures supporting enterprise mission objectives.

Skills

Full stack development

Angular expertise

Kafka and event-driven architecture

Agile software development

Technical leadership

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Microsoft Office

Kubernetes

Job description

Belong. Connect. Grow. with KBR!

Title

Principal Software Engineer

KBR is seeking an experienced Principal Software Engineer to support the MSEIT contract at Space Systems Command (SSC). This role combines hands‑on software development, technical leadership and architecture support across multiple mission‑focused software teams supporting U.S. Space Force capabilities. Unlike engineers dedicated to a single application or team, this position operates across multiple development efforts, helping solve complex technical challenges, accelerate delivery, improve architectural consistency, and support integration across mission systems. The successful candidate will be equally comfortable writing production code, reviewing architectural decisions, mentoring development teams, and collaborating with systems engineers, product owners and mission stakeholders. This role serves as a technical force multiplier across the program and helps ensure consistency in engineering practices, architectural approaches and software quality. The program is built around modern software engineering practices, event‑driven architectures, cloud‑native technologies, DevSecOps and CI/CD‑oriented delivery approaches.

Why Join Us?

• Innovative Projects: KBR’s work is at the forefront of engineering, logistics, operations, science, program management, mission IT and cybersecurity solutions.
• Collaborative Environment: Be part of a dynamic team that thrives on collaboration and innovation, fostering a supportive and intellectually stimulating workplace.
• Impactful Work: Your contributions will be pivotal in designing and optimizing defense systems that ensure national security and shape the future of space defense.

Responsibilities

• Full Stack Development: Design, develop, test and maintain mission‑critical software applications across front‑end, back‑end and service layers.
• Technical Leadership: Provide hands‑on technical leadership and engineering guidance across multiple software teams.
• Architecture Development: Help define and evolve application, integration, data and event‑driven architectures supporting enterprise mission objectives.
• Event‑Driven Systems Design: Design and implement scalable event‑driven architectures supporting distributed mission systems.
• Enterprise Integration: Develop and guide integration patterns supporting interoperability across mission applications and operational environments.
• Front‑End Development: Develop modern user interfaces using Angular and related technologies.
• Back‑End Development: Design and implement scalable services, APIs and distributed application components.
• Cross‑Team Problem Solving: Assist teams in resolving complex software, performance, scalability, integration and architectural challenges.
• DevSecOps Collaboration: Partner with platform engineering and DevSecOps teams to improve software delivery pipelines, automation, observability and deployment practices.
• Engineering Excellence: Promote best practices in software design, code quality, testing, maintainability, resiliency and security.
• Technical Mentorship: Mentor engineers through design reviews, architecture discussions, code reviews and collaborative development.
• Mission Collaboration: Work closely with systems engineers, product owners, users and operational stakeholders to translate mission needs into technical solutions.

Work Environment

• Location: El Segundo, CA (Work‑from‑home flexibility with on‑site support as required)
• Travel Requirements: Minimal
• Working Hours: Standard

Required

• Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret clearance
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering, computer engineering or related technical field
• 10+ years of professional software development experience
• Extensive experience designing and developing distributed software systems
• Strong full‑stack development experience across modern web and enterprise application architectures
• Expert‑level experience with Angular or similar modern front‑end frameworks
• Strong experience designing and implementing scalable backend services and APIs
• Extensive experience with Kafka and event‑driven architecture patterns
• Strong understanding of asynchronous messaging, event streaming and distributed systems design
• Experience designing and implementing enterprise integration patterns
• Experience working within Agile software development environments
• Strong understanding of DevSecOps practices and CI/CD delivery pipelines
• Demonstrated ability to influence technical direction across multiple teams and projects
• Strong communication, leadership and technical mentoring skills
• Proficient in Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Desired

• Active Secret or higher clearance
• Master’s degree in computer science, software engineering, computer engineering or related technical field
• Experience supporting Space Systems Command (SSC), Space Operations Command (SpOC/CFC) or related DoD programs
• Experience supporting SATCOM, mission systems, operational C2 systems or space‑related applications
• Experience with microservices architectures and service‑oriented design
• Experience with Kubernetes‑based deployment environments
• Experience developing applications within cloud‑native environments
• Familiarity with API gateways, service meshes and modern integration frameworks
• Experience participating in architecture review boards and technical governance activities
• Familiarity with AI‑enabled mission systems or data‑driven operational platforms
• Experience working across independently contracted software development teams
• Experience with Kafka Streams, Apache Flink, RabbitMQ, NATS or similar event‑processing technologies
• Experience implementing observability platforms using OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Grafana, ELK or similar technologies
• Experience with software supply‑chain security, SBOM generation and DevSecOps security tooling
• Experience working within software factory or platform engineering environments
• Experience supporting large‑scale modernization or enterprise transformation efforts
• Certifications such as INCOSE CSEP/ESEP

Basic Compensation

$150,000 to $190,000 in El Segundo, CA. The offered rate will be based on the selected candidate’s knowledge, skills, abilities and/or experience and in consideration of internal parity.

KBR Benefits

KBR offers a selection of competitive lifestyle benefits which could include a 401(k) plan with company match, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, AD&D, flexible spending account, disability, paid time off or flexible work schedule. We support career advancement through professional training and development.

KBR is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

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