Senior Principal Software Engineer - DevOps / Infrastructure (Onsite)

Collins Aerospace; Sterling (VA); On-site; USD 146,000 - 277,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Three weeks of vacation

401(k) plan with employer match

Tuition reimbursement

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Collins Aerospace is seeking a Senior Principal Software Engineer - DevOps / Infrastructure for onsite work in Sterling, VA. You will lead infrastructure software architecture, drive automation, and own CI/CD reliability for mission simulation environments, with mandatory eligibility for a Secret clearance.

The role requires deep experience across cloud platforms, modern data systems, and automated pipelines in a classified lab setting, with on-site presence and occasional travel.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or advanced degree in STEM with 7–10+ years of relevant experience.
• Active and transferable Secret security clearance required before start.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and architectural direction for infrastructure software systems.
• Lead automation efforts to improve reliability, repeatability, and velocity across teams.

Skills

CI/CD leadership

DevOps practices

Cloud architecture

Security clearance

Communication

Mentoring

Tools

GitLab

Jira

Confluence

Coverity

Nexus

Artifactory

Splunk

Ansible

Terraform

Puppet

Python

PowerShell

Bash

VMware

Proxmox

OpenShift

OpenStack

AWS

Azure

GCP

Docker

Job description

Location:
US-VA-STERLING-291 ~ 22640 Davis Dr ~ DAVIS
Date Posted:
2026-10-19
Country:
United States of America
Location:
US-VA-STERLING-291 ~ 22640 Davis Dr ~ DAVIS
Position Role Type:
Onsite
U.S. Citizen, U.S. Person, or Immigration Status Requirements:
Active and transferable U.S. government issued security clearance is required prior to start date. U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance
Security Clearance Type:
Secret - Current
Security Clearance Status:
Active and existing security clearance required on day 1
Senior Principal Software Engineer - DevOps / Infrastructure (Onsite)
Collins Aerospace, an RTX company, is a global leader providing technologically advanced and intelligent solutions across the aerospace and defense industry. We leverage our extensive capabilities, comprehensive portfolio, and deep expertise needed to tackle our customers’ most complex challenges and navigate the demands of a fast‑paced global market.
The Strategic Defense Solutions (SDS) portfolio is seeking a highly motivated and skilled Software Engineering professional to join our team in Sterling, VA. In this critical role, you will be part of an innovative team focused on designing and developing holistic, integrated simulation and training solutions, directly ensuring our customers are prepared for the most vital missions.
The role is based on‑site in Sterling, VA, with occasional travel required. The ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance is mandatory, as much of the work is performed within a classified lab environment requiring daily onsite presence.
What You Will Do:

• Provide technical leadership and overall architectural direction for infrastructure software systems, guiding their design, implementation, and long‑term evolution.
• Lead and develop automation capabilities that improve reliability, repeatability, and velocity across teams’ workflows.
• Own reliability and performance of the CI/CD pipeline for the mission simulation environment by diagnosing systemic issues across the build chain and implementing durable improvements.
• Drive the strategy for automating manual processes, including defining automation priorities, establishing test‑automation approaches, and ensuring integration into the CI/CD pipeline.
• Evaluate CI/CD systems holistically, ensuring changes support team workflows, scalability, and long‑term architectural goals.
• Mentor and influence engineers across teams, shaping engineering practices, resolving complex technical challenges, and promoting modern infrastructure approaches.

Qualifications You Must Have:

• Typically requires a degree in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) and minimum 10 years prior relevant experience or an Advanced Degree in a related field and minimum 7 years of experience
• Active and transferable U.S. government issued secret security clearance is required prior to start date
• U.S. citizenship only (dual citizenship not permitted) is required, as access to information under this program/contract is restricted to individuals with sole U.S. citizenship.

Qualifications We Prefer:

• Experience architecting and providing technical guidance for CI/CD pipelines across multi‑team or multi‑environment programs.
• Experience diagnosing complex system issues and proposing effective solutions.
• Experience communicating technical concepts clearly and influencing technical direction across stakeholders.
• Experience building strong working relationships with engineering and program leadership.
• Experience with software development and management tools such as GitLab, Jira, Confluence, Coverity, Nexus or Artifactory, and Splunk.
• Experience with infrastructure automation frameworks (e.g. Ansible, Terraform, Puppet).
• Experience with server‑side scripting languages such as Python, Bash, or PowerShell.
• Experience managing and troubleshooting virtualized environments (e.g. VMware, Proxmox).
• Experience implementing continuous integration workflows for real‑time testing and diagnostics within virtualized environments.
• Experience applying core networking concepts (TCP/IP, VLANs) within complex virtual environments.
• Experience designing and integrating applications across modern IaaS/PaaS and cloud platforms (OpenShift, VMware, OpenStack, AWS, Azure, GCP), with knowledge of cloud‑native architecture patterns.
• Strong understanding of cloud and virtual networking architectures (L2/L3, spine‑leaf).
• Background in Agile development methodologies (e.g. Scrum, SAFe).
• Experience with cloud‑native engineering, including containerization (Docker or Podman), Kubernetes orchestration, microservices design, and RESTful API integration.
• Experience working with modern data systems, including SQL/NoSQL databases (MongoDB, PostgreSQL, MonetDB) and structured data formats (JSON, XML, YAML, XSD).
• Proficiency in both Linux and Windows environments.
• Experience evaluating and modernizing legacy systems for cloud or virtualized environments.
• Proficiency with modern development toolchains and IDEs (e.g. Visual Studio, VS Code).
• Relevant security (Security+, CISSP) or networking (CCNA or equivalent) certifications.

Do you want to be a part of something bigger? A team whose impact stretches across the world, and even beyond? At Collins Aerospace, our Mission Systems team helps civilian, military and government customers complete their most complex missions — whatever and wherever they may be. Our customers depend on us for intelligent and secure communications, missionized systems for specialized aircraft and spacecraft and collaborative space solutions. By joining our team, you’ll have your own critical part to play in ensuring our customer succeeds today while anticipating their needs for tomorrow. Are you up for the challenge? Join our mission today.
What We Offer:
Some of our competitive benefits package includes:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Three weeks of vacation for newly hired employees
• Generous 401(k) plan that includes employer matching funds and separate employer retirement contribution, including a Lifetime Income Strategy option
• Tuition reimbursement program
• Student Loan Repayment Program
• Life insurance and disability coverage
• Optional coverages you can buy pet insurance, home and auto insurance, additional life and accident insurance,critical illnessinsurance, group legal, ID theft protection
• Birth, adoption, parental leave benefits
• Ovia Health, fertility, and family planning
• Adoption Assistance
• Autism Benefit
• Employee Assistance Plan, including up to 10 free counseling sessions
• Healthy You Incentives, wellness rewards program
• Doctor on Demand, virtual doctor visits
• Bright Horizons, child and elder care services
• Teladoc Medical Experts, second opinion program
• Eligible for relocation assistance
• And more!

Onsite: Employees who are working in Onsite roles will work primarily onsite. This includes all production and maintenance employees, as they are essential to the development of our products.
At Collins, the paths we pave together lead to limitless possibility. And the bonds we form – with our customers and with each other -- propel us all higher, again and again.
As part of our commitment to maintaining a secure hiring process, candidates may be asked to attend select steps of the interview process in‑person at one of our office locations, regardless of whether the role is designated as on‑site, hybrid or remote.
The salary range for this role is 145,600 USD - 276,800 USD. The salary range provided is a good faith estimate representative of all experience levels. RTX considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role, function and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, location, education/training, and key skills.
Hired applicants may be eligible for benefits, including but not limited to, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short‑term disability, long‑term disability, 401(k) match, flexible spending accounts, flexible work schedules, employee assistance program, Employee Scholar Program, parental leave, paid time off, and holidays. Specific benefits are dependent upon the specific business unit as well as whether or not the position is covered by a collective‑bargaining agreement.
Hired applicants may be eligible for annual short‑term and/or long‑term incentive compensation programs depending on the level of the position and whether or not it is covered by a collective‑bargaining agreement. Payments under these annual programs are not guaranteed and are dependent upon a variety of factors including, but not limited to, individual performance, business unit performance, and/or the company’s performance.
This role is a U.S.-based role. If the successful candidate resides in a U.S. territory, the appropriate pay structure and benefits will apply.
RTX anticipates the application window closing approximately 40 days from the date the notice was posted. However, factors such as candidate flow and business necessity may require RTX to shorten or extend the application window.
RTX is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or veteran status, or any other applicable state or federal protected class. RTX provides affirmative action in employment for qualified Individuals with a Disability and Protected Veterans in compliance with Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act.