Software Integration Engineer

The Pennsylvania State University; United States; On-site; USD 106,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

75% tuition discount

Competitive benefits package

Job summary

The Pennsylvania State University’s ARL seeks a Software Integration Engineer to support JFN, DE2 and VFDE initiatives. You’ll ensure system health, automate reporting, and advance CM and CI/CD practices in a DoD-aligned environment.

You will collaborate with engineers across disciplines, stay current with monitoring, virtualization, and cloud platforms, and contribute to automated testing and system validation efforts. On-site in San Diego with potential travel.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Science.
• 2+ years of relevant experience.
• No certifications required.

Responsibilities

• Ensure maximum availability, stability and health of program resources for operations and testing.
• Develop and maintain automated reporting mechanisms.
• Provide software sustainment with configuration management controls.
• Improve engineering processes and tools for system status visibility.
• Automate daily verification and validation of key capabilities.
• Support automation of configuration management and CM status visibility.
• Promote systems engineering principles to ensure program success.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure system reliability.
• Prepare detailed reports and present findings to stakeholders.
• Stay updated on trends in automated testing, distributed databases, SDN, container orchestration and DevSecOps.
• Investigate and document system deficiencies for Technical Operations.

Skills

Software engineering

Systems engineering

DevSecOps

CI/CD

Monitoring dashboards

Cloud platforms

Automation

Kubernetes

Virtualization

Documentation & reporting

Education

Bachelor's Degree - Engineering or Science

Tools

Grafana

Prometheus

Splunk

VMware

vSphere

Hyper-V

Linux KVM

Jenkins

GitLab Runners

Kubernetes distros (RKE2, EKS, K8s)

AWS

Azure

GCP

Ansible

Puppet

Terraform

Job description

POSITION SPECIFICS

We are searching for an experienced Software Integration Engineer to join the Joint Mission Integration and Experimentation Division at the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) at Penn State. This position supports the Joint Fires Network (JFN), Distributed Experimentation Environment (DE2) and Vanguard Force DevOps Environment (VFDE). These OUSD R&E, DARPA and TRMC initiatives are designed to leverage Live, Virtual and Constructive (LVC) experimentation in developing advanced warfighter architectures and CONOPS and link sensors and weapons platforms in times of critical conflict around the globe. ARL is an authorized DoD SkillBridge partner and welcomes all transitioning military members to apply.

You will:

• Ensure the maximum availability, stability and health of required program resources below to support operations, experimentation, development and testing JFN: MLS operational architecture including nodes, hub, network, software baseline and CI/CD apparatus (e.g. IL-5 up to IL-7 Cloud
• Develop and maintain automated reporting mechanism using commercial or customer dashboards for reporting overall system health and status
• Provide software sustainment leveraging software configuration management controls and processes
• Establish and improve existing engineering processes and tools to provide system status by leveraging Platform/Applications/Data monitoring tools
• Contribute to the design and development of automating the daily verification and validation of key functional capabilities
• Support the automation of configuration management and the visibility into the status of CM across various environments
• Implement and promote systems engineering principles to ensure program success
• Work closely with cross-functional teams to ensure reliability of the system
• Prepare detailed reports and presentations on findings and share insights with stakeholders
• Stay updated with the latest trends, technologies, and advancements in automated testing, distributed databases, software defined networking, container orchestration, and DevSecOps
• Identify, investigate and document system deficiencies to support Technical Operations

Required skills/experience areas include:

• Experience in Computer Science, Networking and Information Technology, including Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, DevSecOps, and application lifecycle management
• Automation tools and techniques, including configuration management and system validation
• System monitoring tools (Grafana, Prometheus, Splunk.)
• Virtualization: VMware, vSphere, and Microsoft Hyper-V, Linux KVM
• DevSecOps practices such as continuous integration and development tools (e.g. Jenkins, GitLab Runners.)
• Kubernetes distros (RKE2, EKS, K8s, etc.)
• Cloud platforms and services (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Configuration management tools (e.g., Ansible, Puppet, Terraform)
• Knowledge of application integration testing and automated testing frameworks
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams and coordinate with application providers
• Strong problem-solving and critical-thinking skills
• Excellent communication and presentation abilities, with experience in reporting project status to leadership
• Familiarity with modern IT frameworks and methodologies (e.g., Agile, ITIL)

Minimum Education, Work Experience & Required Certifications

• Bachelor's Degree - Engineering or Science
• 2+ years of relevant experience
• Required Certifications: None

Your working location will be fully on-site, located in San Diego.

Questions related to flexible work should be directed to the hiring manager during the interview process.

This position will require periodic travel to remote locations in support of testing as part of a small team of researchers, engineers, and technologists.

Salary & Benefits

The salary range for this position, including all possible grades, is $105,900.00 - $174,708.00. Salary Structure - Information on Penn State's salary structure Penn State provides a competitive benefits package for full-time employees designed to support both personal and professional well-being. In addition to comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, employees enjoy robust retirement plans and substantial paid time off which includes holidays, vacation and sick time. One of the standout benefits is the generous 75% tuition discount, available to employees as well as eligible spouses and children. For more detailed information, please visit our Benefits Page.

Campus Security Crime Statistics

Pursuant to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act and the Pennsylvania Act of 1988, Penn State publishes a combined Annual Security and Annual Fire Safety Report (ASR). The ASR includes crime statistics and institutional policies concerning campus security, such as those concerning alcohol and drug use, crime prevention, the reporting of crimes, sexual assault, and other matters. The ASR is available for review here.

EEO IS THE LAW

Penn State is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. If you are unable to use our online application process due to an impairment or disability, please contact 814-865-1473.

ARL’s purpose is to research and develop innovative solutions to challenging scientific, engineering, and technology problems in support of the Navy, the Department of Defense (DoD), and the Intel Community (IC).

For further information on ARL, visit our web site at www.arl.psu.edu.

Background Checks/Clearances

Employment with the University will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies. Notice regarding employment at the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL): Employees must be eligible to obtain a government security clearance, participate in the ARL drug testing program, and comply with electronic and physical monitoring requirements applicable to federal contractors. ARL operates in a secure information environment involving Unclassified, Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), and Classified information. Personal electronic devices brought onsite must be registered and may be restricted from certain areas. You must be a U.S. citizen to apply.

U.S. Citizenship with an active Top-Secret clearance with SCI eligibility within 3 months. IAT Level II certification.

There's a reason Penn State consistently ranks among the top one percent of the world’s universities. Across 24 campuses, our 100,000 students and 40,000 faculty and staff know the real measure of success goes beyond the classroom – it’s the positive impact made on communities across the world. Our ideals stem from our origins as Pennsylvania’s sole land-grant institution, which allow us to continue to bring positive impact to humanity through our teaching, research, and engagement mission. And across the world is a community of Penn Staters – more than half a million strong – driven by that same spirit to serve our local and global communities. At Penn State, passion is met with collaboration in an environment that is rooted in shared pride for the accomplishments of our fellow students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Penn Staters cheer each other on to build a culture committed to service and engagement. Our values are as follows; Integrity, Respect, Responsibility, Discovery, Excellence, and Community. We Are Penn State. One Community. Impacting Many.