Lead Software Engineer

General Dynamics Mission Systems, Inc•Pittsfield, MA

2d•$110,175 - $122,225•Hybrid

About The Position

As a Lead Software Engineer, you will lead and work with a cross functional software team responsible for the entire software development life cycle. You will provide technical leadership and coordination across all software engineering activities to ensure alignment between system architecture, requirements, subsystem implementation, and program milestones. This role involves leading and growing a team of software engineers, setting technical direction, coaching skills, and driving delivery. You will design and build performance-critical software in C/C++, use Python for automation and tooling, work in Linux environments, collaborate using modern source control (GitLab, Git), leverage containers for development and deployment, and shape the technical baseline from requirements to test documentation. The ideal candidate is someone who pulls the thread on hard problems until they find the root cause, communicates complex technical concepts clearly to diverse audiences, and is committed to continuous learning.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering, or a related Science, Engineering or Mathematics field
5+ years of job-related experience, or a Master's degree plus 3 years of job-related experience
Department of Defense Secret security clearance is required within a reasonable period of time
Applicants selected will be subject to a U.S. Government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information
U.S. citizenship is required

Nice To Haves

Agile experience preferred
Led software teams through full delivery cycles and know how to balance technical excellence with schedule reality
Dig into tough problems — ambiguous requirements, complex architectures, hard debugging — and come out with clean solutions
Raise the bar for the engineers around you through code reviews, mentoring, and setting technical direction
Communicate clearly across disciplines — translating between systems engineers, test teams, and program management
Stay current on industry trends and bring new ideas back to the team, including practical applications of AI and automation
Care about the mission and take pride in delivering software that people depend on

Responsibilities

Lead and grow a team of software engineers — setting technical direction, coaching skills, and driving delivery
Design and build performance-critical software in C/C++ — the backbone of our real-time systems
Use Python for automation, tooling, and rapid prototyping alongside our core C/C++ codebase
Work in Linux environments daily — from user-level development to system administration
Collaborate through modern source control (GitLab, Git) with branching strategies that keep the team moving fast
Leverage containers to build portable, reproducible development and deployment environments
Shape the technical baseline — from requirements and design through test documentation and diagrams
Pull the thread on hard problems until you find the root cause
Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to diverse audiences — from fellow engineers to program leadership
Never stop learning — and bring what you learn back to the team