Lead, Software Engineer (DevOps Engineer)

L3Harris•Fountain, CO

1d•$117,000 - $218,000•Onsite

About The Position

Join L3Harris and the ATLAS team to build and operate mission-critical backend and deployment capabilities supporting the U.S. Space Force. This role combines modern backend development with hands-on DevOps responsibilities to ensure services run reliably across multiple environments. Using Java, Spring Boot, SQL, and Kubernetes, the engineer designs, develops, deploys, and sustains services for the Advanced Tracking & Launch Analysis System, supporting operators’ decisions in a space mission environment. The position involves developing backend services and Kubernetes capabilities for concurrent training environments, coordinating with architecture, platform, DevOps, integration, and mission teams, and improving service reliability through testing, observability, and troubleshooting. The work supports operational and training capabilities and offers the opportunity to contribute to national security missions. The role is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with a 9/80 schedule: employees work 9 out of every 14 days, totaling 80 hours, with every other Friday off. The salary range in Colorado is $117,000–$218,000; the final offer may vary based on factors including experience and geographic location. The application window closes on 11/30/2026.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and at least 9 years of prior relevant experience; or a graduate degree and at least 7 years of prior related experience; or, in lieu of a degree, at least 13 years of prior related experience.
Strong hands-on experience developing backend microservices and APIs using Java, Spring Boot, and SQL.
Experience designing, testing, and troubleshooting distributed applications, including concurrent processing, service coordination, and data consistency.
Hands-on experience deploying and managing Kubernetes-based applications, including deployment automation, workload isolation, resource configuration, and troubleshooting.
Experience developing data initialization, provisioning, or lifecycle-management capabilities for training, simulation, testing, or comparable multi-instance environments.
Experience with CI/CD, automated testing, and application configuration management.
Experience collaborating across application development, platform administration, DevOps, and integration teams.
Experience working in Linux and Windows Server environments.
Must hold or be able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret security clearance.

Nice To Haves

Experience with simulation-time control, state checkpointing and restoration, event replay, or reproducible scenario execution.
Familiarity with concurrency control, event ordering, idempotency, and distributed state management.
Experience with Kubernetes virtual clusters, such as vCluster, or comparable multi-tenant isolation technologies.
Experience with Helm, Kubernetes operators, custom resource definitions, infrastructure as code, or GitOps.
Experience implementing application and infrastructure observability, including logging, metrics, and tracing.
Experience with GraphQL APIs or similar data-querying technologies.
Background in space operations, Space Domain Awareness (SDA), or orbital modeling and simulation.

Responsibilities

Design, develop, test, and sustain backend microservices and APIs using Java, Spring Boot, and SQL for operational and training capabilities.
Develop services for concurrent training scenarios, including execution coordination, scenario-data management, and lifecycle operations.
Collaborate with application and systems architects to implement scenario-time control, state capture and restoration, and replay across distributed services.
Design and implement Kubernetes deployment and orchestration solutions for concurrent training environments, including automated provisioning, workload isolation, and resource management.
Evaluate and integrate virtual-cluster technologies with the Platform Services Administration team to meet isolation, scalability, security, and operational requirements.
Collaborate with platform, DevOps, and integration teams on service interfaces, deployment automation, configuration practices, and integration testing.
Develop automated tests and observability capabilities to validate application functionality, scenario-data integrity, and deployment reliability.
Troubleshoot and optimize backend services, database interactions, and Kubernetes workloads across development, test, staging, and operational environments.
Work with systems engineers, front-end developers, testers, and mission operators to deliver reliable, resilient capabilities.