Senior Embedded Software Engineer

Carnegie Mellon University • Pittsburgh, PA

1d • Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Embedded Software Engineer supports U.S. Navy customers in acquiring and sustaining a software-based maintenance and readiness application critical to fleet operations and national security. The role provides technical leadership throughout the software acquisition lifecycle, including architecture analysis, development oversight, risk reduction, integration, testing, deployment, and long-term sustainment planning. It works closely with Naval Program Executive Offices and Program Management Offices, sustainment organizations, contractors, integrators, and fleet stakeholders to ensure solutions meet operational, maintainability, and supportability requirements.

The engineer guides technical teams, evaluates architectural tradeoffs, develops prototypes, analyzes existing source code and system interfaces, and leads customer engagements that inform acquisition and sustainment decisions. The role emphasizes C and C++ implementations for high-performance, mission-critical use cases, and requires experience with Naval acquisition programs, legacy-dependent systems, and operational environments. The position is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and may require travel up to 25%.

Requirements

• Ability to obtain and maintain an active Department of War security clearance.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related discipline with 10 years of relevant experience; or a master’s degree in the same fields with 8 years of experience; or a Ph.D. in the same fields with 5 years of experience.
• Proven experience designing and implementing complex software architectures for mission-critical or sustainment-focused systems.
• Ability to identify, analyze, and balance architecture drivers, tradeoffs, extensibility, and long-term maintainability.
• Deep understanding of C and C++ software development, including analysis of existing codebases.
• Working knowledge of C#, Java, and Python.
• Experience across the full software development lifecycle, including use of static analysis tools and techniques to improve software quality and security.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical teams and engage credibly with government and contractor stakeholders.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills, including ability to explain complex technical concepts to government decision-makers.
• Willingness to work directly with U.S. military and government stakeholders.
• Ability to travel up to 25% to SEI offices, sponsor sites, conferences, and offsite meetings.

Nice To Haves

• Existing SECRET or higher security clearance is preferred.
• Previous experience leading, architecting, or developing large-scale Navy acquisition programs, including Aegis Combat System, SM-series interceptors, Sea Sparrow Missile System, or Surface Electronic Warfare programs.
• Previous experience working with large-scale Naval Command elements such as NAVSEA, NAVAIR, NAVWAR, NAVFAC, NIWC, or predecessors such as SPAWAR.

Responsibilities

• Support Naval software acquisition and sustainment in accordance with DoD 5000-series acquisition guidance, including architecture analysis, software engineering, integration, testing, deployment, and sustainment planning.
• Provide technical leadership for a fleet-facing maintenance and readiness application used across afloat and ashore environments.
• Advise Navy PEOs, PMOs, and government stakeholders on software design decisions, technical risks, modernization strategies, and tradeoffs for large, legacy-dependent systems.
• Lead software development from concept through deployment, emphasizing C and C++ implementations for high-performance and mission-critical use cases.
• Develop and maintain architecture artifacts, including data-flow and sequence diagrams, interface control definitions, and quality attribute specifications.
• Analyze existing source code, system interfaces, and data flows to identify technical debt, sustainment risks, and modernization opportunities.
• Develop prototypes and technical demonstrations to reduce risk and support acquisition decisions and capability maturation.
• Collaborate with Navy and government stakeholders, contractors, integrators, SEI staff, and leadership to assess needs and deliver technical recommendations.
• Lead and mentor developers, fostering disciplined engineering practices, continuous improvement, and mission focus.
• Participate in technical interchange meetings, design reviews, and acquisition milestone activities, providing clear, defensible technical input.
• Maintain awareness of emerging technologies, software development practices, and Naval digital modernization initiatives relevant to sustainment and maintenance systems.

Benefits

• An 8% employer retirement contribution with no employee contribution requirement.
• Tuition benefits for the employee and dependent children.
• Access to university resources, including wellness programs, transit benefits, and onsite fitness facilities at select locations.
• Paid parental leave and military leave.
• Eligibility for relocation assistance.
• Additional benefits through Carnegie Mellon University.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior