Software Modernization Engineer

The Aerospace Corporation is the trusted partner to the nation’s space programs, solving the hardest problems and providing unmatched technical expertise. As the operator of a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), we are broadly engaged across all aspects of space— delivering innovative solutions that span satellite, launch, ground, and cyber systems for defense, civil and commercial customers. When you join our team, you’ll be part of a special collection of problem solvers, thought leaders, and innovators. Join us and take your place in space.

The Information Systems and Cyber Division (ISCD) integrates modern software technologies—including elastic compute clouds, containerization, microservices, real-time operating systems, and visualization frameworks—with expertise in cyber security, software architecture, software engineering, data science, artificial intelligence, process improvement, and software development to deliver resilient, high‑performance software systems for Intelligence Community, DoD, and civilian customers.

The Software Tools & Assurance Department advances modern software engineering and digital engineering practices to deliver responsive and reliable mission software, with a focus on cloud platforms, microservices, workflow automation, and system modernization.  

Work Model

• This is a full-time position based in El Segundo, CA. 

What You’ll Be Doing

• Technical & Architecture Leadership: Provide high-level software systems engineering and architectural direction for complex, large-scale applications across space, ground, and launch domains.
• Software Modernization: Lead the evolution of legacy monolithic architectures into modern, resilient, microservices-based configurations deployed across cloud and virtualized environments.
• Cloud-Native & Containerization Strategy: Lead rigorous technical trade studies and rapid prototyping efforts to evaluate and securely implement emerging cloud-native, containerization, and orchestration technologies.
• Stakeholder & Customer Interfacing: Serve as a core technical liaison, translating high-level customer mission objectives into actionable architectural milestones, driving alignment across program managers, engineering teams, and external stakeholders.
• Culture of Innovation: Champion modern software development methodologies, driving positive change by introducing new commercial perspectives, challenging established practices, and mentoring junior engineers.

What You Need to be Successful – Engineering Specialist – Software Architecture Engineering & Cloud Computing Architecture

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, or a STEM related field.
• Six or more years of experience with increasing responsibility in software engineering or software architecture.
• Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent tasks and to quickly learn and adapt to new software technologies and languages.
• Experience in software engineering, full lifecycle development, and advanced problem solving.
• Experience in at least one of the following areas:
  • Modernizing legacy systems into unified, maintainable, automated software applications
  • Model-based systems engineering and complex systems modeling 
  • Designing and maintaining backend services and REST APIs using modern frameworks with integrations across enterprise services, workflow systems, and cloud environments
  • AI/ML applications, including large language models (LLM), retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), or NLP
  • Building or extending data ingestion pipelines — including large-scale content ingestion, metadata extraction, change detection, indexing, and automated job monitoring
  • Cloud and microservices architecture, including managed services for compute, storage, and monitoring
  • Experience integrating systems across on-prem, cloud, and hybrid environments, including Linux-based deployments and enterprise search ecosystems
  • Agile methodologies, DevOps, and CI/CD practices to deliver maintainable and reliable software solutions
• Willingness to travel occasionally to other domestic work locations or customer sites.
• This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance, which is issued by the U.S. government. U.S. citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance.

How You Can Stand Out

It would be impressive if you have one or more of these:

• Advanced degree (Master’s or Doctorate) in a STEM or related technical field.
• Experience interfacing with customers from the intelligence community, DoD, or other civilian agencies (NASA, NNSA, NOAA, etc.)
• Demonstrated expertise in designing, developing, testing, or maintaining complex software for satellite operations.
• In-depth knowledge and experience in two or more of the following areas, with the ability to independently lead associated tasks:
  • A track record of leading modernization efforts that consolidate multi-step manual processes, legacy scripts, or fragile data pipelines into reliable, automated applications
  • Experience architecting or scaling enterprise data ingestion systems
  • AI/ML applications, including LLM-based tools, RAG architectures, or NLP
  • Backend service development using modern frameworks with REST API design, systems integration, and database interaction (relational and cloud-hosted)
  • Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure) for storage, compute, monitoring, and certificate management
  • Agile workflows, CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins), and rapid prototyping of internal software tools
• Demonstrated ability to bring industry knowledge of modern software practices to drive innovation within established teams.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly convey complex technical information to a wide range of audiences.
• Strong track record of building, mentoring, and leading technical teams or working groups from the ground up.
• Active TS/SCI clearance.

We offer a competitive compensation package where you’ll be rewarded based on your performance and recognized for the value you bring to our business.  The grade-based pay range for this job is listed below.  Individual salaries within that range are determined through a wide variety of factors including but not limited to education, experience, knowledge and skills.

(Min - Max)

$129,000.00 - $193,500.00

Pay Basis: Annual

Leadership Competencies

Our leadership philosophy is simple: every employee, regardless of level and role, can demonstrate leadership. At Aerospace, our commitment is our people. To cultivate our talent and ensure that we have a strong pipeline of future leaders, we want individuals who:

• Operate Strategically
• Lead Change   
• Engage with Impact   
• Foster Innovation   
• Deliver Results  

Ways We Reward Our Employees

During your interview process, our team will provide details of our industry-leading benefits.

Benefits vary and are applicable based on Job Type.  A few highlights include:

• Comprehensive health care and wellness plans

• Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation

• Standard and alternate work schedules, including telework options

• 401(k) Plan — Employees receive a total company-paid benefit of 8%, 10%, or 12% of eligible compensation based on years of service and matching contributions; employees are immediately eligible and vested in the plan upon hire

• Flexible spending accounts

• Variable pay program for exceptional contributions

• Relocation assistance

• Professional growth and development programs to help advance your career

• Education assistance programs

• An inclusive work environment built on teamwork, flexibility, and respect

We are all unique, from various backgrounds and all walks of life, yet one thing bonds all of us to each other—the belief that we can make a difference. This core belief empowers us to do our best work at The Aerospace Corporation.

Equal Opportunity Commitment

The Aerospace Corporation is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, color, religion, genetic information, marital status, ancestry, national origin, protected veteran status, physical disability, medical condition, mental disability, or disability status and any other characteristic protected by state or federal law. If you’re an individual with a disability or a disabled veteran who needs assistance using our online job search and application tools or need reasonable accommodation to complete the job application process, please contact us by phone at 310.336.5432 or by email at peoplemangmnt.mailbox@aero.org . You can also review Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal.