Principal Software Engineer

Date Posted: 2026-10-26 Country: United States of America Location: US-MA-WOBURN-WB1 ~ 235 Presidential Way ~ SPENCER BLDG Position Role Type: Onsite U.S. Citizen, U.S. Person, or Immigration Status Requirements: Active and transferable U.S. government issued security clearance is required prior to start date.​ U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance​ Security Clearance Type: DoD Clearance: Secret Security Clearance Status: Ability to obtain INTERIM U.S. government issued security clearance is required prior to start date At RTX, the world's largest aerospace and defense company, 185,000 great minds are united by purpose and inspired to make a difference solving the world’s most complex problems. With our three market leading businesses, world-class operations and investments in research and development, we offer capabilities and opportunity no one else can. Together, we push the boundaries of known science and find new ways to connect and protect our world. Raytheon brings the strength of more than 100 years of experience and renowned engineering expertise to meet the needs of today’s mission and stay ahead of tomorrow’s threat. We deliver solutions that help our nation and allies defend freedoms and deter aggression, creating a safer, more secure world. Join us and help shape the future of aerospace and defense. The Raytheon team is looking for a Principal Software Engineer to support the Missile Defense Sensors (MDS) Software Department. The MDS Software mission is to provide world-class radar and Command and Control (C2) Software for our customers’ wide array of surveillance and warning systems. As a Principal Software Engineer, you will lead the design, development, and delivery of mission-critical software solutions for one of our programs. This role requires advanced technical expertise, leadership skills, and a demonstrated ability to drive innovation and foster collaboration across cross-functional teams. You will also mentor junior engineers, contribute to strategic decision-making, and ensure the successful delivery of high-quality software solutions in a fast-paced, agile environment.  This will be an on-site role in either Woburn, MA, or Tewksbury, MA, depending on the assigned program. What You Will Do Lead the design, development, testing, and deployment of complex software solutions in support of radar and Command and Control systems.  Analyze, implement, and test software modifications to enhance the functionality, performance, and reliability of existing system baselines.  Drive the resolution of complex software trouble reports, leveraging debugging tools to quickly identify and fix software defects while optimizing code for performance.  Provide technical leadership in an agile execution environment, driving continuous improvement initiatives and ensuring adherence to industry best practices.  Collaborate with systems engineers, integration and test engineers, and other stakeholders to define system requirements and ensure seamless integration of software components.  Act as a technical mentor and coach, delegating tasks and providing guidance to junior and mid-level engineers.  Represent the software team in program-level discussions, providing technical expertise and ensuring alignment with program objectives.  Stay current with emerging technologies and methodologies, driving innovation and advancing the technical capabilities of the team. What You Will Learn Advanced radar and/or Command and Control systems concepts, including real-time, mission-critical processing.  Strategies for optimizing software performance and scalability in large, complex systems.  Agile and DevSecOps best practices to improve software development, testing, and deployment processes.  Leadership and mentorship techniques to foster collaboration and technical growth within the team.  Cutting-edge tools and technologies for building and maintaining mission-critical software solutions. Qualifications You Must Have Typically requires a Bachelor’s in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) and 8 years of prior relevant experience unless prohibited by local laws/regulations.  Experience in C, C++, or Ada for software development, testing, and/or integration.  Experience in agile software development methodologies, such as scrum, SAFe, or DevSecOps.  The ability to obtain and maintain an interim secret U.S. security clearance prior to the start date. U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance. Qualifications We Prefer Experience with developing real-time, multi-threaded applications. Experience with object-oriented design and development. Experience with data structures, algorithms, and memory management. Experience with leading technical discussions and mentoring team members.  Experience in debugging tools to identify and resolve software bugs and optimize code for performance.  Experience with radar software development and/or radar concepts.  Experience in missile defense programs and large, complex systems.  Experience working with tools such as Atlassian Suite (e.g., Bitbucket, Artifactory, JIRA, Confluence), Jenkins, Eclipse, and Ansible.  Experience with Linux Operating Systems, particularly Red Hat Enterprise Linux.  Experience with CI/CD environments and pipelines, including experience with DevSecOps.  Experience with problem-solving skills and the ability to make data-driven decisions in a fast-paced environment.  Experience coaching and delegate work to junior engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence and continuous improvement.  Experience in a team environment, driving creative solutions to complex technical problems. What We Offer Our values drive our actions, behaviors, and performance with a vision for a safer, more connected world. At RTX we value: Safety, Trust, Respect, Accounta