{"schemaVersion":"jobsearcher.job.v1","id":"7d164e3e25801fb8ee01b20a","url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/7d164e3e25801fb8ee01b20a","canonicalUrl":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/7d164e3e25801fb8ee01b20a","title":"Lead Embedded Software Engineer","description":"Lead Embedded Software Engineer\n\n*Herndon Virginia*\n\n*Employment Type*\n\nFull-time permanent\n\n*Base Salary*\n\n$160,000-$180,000 per year\n\n*Work Arrangement*\n\n100% onsite in Herndon Virginia\n\n*Travel*\n\nLess than 10% occasional travel\n\n*Security Clearance*\n\nActive Department of Defense Secret clearance required\n\n*Visa Sponsorship*\n\nNot available\n\n*Relocation*\n\nAssistance not available\n\nThe Opportunity\n\nA leading aerospace and defense organization is seeking a Lead Embedded Software Engineer to guide the development of mission-critical embedded systems. This is a hands-on technical leadership role focused on expanding the use of Rust, modernizing legacy software and delivering maintainable, memory-safe solutions for complex real-time platforms.\n\nYou will set engineering direction across multiple product lines, mentor software teams and remain closely involved throughout requirements, architecture, implementation, hardware-software integration and formal testing.\n\nKey Responsibilities\n\n· Lead embedded software development and provide technical direction to multidisciplinary engineering teams.\n\n· Drive the adoption and deployment of Rust, including associated techniques, idioms, design patterns, tooling and memory-safe development practices.\n\n· Guide the integration or conversion of legacy embedded software to Rust across multiple product lines.\n\n· Translate technical and operational requirements into working, maintainable software solutions.\n\n· Lead all phases of the software-development lifecycle, including requirements analysis, design, implementation, hardware-software integration and formal test.\n\n· Collaborate with hardware, systems and software engineers to define interfaces, performance requirements and overall system design.\n\n· Investigate complex issues, identify root causes and implement reliable corrective solutions.\n\n· Develop software test plans, procedures and supporting technical documentation.\n\n· Use modeling tools, prototypes and experimental testing to evaluate designs and operating results.\n\n· Participate in peer reviews and oversee defect identification, tracking and resolution.\n\n· Develop embedded software using Rust, C, C++ and Python for real-time operating systems including VxWorks, Linux and Integrity.\n\n· Serve as a technical mentor and independent reviewer for junior engineers.\n\n· Support occasional travel of less than 10% for onboarding, integration or Scrum activities.\n\nRequired Qualifications\n\n· Bachelor's degree in computer engineering, electrical engineering, computer science or a related discipline, plus at least nine years of relevant experience.\n\n· Alternatively, a graduate degree plus at least seven years of relevant experience, or at least 13 years of relevant experience in place of a degree.\n\n· At least three years of experience leading software-development teams.\n\n· At least two years in an Agile software-lead or comparable technical leadership role.\n\n· Professional experience developing software in Rust.\n\n· At least five years of C or C++ development and object-oriented design experience.\n\n· At least five years of Earned Value Management tracking experience.\n\n· At least three years of experience leading software proposals, including cost estimates and proposal packages.\n\n· Experience leading large software-planning efforts and working throughout the full software-development lifecycle.\n\n· Active United States Department of Defense Secret security clearance.\n\n· Current authorization to work in the United States without employer sponsorship.\n\nPreferred Experience\n\n· Development of embedded and real-time software systems.\n\n· Object-oriented design and implementation using UML or modeling tools such as IBM Rhapsody, MagicDraw or Cameo.\n\n· Development of device drivers and Board Support Packages for real-time embedded platforms.\n\n· Information Assurance or cryptography.\n\n· NSA Type 1 certification or software-certification standards such as DO-178.\n\n· Strong written, verbal and technical communication skills.\n\nBenefits\n\n· Comprehensive full benefits package\n\n· Senior technical leadership opportunity on mission-critical aerospace and defense systems\n\n· Long-term product, architecture and team-development responsibility\n\nThe Ideal Candidate\n\nYou are an experienced embedded-software leader who combines hands-on Rust and C or C++ expertise with the ability to guide teams, modernize legacy systems and deliver reliable software in demanding mission-critical environments. You are comfortable owning technical direction, proposal planning, Earned Value tracking and cross-functional execution while mentoring the engineers around you.\n\nEqual Opportunity\n\nQualified applicants will receive consideration without discrimination based on any status protected under applicable federal, state or local law.\n\nPay: $150,000.00 - $180,000.00 per year\n\nEducation:\n* Bachelor's (Preferred)\n\nExperience:\n* Embedded software: 10 years (Preferred)\n* Rust (programming language): 3 years (Preferred)\n* C++: 5 years (Required)\n\nSecurity clearance:\n* Secret (Preferred)\n\nWork Location: In person","company":"Kaptius","rawCompany":"kaptius","city":"Reston","state":"VA","isRemote":false,"isActive":false,"createdAt":"2026-11-06T10:07:39.633Z","occupations":[{"code":"15-1252.00","title":"Software Developers","slug":"software-developers"},{"code":"15-1299.08","title":"Computer Systems Engineers/Architects","slug":"computer-systems-engineers-architects"},{"code":"11-9041.00","title":"Architectural and Engineering Managers","slug":"architectural-and-engineering-managers"}],"industries":[{"code":"541512","title":"Computer Systems Design Services","slug":"computer-systems-design-services"},{"code":"513210","title":"Software Publishers","slug":"software-publishers"},{"code":"541330","title":"Engineering Services","slug":"engineering-services"}],"jobPosting":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"JobPosting","title":"Lead Embedded Software Engineer","description":"Lead Embedded Software Engineer\n\n*Herndon Virginia*\n\n*Employment Type*\n\nFull-time permanent\n\n*Base Salary*\n\n$160,000-$180,000 per year\n\n*Work Arrangement*\n\n100% onsite in Herndon Virginia\n\n*Travel*\n\nLess than 10% occasional travel\n\n*Security Clearance*\n\nActive Department of Defense Secret clearance required\n\n*Visa Sponsorship*\n\nNot available\n\n*Relocation*\n\nAssistance not available\n\nThe Opportunity\n\nA leading aerospace and defense organization is seeking a Lead Embedded Software Engineer to guide the development of mission-critical embedded systems. This is a hands-on technical leadership role focused on expanding the use of Rust, modernizing legacy software and delivering maintainable, memory-safe solutions for complex real-time platforms.\n\nYou will set engineering direction across multiple product lines, mentor software teams and remain closely involved throughout requirements, architecture, implementation, hardware-software integration and formal testing.\n\nKey Responsibilities\n\n· Lead embedded software development and provide technical direction to multidisciplinary engineering teams.\n\n· Drive the adoption and deployment of Rust, including associated techniques, idioms, design patterns, tooling and memory-safe development practices.\n\n· Guide the integration or conversion of legacy embedded software to Rust across multiple product lines.\n\n· Translate technical and operational requirements into working, maintainable software solutions.\n\n· Lead all phases of the software-development lifecycle, including requirements analysis, design, implementation, hardware-software integration and formal test.\n\n· Collaborate with hardware, systems and software engineers to define interfaces, performance requirements and overall system design.\n\n· Investigate complex issues, identify root causes and implement reliable corrective solutions.\n\n· Develop software test plans, procedures and supporting technical documentation.\n\n· Use modeling tools, prototypes and experimental testing to evaluate designs and operating results.\n\n· Participate in peer reviews and oversee defect identification, tracking and resolution.\n\n· Develop embedded software using Rust, C, C++ and Python for real-time operating systems including VxWorks, Linux and Integrity.\n\n· Serve as a technical mentor and independent reviewer for junior engineers.\n\n· Support occasional travel of less than 10% for onboarding, integration or Scrum activities.\n\nRequired Qualifications\n\n· Bachelor's degree in computer engineering, electrical engineering, computer science or a related discipline, plus at least nine years of relevant experience.\n\n· Alternatively, a graduate degree plus at least seven years of relevant experience, or at least 13 years of relevant experience in place of a degree.\n\n· At least three years of experience leading software-development teams.\n\n· At least two years in an Agile software-lead or comparable technical leadership role.\n\n· Professional experience developing software in Rust.\n\n· At least five years of C or C++ development and object-oriented design experience.\n\n· At least five years of Earned Value Management tracking experience.\n\n· At least three years of experience leading software proposals, including cost estimates and proposal packages.\n\n· Experience leading large software-planning efforts and working throughout the full software-development lifecycle.\n\n· Active United States Department of Defense Secret security clearance.\n\n· Current authorization to work in the United States without employer sponsorship.\n\nPreferred Experience\n\n· Development of embedded and real-time software systems.\n\n· Object-oriented design and implementation using UML or modeling tools such as IBM Rhapsody, MagicDraw or Cameo.\n\n· Development of device drivers and Board Support Packages for real-time embedded platforms.\n\n· Information Assurance or cryptography.\n\n· NSA Type 1 certification or software-certification standards such as DO-178.\n\n· Strong written, verbal and technical communication skills.\n\nBenefits\n\n· Comprehensive full benefits package\n\n· Senior technical leadership opportunity on mission-critical aerospace and defense systems\n\n· Long-term product, architecture and team-development responsibility\n\nThe Ideal Candidate\n\nYou are an experienced embedded-software leader who combines hands-on Rust and C or C++ expertise with the ability to guide teams, modernize legacy systems and deliver reliable software in demanding mission-critical environments. You are comfortable owning technical direction, proposal planning, Earned Value tracking and cross-functional execution while mentoring the engineers around you.\n\nEqual Opportunity\n\nQualified applicants will receive consideration without discrimination based on any status protected under applicable federal, state or local law.\n\nPay: $150,000.00 - $180,000.00 per year\n\nEducation:\n* Bachelor's (Preferred)\n\nExperience:\n* Embedded software: 10 years (Preferred)\n* Rust (programming language): 3 years (Preferred)\n* C++: 5 years (Required)\n\nSecurity clearance:\n* Secret (Preferred)\n\nWork Location: In person","datePosted":"2026-11-06T10:07:39.633Z","dateModified":"2026-11-06T10:07:39.633Z","hiringOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Kaptius","sameAs":"https://jobsearcher.com"},"jobLocation":{"@type":"Place","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","addressLocality":"Reston","addressRegion":"VA","addressCountry":"US"}},"identifier":{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"JobSearcher","value":"7d164e3e25801fb8ee01b20a"},"url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/7d164e3e25801fb8ee01b20a"}}