Job Title
Principal Discipline Engineer
Location
VA US (Primary)
Category
Engineering, General Laborer
Job Type
Full-Time
Compensation Minimum (USD)
$115,000
Compensation Maximum (USD)
$160,000
Education
Bachelor's Degree
Minimum Citizenship Status Required
U.S Citizen or Permanent Resident
Security Clearance Required
None
Job Description
About STC
STC is a science, sensors, and systems company founded in 1979. We continually expand our Earth and Space Sciences support capabilities to NASA, NOAA, DoD, and other Federal and State agencies. Our staff support many of the operational missions that monitor the heartbeat of our planet through a growing number of Earth Observing System of Systems platforms and direct field research. We also research and investigate leading-edge observing technologies and assist in their integration into operations.
STC offers competitive benefits to include health, dental, vision, FSA, life, disability, 401K (matching), tuition reimbursement, bonincentive programs, and various other plans.
Overview
The EOSDIS Evolution and Development (EED) program supports NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) in enabling global, open access to critical Earth observation data. STC is growing its EED support team and is seeking a Principal Discipline Engineer to serve as a domain authority and senior technical lead within the EED program.
The Principal Discipline Engineer operates at expert or mastery level, providing technical leadership and mentorship within an assigned EED program train (Platform, Science & Data, or Integration & Analysis). This role owns CI/CD pipeline delivery and cloud infrastructure within the train, drives key architecture decisions, and serves as a technical advisor across the broader program.
Primary Responsibilities
- Provide expert-level engineering leadership within an assigned EED program train, owning cloud infrastructure delivery and CI/CD pipeline management.
- Design and implement scalable, cloud-native solutions on AWS (EC2, Lambda, S3, RDS) for earth science data processing, archival, and dissemination.
- Automate build, test, and deployment workflows using CI/CD pipeline platforms such as Jenkins, Bamboo, or TeamCity.
- Maintain and enforce Git and GitHub workflow standards across the development team.
- Design and optimize relational database schemas and SQL queries supporting earth science data systems.
- Serve as a technical mentor to senior and mid-level engineers; lead design reviews and architecture discussions.
- Apply Lean Agile and Scrum methodologies; energetically drive continuous improvement across the team.
- Participate in Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) planning events, Program Increment (PI) planning, sprint ceremonies, backlog refinement, and technical reviews.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams within a large, multi-team Agile environment to deliver cloud-native earth science data capabilities on schedule.
- Contribute to CI/CD pipeline automation, code review, testing, and documentation in accordance with program standards.
Job Requirements
- 10+ years of software engineering experience; expert or mastery-level knowledge in the specified technical domain
- Expert-level proficiency with AWS cloud services (EC2, Lambda, S3, RDS)
- Expert proficiency with CI/CD pipeline automation platforms (Jenkins, Bamboo, TeamCity)
- Expert proficiency with Git and GitHub workflows
- Expert proficiency with Lean Agile/Scrum methodologies
- Demonstrated knowledge of relational databases and SQL
- Strong collaborative communication style; comfortable with open cross-team dialogue
Desired Skills and Experience
- Experience with the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) methodology
- Proficiency with the Atlassian tool suite (Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket)
- Experience presenting at technical or scientific conferences
We are equal opportunity/affirmative action employers, committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under state or local law.
