Bluestaq US External

Principal Software Engineer

Colorado Springs · Principal

Work authorization required$53k-$800kDetected 14 days ago

Distributed SystemsLeadershipCommunicationMentoring

About the role

Bluestaq is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to serve as an org-level technical leader responsible for setting technical direction across significant portions of Bluestaq's software ecosystem.
Your architectural decisions, reference implementations, and technical strategies become the patterns that dozens of engineers follow across multiple products and programs.
The work you do at this level has a shelf life measured in years, not sprints.

Own technical strategy for large segments of the Bluestaq product and platform or for major mission-critical system areas
Ensure technical decisions support reliability, security, and performance at scale across the full product portfolio
Partner closely with senior engineering leadership, product management, and program management to shape roadmaps and align technical investment with mission priorities
Delegate implementation details to Staff and Senior Staff engineers while staying sufficiently engaged to keep designs sound and on track
Lead trade studies and technical decisions on new technologies, frameworks, and architectural strategies with cross-team impact
Strong background in evaluating and adopting new technologies, frameworks, and architectural approaches at organizational scale-including build vs. buy and platform investment decisions
Track record of successfully mentoring and developing Staff and Senior Staff engineers into broader technical leaders

Demonstrated ability to define technical strategy and reference architectures that are successfully adopted across multiple engineering teams over multiple years
Extensive experience leading the technical direction of large, complex software systems from initial concept through multi-year operation and evolution
Proven ability to translate business and mission requirements into durable technical decisions, engineering principles, and architectural standards
Outstanding written and verbal communication skills: ability to present technical strategy clearly to engineering leadership, program management, and non-technical executive stakeholders

History of defining company-wide engineering standards, reference architectures, or platform strategies that persist across product generations and leadership transitions
Deep knowledge of DoD or national security software requirements, security frameworks (RMF, FedRAMP, NIST 800-53, STIG), and classified system development practices
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field and 14+ years of software engineering or related experience, OR
Associate degree in a related field and 16+ years of software engineering or related experience, OR
High School Diploma/GED and 18+ years of software engineering or related experience.
You use modern AI tools with judgment: integrating them into workflows where they're impactful, reviewing their outputs, and handling proprietary or sensitive data responsibly.

Experience designing systems that meet strict reliability, security, and compliance requirements in production environments
integrating them into workflows where they're impactful, reviewing their outputs, and handling proprietary or sensitive data responsibly.
ability to present technical strategy clearly to engineering leadership, program management, and non-technical executive stakeholders
Background in systems-of-systems integration, multi-program technical alignment, or cross-organizational engineering governance
Published technical work, patents, or recognized external contributions in relevant software engineering domains
Required Experience and Education:
PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field and 10+ years of software engineering or related experience, OR
Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field and 12+ years of software engineering or related experience, OR

Take ownership of the long-term health and evolution of key architectural components and platform foundations

Evaluate and guide adoption of major technologies, frameworks, and architectural approaches with long-term implications for the platform

This listing is sourced directly from Bluestaq US External's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.