Entry Level Defense Contractor Software Engineer Jobs in Phoenix, AZ

Basic Qualifications
Requires a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related Science, Engineering, Technology or Mathematics field. Also requires 1+ years of job-related experience, or a Master's degree.

CLEARANCE REQUIREMENTS: Department of Defense TS/SCI security clearance is preferred at time of hire. Candidates must be able to obtain a TS/SCI clearance within a reasonable amount of time from date of hire. Applicants selected will be subject to a U.S. Government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information. Due to the nature of work performed within our facilities, U.S. citizenship is required.

Workplace
Facility 100%, Flex

ROLE AND POSITION OBJECTIVES:

As a Systems and Test Integration Engineer on our TIDES team, you will be at the center of building the software and infrastructure that our nation's most advanced spacecraft programs depend on. You'll work with a talented team of hardware and systems engineers to design and deploy the DevOps Test Infrastructure (DOTI), a critical platform that accelerates hardware testing and ensures mission reliability. This role contributes directly to the Hardware Development Environment (HDE), which is a shared engineering backbone for all spacecraft payload programs at GDMS.

This is a position for an early-career engineer eager to grow. You'll have the opportunity to learn from senior engineers, expanding your skills in test automation, CI/CD pipeline development, containerized deployments, and hardware-in-the-loop integration. Your contributions will have a real impact, supporting critical missions in a dynamic, team-oriented environment.

Preferred Skills & Experience:

A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field, plus one year of relevant experience, or a master's degree.
Experience developing software in Python, C/C++, or a similar language.
A strong grasp of software fundamentals, including data structures, version control, testing, and debugging.
Experience writing automated tests with frameworks like PyTest to ensure software quality.
Familiarity with Git-based version control workflows, such as branching and merge requests.
Exposure to CI/CD platforms like GitLab CI for automating builds, tests, and releases.
Comfort working at the command line in Linux environments (RHEL, Ubuntu).
An understanding of computer networking concepts (Ethernet, subnets, routing) and hardware interfaces.
Exposure to containerization and orchestration tools like Docker, Kubernetes, or Helm is a significant plus.
Experience working in an agile or scrum environment.

Key Responsibilities
Design and develop test software and automation frameworks for our shared test infrastructure.
Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines in GitLab, including the management of self-hosted runners.
Deploy and manage containerized services on our hardware test benches.
Support the integration of our test software with real payload hardware and lab instrumentation.
Develop test plans and procedures to verify system and subsystem requirements.
Collaborate across teams, including with FPGA and hardware engineers, on system integration and platform features.
Investigate and debug complex software and integration issues with a systematic approach.
Create clear documentation for your designs and tooling to empower other engineers.

What Sets You Apart
You're curious about how the parts fit together. When you're writing test software, you want to know what hardware it drives, what the system needs it to do, and how your piece fits into the bigger picture.
You're drawn to working close to real hardware. Bringing software up against a bench of test equipment appeals to you as much as writing application code.
You write clean, readable, well-tested code.
You ask good questions when you're stuck, and you're comfortable admitting what you don't know.
When you hit a block, you look for a way through. You'd rather try something and learn from it than wait for someone to hand you the answer.
You take ownership of your work. You follow through, you check your own results, and you don't hand off half-done work.
You identify opportunities to apply AI tools for continuous improvement and automation.

General Dynamics Mission Systems (GDMS) engineers a diverse portfolio of high technology solutions, products and services that enable customers to successfully execute missions across all domains of operation. With a global team of 12,000+ top professionals, we partner with the best in industry to expand the bounds of innovation in the defense and scientific arenas. Given the nature of our work and who we are, we value trust, honesty, alignment and transparency. We offer highly competitive benefits and pride ourselves in being a great place to work with a shared sense of purpose. You will also enjoy a flexible work environment where contributions are recognized and rewarded. If who we are and what we do resonates with you, we invite you to join our high-performance team!

Equal Opportunity Employer / Individuals with Disabilities / Protected Veterans