Space Protection Software Test Engineer

Job ID: 2618008
Location: Chantilly, VA, US
Date Posted: 2026-10-15
Category: Engineering and Sciences
Subcategory: Systems Engineer
Schedule: Full-Time
Shift: Day Job
Travel: Yes - 10% of the time
Minimum Clearance Required: TS.SCI_wPoly
Clearance Level Must Be Able to Obtain: None
Potential for Remote Work: ORA_ON_SITE
Description
SAIC is seeking a Space Protection Software Test Engineer to join the Air Force, Space, and Intelligence Business Group providing systems engineering and technical advisory services to a Government Intelligence Community (IC) customer. The customer is developing the next generation of space and ground systems, architectures, and hardware and software solutions.
The Space Protection Software Test Engineer will serve as the subject matter expert (SME) and System Program Office (SPO) representative coordinating with the development contractor and stakeholders (including end user operators) for test verification of new space protection and Indications and Warning (I&W) capabilities prior to deployment into operations. The Space Protection Software Test Engineer collaborates within a team of mission-related SMEs to coordinate requirements/mission validation testing, support verification testing (and sell-off), identify/track discrepancies, and assist transition to operations activities.
The Space Protection Software Test Engineer responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Completes validation testing to ensure Space Protection and I&W software operate as expected in its intended environment and meets user expectations.
• Performs oversight, management, planning, and execution of requirements verification testing.
• Leads the planning and coordination efforts required to support designated enterprise System Test events.
• Identifies and reports software testing discrepancies, assesses their impacts, and makes recommendations on potential workarounds and fixes to ensure requirement verification.
• Participates in refinement of requirements, designs, and testing capabilities to meet user needs.
• Assists the SPO in providing oversight of software development, implementation, deployment, and operation of ground processing systems providing space protection capabilities.
• Represents the SPO during third-party software developer's Program Increment (PI) planning, Pre-planning, Sprint Close-out, and Demonstration events providing SPO's priorities for test events.

Qualifications
Required:

• Bachelor's and 9 or more years of experience; master's and 7 or more years of experience; PhD and 5 or more years of experience in Computer Science, Engineering, Information systems, related discipline, or equivalent experience.
• Active Top Secret/SCI clearance with Poly.
• Experience developing, testing, or fielding space software systems, either space or ground components.
• Hands-on experience using industry standard testing principles and methodologies (functional, regression, integration, system, UAT) for software testing and analysis.
• Familiarity with space mission operations, preferably at NRO.

Desired:

• Experience in space protection or space domain awareness systems, activities, or operations.
• Experience in developing automated integration tests.
• Experience with test management and use of defect tracking tools (e.g., Jira, Azure DevOps, TestRail, Bugzilla, or similar).
• Familiarity with Agile development methodologies and tools (Confluence/Jira) to include participation in scrums, development of solution epics/features, and continuous integration/continuous deployment.
• Familiarity with NRO's System's Engineering Directorate (SED) and its Requirements Development/Management, RFC, and Lifecycle Readiness processes.

Target salary range: $160,001 - $200,000. The estimate displayed represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience and other factors.
SAIC is a premier technology integrator providing full life cycle services and solutions in the technical, engineering, intelligence, and enterprise information technology markets. SAIC is Redefining Ingenuity through its deep customer and domain knowledge to enable the delivery of systems engineering and integration offerings for large, complex projects. SAIC's approximately 15,000 employees are driven by integrity and mission focus to serve customers in the U.S. federal government. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $4.5 billion. For more information, visit saic.com. For information on the benefits SAIC offers, see .