Staff Software Engineer Jobs in Maryland
Staff Software Engineer jobs in Maryland are concentrated in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, Bethesda, and Columbia, where federal contractors, cybersecurity firms, and enterprise technology companies drive consistent senior-level hiring. Employers like Northrop Grumman, Leidos, and SAIC have deep engineering footprints in the state and regularly post staff-level openings across distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, and security software. Maryland's proximity to federal agencies keeps demand especially strong for engineers with experience in cloud-native development, backend platform engineering, and systems software. See the openings below and apply to the ones that match your experience.
Find Staff Software Engineer JobsOverview
Showing 5 of 17+ Staff Software Engineer jobs











Description
At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history.Northrop Grumman Mission Systems (NGMS) is seeking a Staff Embedded Software Engineer to join our innovative Software Technologies Organization. The new team member will work on software systems for mission systems in all phases of the software development lifecycle, primarily in C/C++. This position is located in Baltimore, MD.
What You’ll Get To Do:
As a Staff Embedded Software Engineer within the Software and Digital Technologies Organization, you will have a challenging and rewarding opportunity to be a part of a radar mode development team. Through the use of Model-based Engineering, DevSecOps and Agile practices we continue to evolve how we deliver critical national defense products and capabilities for the warfighter. Our success is grounded in our ability to embrace change, move quickly and continuously drive innovation. The successful candidate will be collaborative, open, transparent, and team oriented with a focus on team empowerment & shared responsibility, flexibility, continuous learning and a culture of automation.
Roles and Responsibilities:
- Analyze, develop, and modify existing software, apply modern development techniques that take advantage of all that current technology has to offer
- Identify risks, suggest mitigation, track defects, develop resolutions, and report status
- Design, construct, and execute unit tests; build verification test plans, track and report test status
- Work alongside multi-disciplined engineering teams to test and verify software products on simulators and actual production hardware in our System Integration Laboratories
- Identify and assess new technologies prior to implementation
- Active participation with systems engineering in technical peer, design, architecture, and system reviews to ensure system/software requirements are being met from an end-to-end system point of view
“This position is contingent based on obtaining necessary special access security clearance.”
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related STEM Degree and 12 years of related experience
- US Citizenship
- Must be able to obtain a Secret Clearance. Secret Clearance is required to start. Must be able to maintain this level of clearance for continued employment.
- Must have 10 years’ experience working in C/C++
- Must have 10 years’ experience with real-time embedded software
- Must have 10 years’ experience with full software lifecycle: specification, design, implementation, integration, debug and maintenance
#SD&T726
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience in algorithmic application development and optimization
- Experience working with software defined radios and RF systems
- Experience developing Radar tracker modes
- Experience with VxWorks Operating Systems
- Experience with Visual Studio
- Experience with Matlab
- Experience with Coverity, SonarQube and/or KlocWork tools
- Experience in Open Architecture Solutions
- Experience with the Atlassian tool set, Kubernetes, Model Based Engineering, and DevSecOps best practices
See All 17 Staff Software Engineer Jobs in Maryland
Find roles in Maryland that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Staff Software Engineer JobsStaff Software Engineer Jobs by City in Maryland
Where Maryland roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Staff Software Engineer Job Market in Maryland
A snapshot from current Maryland openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring



Top Industries Hiring
- Insurance
- Technology & Software
- Healthcare & Medical Services
- Consulting & Professional Services
What Maryland Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in staff software engineer jobs across Maryland.
- Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related technical field
- Seven or more years of professional software engineering experience with demonstrated technical leadership
- Proficiency in one or more of Java, Python, Go, or C++ in production environments
- Experience designing and owning large-scale distributed systems or cloud infrastructure on AWS or Azure
- Ability to obtain or active possession of a U.S. security clearance preferred by many Maryland employers
- Strong record of mentoring engineers and driving cross-team technical decisions and code quality standards
Staff Software Engineer Jobs in Maryland: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a staff software engineer in Maryland?
Reaching the staff software engineer level in Maryland typically requires a bachelor's or master's degree in computer science or software engineering followed by several years of progressively senior engineering work. Maryland does not issue a state license for software engineers, so advancement is credential-driven through employer promotion and technical portfolio. Many Maryland employers, especially federal contractors in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, also weight candidates who can demonstrate experience leading architecture decisions across a team.
How much do staff software engineers make in Maryland?
Staff software engineers in Maryland earn a median of about $138,680 a year, based on May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, ranging from around $87,690 for the lowest 10% to over $222,610 for the top 10%. Pay rises with experience, specialty, and employer.
Which companies hire staff software engineers in Maryland?
Employers hiring staff software engineers in Maryland right now include GEICO, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of August 2026. Maryland's heavy concentration of federal defense and intelligence contractors means that large employers like these often hire staff-level engineers with systems, cloud, or cybersecurity backgrounds on a rolling basis.
Which Maryland cities have the most staff software engineer jobs?
The cities with the most staff software engineer openings in Maryland are Bethesda, Baltimore, and Hanover. The distribution reflects the Baltimore-Washington corridor's density of federal contractors, defense agencies, and enterprise technology headquarters, which anchor demand even in suburban hubs like Columbia and Bethesda where many of these employers maintain major campuses.
Are there remote staff software engineer jobs in Maryland?
Yes, and more than most fields. About 80% of staff software engineer openings tied to Maryland are remote or hybrid as of August 2026, reflecting how well senior software engineering work translates to distributed environments. The most remote-friendly sub-areas tend to be backend platform engineering, cloud infrastructure, and developer tooling, while roles tied to classified federal programs typically require on-site presence.
How can I get hired as a staff software engineer in Maryland with little or no experience?
The most realistic path for candidates without senior experience is to enter through an associate or mid-level software engineering role and build toward promotion. Maryland's large federal contractors, including Northrop Grumman and Leidos, run structured new-graduate hiring programs that place engineers into rotational or entry-level positions on government-facing product teams. Adjacent roles like software developer, systems engineer, or DevOps engineer at Maryland employers are common lateral starting points. Contributing to an open-source project or earning a cloud certification from AWS or Google strengthens an application considerably at the early career stage.
Where can I find and apply to staff software engineer jobs in Maryland?
You can find and apply to staff software engineer jobs in Maryland on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings across the state. Search the listings, find the roles that match your background and preferences, and apply directly to the ones that fit.
See All 17 Staff Software Engineer Jobs in Maryland
Find roles in Maryland that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Staff Software Engineer Jobs