Staff Software Engineer 1
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Oct 19, 2026. First seen by Alion on Oct 14, 2026. Applied Research Associates scores A on the Alion truth index.
At ARA, we strive to find valuable colleagues with not only to give our employees the tools, training, and opportunities to take active roles as owners. The motto, “Engineering and Science for Fun and Profit” sums up the ARA experience. As a Staff 1 Software Engineer on our team, you will be responsible for developing technology critical to the success of our projects as well as national security.
The Southwest Division (SWD) of Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) is seeking a person to fill the position of Staff Software Developer. You will be a member of a multi-disciplinary team of engineers and computer scientists developing simulation tool technologies to support real-world planning operations for the Department of Defense. You’ll become familiar with unique research areas such as weapons effects, weaponeering, and anti-terrorism tactics. Our technology stack evolves over the years, but the main skills we use today include modern C++ and C#. Our infrastructure tools include git, Microsoft Visual Studio, Atlassian tools, and TeamCity. At the end of the day, we try to find the best way to deliver useful products to our end users. The teams retain a mindset that is open to change and improvement.
This position requires a B.S. in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or an equivalent field, in addition to 2-5 years of software development experience. The applicant must demonstrate knowledge of the C++ programming language. Applicants should also have experience developing Microsoft .Net applications using Microsoft Visual Studio. In addition, familiarity with desktop application development, event-driven and object-oriented programming design, 3-D visualization, Web/SQLite databases, Web App development, UI design and development are highly desirable.
Responsibilities:
- Designing, coding, and debugging applications in C++.
- Performing software analysis, code analysis, requirements analysis, and software review.
- Performing object-oriented design and analysis (OOA and OOD).
- Implementing new graphical user interfaces and visualization.
- Software testing and quality assurance.
- Supporting, maintaining, and documenting software functionality.
- Software support/bug fixes.
The candidate is expected to develop new features or methodologies by working alongside modelers and scientists as well as modify existing modeling and simulation software tools. Candidates must work in an agile team environment focused on delivering quality applications.
Applicants selected will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for obtaining a DoD Security Clearance.
To apply, go to http://careers.ara.com
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field
- 2-5 years’ employment experience in software development and computer programming
- Demonstrated proficiency programming in C++.
- Independent and self-motivated
- Excellent technical, communication, and presentation skills with the ability to work in a team environment
- Eligibility to obtain a DoD security clearance, which includes U.S. citizenship
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience with the following specific topics are considered strong pluses
- Experience with software configuration management tools (SVN, Git)
- Experience with Visual Studio development platform.
- Experience with Agile Processes.
- Experience with SQLite or other databases.
- Experience with Web application development
- Experience with UI design and development
- Active DoD security clearance