[abadger9]

I'm surprised more people haven't brought up NASA? I was offered 180k/yr salary in 2020 doing fullstack development. While the offer was brought through a recruiting agency, I believe it was a full time position as a NASA Employee - I was surprised by the competitive salary, maybe worth looking into for others interested in the space.

[compsciphd]

doubtful it was as a NASA employee (i.e. US Govt). It was probably as a contractor. I believe (someone can correct me if I'm wrong) that NASA employees are on the GS schedule, as GS-15 step 10 in the DC area, only gets ~176K (after cost of area increase). i.e. a very senior (but not executive) manager with many years at that level.

The value of working at a national lab (vs say a military one) as an employee is that when one works at a military lab as an employee, one is a govt employee and on the GS schedule (which makes it hard for them to compete). When one works for a "national lab", one is an employee of the lab which is under contract with the US govt, but they are not paid according to the GS schedule.

[abadger9]

yeah, looked up the old email thread. It seemed like a nice deal - if anyone is interested Bay Systems Consulting, Inc. contracts with Nasa Ames Research Center. Hope it helps someone out.