Preparing for an interview at Oasys requires a balanced focus on core software engineering principles, low-level systems knowledge, and an understanding of the structured defense contracting environment. Interviewers look for candidates who are not just strong coders, but disciplined engineers who understand the importance of safety-critical systems and rigorous testing.

Role-Related Technical Knowledge – You must demonstrate a strong command of the programming languages highlighted on your resume, particularly C, C++, or Java. For embedded positions, be ready to discuss hardware-software interfaces, memory management, and real-time constraints.

Problem-Solving & Architecture – Interviewers evaluate how you approach complex, ambiguous technical challenges. You should be prepared to explain your design decisions, how you structure software boundaries, and how you translate high-level requirements into clean, maintainable code.

Process & Tools Proficiency – Because Oasys operates on highly structured government projects, familiarity with development tools like Jira, Jenkins, and Git, alongside methodologies like Agile and Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), is highly valued.

Mission Alignment & Security – Working on defense and space contracts requires a high degree of responsibility. You should demonstrate an appreciation for security protocols, documentation, and the collaborative nature of working within a cleared environment.

The interview process at Oasys is designed to be straightforward, practical, and highly conversational. The company focuses heavily on aligning your actual hands-on experience with the specific technical demands of their active government contracts. Rather than subjecting you to highly abstract, academic brainteasers, the discussions will center on your past projects, technical capabilities, and workflow habits.

The process typically begins with an initial telephone screening conducted by a hiring manager or technical lead. During this conversation, the interviewer will introduce the company, describe the specific defense contracts they are supporting, and outline the day-to-day responsibilities of the role. You will be asked to walk through your resume, discuss your experience with specific programming languages, and explain how you have applied those skills in previous roles.

Following a successful screen, candidates transition to a technical evaluation. This stage may involve a formal technical test, a practical coding assessment, or a detailed personal interview (PI) with senior engineering staff. This round dives deeper into computer science fundamentals, object-oriented design, and your familiarity with development tools like Jira and Jenkins. Once selection is finalized, the team often provides immediate visibility by describing your prospective first project in detail.

The visual timeline above outlines the standard progression from your initial application to the final offer stage. Candidates should use this timeline to pace their preparation, ensuring they are ready to transition from high-level resume discussions to deeper technical evaluations. Note that because many roles support classified space and defense programs, the timeline can occasionally be influenced by the status of your security clearance processing.

To succeed in the Oasys technical interview, you must understand the core areas where the engineering team focuses their evaluation. Expect your interviewers to drill down into these specific domains to ensure you can contribute immediately to their high-consequence projects.

Embedded Systems & C/C++ Development

For the majority of software roles supporting space and missile defense, C and C++ are the foundational languages. Interviewers want to see that you understand how your code interacts directly with hardware and operates under strict constraints.

Be ready to go over:

• Memory Management – Dynamic memory allocation, avoiding leaks, and understanding pointer manipulation in C/C++.
• Hardware Protocols – How software communicates with physical components using protocols such as UART, SPI, I2C, or CAN.
• Real-Time Constraints – Writing deterministic code that meets strict timing requirements without latency spikes.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Specialized military and aerospace communication standards like MIL-STD-1553, SpaceWire, and safety-critical RTOS architectures.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Describe a scenario where you had to debug a memory corruption issue in a resource-constrained environment."
• "How would you design a driver interface to read data from a sensor over an SPI bus?"

Object-Oriented Analysis & Design (OOAD)

Oasys emphasizes structured, scalable software design. You must demonstrate that you can write clean, modular code that conforms to modern object-oriented principles, making it easy to test, integrate, and maintain over long-term program lifecycles.

Be ready to go over:

• OOP Principles – Solid understanding of encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, and abstraction.
• Design Patterns – Common architectural patterns (e.g., Singleton, Factory, Observer) and when to apply them.
• UML/SysML Modeling – Using visual modeling tools to define software boundaries and interface contracts before writing code.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk me through how you would design an extensible command-processing system for a satellite ground station."
• "Explain how you would refactor a large, tightly-coupled monolithic codebase to improve unit testability."

Software Development Lifecycle & Tooling

Because Oasys works on complex government programs, they require engineers who are disciplined in their development workflows. They will evaluate your experience with modern software engineering tools and lifecycle management.

Be ready to go over:

• CI/CD & Automation – Building and maintaining pipelines using tools like Jenkins to automate unit testing and integration.
• Issue Tracking & Agile – Managing tasks, requirements, and sprint workflows using Jira.
• Requirements Traceability – Understanding how to map customer requirements to software design, code implementation, and final verification tests.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How do you use Jenkins to ensure that code changes do not break existing integration builds?"
• "Describe your experience working in an Agile team and how you handle changing requirements mid-sprint."

As a Software Engineer at Oasys, your day-to-day responsibilities will vary depending on your seniority and the specific defense program you support, but they generally center around highly structured, collaborative development:

• Lifecycle Development – Supporting the entire software lifecycle following the program's Software Development Plan (SDP), including requirements analysis, design, coding, unit testing, and integration.
• System Integration – Integrating software components with hardware systems, simulators, and external networks to support formal system delivery.
• Collaborative Engineering – Participating in peer code reviews, sprint planning, and technical reviews with systems engineers and program managers.
• Documentation & Modeling – Capturing software architectures and designs using modeling tools (such as UML or SysML) to maintain strict requirements traceability.
• Onsite Collaboration – Working full-time onsite at secure facilities in Huntsville, Alabama, or Sunnyvale, California, to handle sensitive and classified program data safely.