Principal-Level Systems Engineer

Principal-Level Systems Engineers needed for our federal government contractor client in Annapolis Junction, MD. The Principal-Level Systems Engineers will be developing, maintaining, and enhancing complex and diverse IaC (Infrastructure as Code) solutions for large-scale HPC systems. Current Top Secret Clearance with Full Scope Polygraph is required. No exceptions. Direct hire position. Salary range $145,000-$155,000.

Essential Duties:

• Serves as the technical expert in the conveyance of DevSecOps principles and best practices through collaboration amongst multiple development teams.
  
• Analyzes user's requirements, concept of operations documents, and high level system architectures to develop system requirements specifications.
  
• Analyzes system requirements and leads design and development activities.
  
• Guides users in formulating requirements, advises alternative approaches, and conducts feasibility studies.
  
• Provides technical leadership for the integration of requirements, design, and technology.
  
• Incorporates new plans, designs and systems into ongoing operations.
  
• Develops technical documentation.
  
• Develops system Architecture and system design documentation.
  
• Guides system development and implementation planning through assessment or preparation of system engineering management plans and system integration and test plans. Interacts with the Government regarding Systems Engineering technical considerations and for associated problems, issues or conflicts.
  
• Ultimate responsibility for the technical integrity of work performed and deliverables associated with the Systems Engineering area of responsibility. Communicates with other program personnel, government overseers, and senior executives.
  
• Manages system and derived requirements to ensure the delivery of production systems that are compatible with the defined system architecture(s) — Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF), Service-oriented Architecture (SOA).
  
• Contribute to the development of sections of systems engineering documentation such as System Engineering Plans, Initial Capabilities Documents, Requirements specifications, and Interface Control Documents.
  
• Assists with the development of system requirements, functional requirements, and allocation of the same to individual hardware, software, facility, and personnel components.
  
• Coordinates the resolution of action items from Configuration Control Board (CCB) meetings, design reviews, program reviews, and test reviews that require cross-discipline coordination.
  
• Participates in an Integrated Product Team to design new capabilities based upon evaluation of all necessary development and operational considerations.
  
• Allocate real-time process budgets and error budgets to systems and subsystem components.
  
• Generates alternative system concepts, physical architectures, and design solutions.
  
• Defines the methods, processes, and evaluation criteria by which the systems, subsystems and work products are verified against their requirements in a written plan.
  
• Develops system design solution that satisfies the system requirements and fulfills the functional analysis.
  
• Reviews and provides input to program and contract work breakdown structure (WBS), work packages and the integrated master plan (IMP).
  
• Participates in the development of system engineering documentation, such as System Engineering Plans, Initial Capabilities Documents, Requirements Specifications, and Interface Control Documents.
  
• Participates in interface definition, design, and changes to the configuration between affected groups and individuals throughout the life cycle.
  
• Derives lower-level requirements from higher-level allocated requirements that describe in detail the functions that a system component must fulfill, and ensure these requirements are complete, correct, unique, unambiguous, realizable, and verifiable.
  
• Participates in establishing and gaining approval of the definition of a system or component under development (requirements, designs, interfaces, test procedures) that provides a common reference point for hardware and Software Developers.
  
• Develops derived requirements for Information Assurance Services (Confidentiality, Integrity, Non repudiation, and Availability); Basic Information Assurance Mechanisms (e.g., Identification, Authentication, Access Control, Accountability); and Security Mechanism Technology (Passwords, cryptography, discretionary access control, mandatory access control, hashing, key management).
  
• Implements comprehensive SOA solutions.
  
• Implements operational view, technical standards view, and system and services view for architectures using applicable DoDAF standards.
  
• Reviews and/or approve system engineering documentation to ensure that processes and specifications meet system needs and are accurate, comprehensive, and complete.
  
• Captures all interface designs in a common interface control format, and stores interface data in a commonly accessible repository.
  
• Assesses each risk to the program and determine the probability of occurrence and quantified consequence of failure in accordance with an approved risk management plan.
  
• In conjunction with System Stakeholders, plan the verification efforts of new and unproven designs early in the development life cycle to ensure compliance with established requirements.
  
• Prepares time-line analysis diagrams illustrating the flow of time-dependent functions.
  
• Establishes a process to formally and proactively control and manage changes to requirements, consider impacts prior to commitment to change, gain stakeholder buy-in, eliminate ambiguity, ensure traceability to source requirements, and track and settle open actions.
  
• Manages and ensures the technical integrity of the system baseline over time, continually updating it as various changes are imposed on the system during the lifecycle from development through deployment and operations & maintenance.
  
• Supported the planning and test analysis of the DOD Certification/Accreditation Process (as well as other Government Certification and Accreditation (C&A) processes).
  
• Provided technical direction for the development, engineering, interfacing, integration, and testing of specific components of complex hardware/software systems to include requirements elicitation, analysis and functional allocation, conducting systems requirements reviews, developing concepts of operation and interface standards, developing system architectures, and performing technical/non-technical assessment and management as well as end-to-end flow analysis.
  
• Develops scenarios (threads) and an Operational Concept that describes the interactions between the system, the user, and the environment, that satisfies operational, support, maintenance, and disposal needs.
  
• Conducts quantitative analysis in non-functional system performance areas like Reliability, Maintainability, Vulnerability, Survivability, Produce-ability).
  
• Establishes and follows a formal procedure for coordinating system integration activities among multiple teams, ensuring complete coverage of all interfaces.
  
• Develops comprehensive SOA solutions.
  
• Conducts and/or approves end-to end system trade analyses to optimize system operations over its life-cycle through the proper balance of non-functional system performance areas.
  
• Uses validated models, simulations, and prototyping to mitigate risk and reduce costs of system development.
  
• Ensures periodic review and control of the evolving configuration of a system, both hardware and software components and associated documentation, during the life of the system.
  
• Develops system design alternatives that consider life cycle cost, reuse, complexity, risk, system expansion, and growth.
  
• Monitors risks using earned value management (EVM) data.
  
• Maintains knowledge of current and evolving agency, national, and international standards applicable to the system development of interest. Apply and enforce use of suitable standards to ensure consistency and interoperability of developer hardware and software.
  
• As a participant with an Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) effort, recommend a preferred solution based on selection criteria adjusted for reasonableness and validity of assumptions, technology limitations, environmental impact, and life-cycle costs.
  
• Provides technical direction for the development, engineering, interfacing, integration, and testing of all components of complex hardware/software systems to include requirements elicitation, analysis and functional allocation, conducting systems requirements reviews, developing concepts of operation and interface standards, developing system architectures, and performing technical/non-technical assessment and management as well as end-to-end flow analysis.
  
• Improves standard integration strategies based upon rationale for previous decisions that resulted in improved integration performance.
  

Qualifications:

• At least 20 years of experience as a Systems Engineer in programs and contracts of similar scope, type and complexity are required.
  
• Demonstrated experience in planning and leading Systems Engineering efforts is required.
  
• Bachelor's Degree in System Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering Science, Engineering Management, or related discipline from an accredited college or university is required.
  
• At least 25 years of experience working as a Systems Engineer may be substituted for a Bachelor's Degree.
  
• Must have experience using Linux CLI and tools.
  
• Must have experience writing scripts using Bash/Python.
  
• General HPC technical knowledge regarding compute, network, memory and storage components are required.
  
• Must have experience with laC (Infrastructure as Code) concepts, principles and automation such as Ansible, SaltStack, Puppet, Chef, Terraform.
  
• Must have experience with CI/CD principles, methodologies, and tools including GitLab.
  
• Must have experience with DevSecOps best practices.
  
• Must have experience with Git Source Control System.
  
• Must have experience working in an agile development environment.
  
• Must be wiling to learn Ansible.
  
• Desired skills include Atlassian Suite of Tools including Jira and Confluence, build-test-release CI/CD pipelines and processes, container technologies such as Docker and Containerd, container orchestration technologies such as Kubernetes and Rancher Kubernetes Engine 2 (RKE2), Linux system administration and infrastructure network services such as DNS, DHCP, PXE and NTP.
  
• Must have a current Top Secret Clearance with Full Scope Polygraph at time of submission. No exceptions.
  
• Must be able to work 40 hours a week Monday through Friday on site.
  

Benefits include health, dental, life, pet and vision insurance, 401K, training reimbursements, annual and referral bonuses, paid time off, holiday pay and wellness programs.