This Senior Systems Engineer role sits at the center of a federal civilian agency's effort to design, secure, and sustain complex enterprise systems that government operations depend on daily. Day to day, you will lead end-to-end systems engineering activities — translating mission requirements into technical architectures, evaluating system performance, and ensuring that security is built in from the ground up rather than bolted on afterward. You will apply NIST 800-53 controls and navigate the Risk Management Framework to shepherd systems through authorization, working closely with security teams, program managers, and government stakeholders to resolve findings and maintain an Authority to Operate. Your work will also involve architecting and assessing network security solutions, identifying vulnerabilities across system boundaries, and recommending mitigations that hold up under scrutiny. This is a fully onsite position in Washington, DC, requiring eight or more years of hands-on systems engineering experience and an active Top Secret clearance. Candidates who thrive here combine deep technical judgment with the ability to communicate risk and design decisions clearly to both technical peers and senior federal leadership.
What you'll do
- Design and document end-to-end system architectures that meet federal civilian agency mission requirements and security standards
- Apply NIST 800-53 security controls and guide systems through all phases of the Risk Management Framework, including assessment and authorization
- Develop and maintain security architecture artifacts including system security plans, network diagrams, and control implementation statements
- Analyze network security posture, identify vulnerabilities, and engineer hardened infrastructure solutions across classified and unclassified environments
- Coordinate with ISSOs, program managers, and agency stakeholders to resolve technical and compliance gaps during system development and sustainment
- Lead technical reviews, design walkthroughs, and engineering working groups to align cross-functional teams on architecture decisions
- Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend integration strategies that improve system resilience while maintaining compliance with federal security policy
Required skills
- systems engineering
- security architecture
- NIST 800-53
- RMF
- network security