Lead Systems Engineer

Description

SAIC is seeking Lead Systems Engineer for a Lead Systems Integrator (LSI) Team supporting the Department of the Air Force Integrated Fires Command and Control (DIFC2) program of record. As the Lead Systems Engineer, you will provide oversight and expertise in the design, development, and integration of sophisticated systems to meet the requirements of a critical system of systems. This position will lead cross-functional engineering teams, partner with stakeholders, and ensure compliance with program goals and objectives. The ideal candidate will bring technical depth, leadership skills, and a track record of developing solutions in classified systems and environments. The position requires an individual with strong technical project management skills. The successful candidate will have excellent communication, team leadership skills and DoD technical project management experience. They will be expected to continually balance and adjust work priorities to meet short deadlines. Position will be onsite in the Chantilly/Reston, VA area.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as the LSI technical lead for system design, integration, and testing efforts, ensuring alignment with operational and mission requirements.
• Lead and mentor multi-disciplinary engineering teams to deliver high-quality, scalable systems solutions.
• Oversee the entire systems engineering lifecycle, including requirements analysis, system design, development, testing, deployment, and sustainment.
• Perform trade studies, risk assessments, and modeling to support decision-making and identify optimal engineering approaches.
• Collaborate with the customer’s Chief Engineer and Program Manager, stakeholders, and government customers to define project objectives and ensure alignment with mission goals.
• Ensure compliance with established engineering processes, technical standards, and security requirements.
• Generate and deliver technical documentation, including design artifacts, interface control documents, and test plans.
• Act as the primary technical point of contact for government customers, vendors, and internal teams.
• Manage system performance requirements and ensure that all delivered solutions meet or exceed operational needs.
• Assess and mitigate program risks while developing innovative solutions to solve engineering challenges.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Active TS/SCI clearance or TS/SCI eligible.
• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Systems Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical discipline. Fourteen (14) years or more experience; Masters and twelve (12) years or more experience; PhD or JD and nine (9) years or more experience
• Minimum of 10 years of hands-on systems engineering experience, with at least 5 years in a leadership role.
• Proven capability in designing, integrating, and delivering complex systems for classified/national security applications.
• Experience with the full systems development lifecycle, including requirements derivation, system design, and verification/validation testing.
• Expertise in system architectures, modeling techniques, and system-of-systems integration.
• Demonstrated ability to work with senior leadership and government stakeholders in classified environments.
• Proficiency in engineering tools, frameworks, and modeling languages (e.g., DOORS, Cameo, MATLAB, SysML).
• In-depth understanding of cybersecurity principles and compliance with security accreditation processes (e.g., RMF).
• Experience with Agile development methodologies and tools such as JIRA

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Systems Engineering or a related field.
• Knowledge of cloud computing, CI/CD pipelines, and microservices architectures.
• Certifications such as INCOSE CSEP, PMP, DAWIA Systems Engineering Level III, or ITIL v4.
• Familiarity with defense command and control systems