Lead Systems Engineer

SAIC

Reston, VA

JOB DETAILS
SKILLS
Agile Programming Methodologies, Air Force, Applications Security, Atlassian JIRA, Communication Skills, Computer Science, Control Systems, Cross-Functional, Customer Relations, Decision Support, Design Verification, Document Management, Electrical Engineering, Establish Priorities, Federal Government, Government, ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library), Information Technology & Information Systems, Integration Testing, Internet Security, Leadership, MATLAB, Maintain Compliance, Mentoring, Modeling Languages, Performance Management, Process Development, Program Evaluation, Project Management Professional (PMP), Project/Program Management, Requirements Derivation, Requirements Management, Risk Analysis, Risk Management, Risk Modeling, Security Compliance, Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI), Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), System Architecture, System Integration (SI), System Lifecycle, Systems Administration/Management, Systems Engineering, Systems Scalability, Team Lead/Manager, Technical Delivery, Technical Leadership, Technical Writing, Test Plan/Schedule, Time Management, Top Secret Clearance, Trade Studies, United States Department of Defense (DoD), Validation Testing, Work From Home
LOCATION
Reston, VA
POSTED
Today
Job ID: 2610463

Location: Reston, VA, US

Date Posted: 2026-03-20

Category: Engineering and Sciences

Subcategory: Systems Engineer

Schedule: Full-Time

Shift: Day Job

Travel: Yes - 10% of the time

Minimum Clearance Required: TS.SCI

Clearance Level Must Be Able to Obtain: None

Potential for Remote Work: ORA_ON_SITE

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


SAIC is a premier technology integrator providing full life cycle services and solutions in the technical, engineering, intelligence, and enterprise information technology markets. SAIC is Redefining Ingenuity through its deep customer and domain knowledge to enable the delivery of systems engineering and integration offerings for large, complex projects. SAIC's approximately 15,000 employees are driven by integrity and mission focus to serve customers in the U.S. federal government. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $4.5 billion. For more information, visit saic.com. For information on the benefits SAIC offers, see .

About the Company

S

SAIC

SAIC is a premier Fortune 500® technology integrator driving our nation's digital transformation. Our robust portfolio of offerings across the defense, space, civilian, and intelligence markets includes secure high-end solutions in engineering, IT modernization, and mission solutions. Using our expertise and understanding of existing and emerging technologies, we integrate the best components from our own portfolio and our partner ecosystem to deliver innovative, effective, and efficient solutions that are critical to achieving our customers' missions. We are a team of 26,000 strong driven by mission, united purpose, and inspired by opportunity. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $7.1 billion. For more information, visit saic.com.
COMPANY SIZE
10,000 employees or more
INDUSTRY
Computer/IT Services
FOUNDED
2013
WEBSITE
https://jobs.saic.com/