Senior Systems Engineer

Location: Annapolis Junction, MD
Clearance: TS/SCI with Full Scope Polygraph

Join a well-established, employee-focused government contractor supporting mission-critical national security programs. This organization is known for investing in its employees, fostering a collaborative culture, and providing exceptional benefits—including a 15% employer contribution to your 401(k). You'll have the opportunity to work alongside experienced professionals on complex technical challenges while helping shape next-generation mission capabilities.

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Systems Engineer III to support a mission focused on state management, capturing, tracking, managing, reporting, brokering, and enriching current and historical metadata for mission analytic workflow processes.

In this role, you'll work closely with mission users, stakeholders, and technical teams to gather requirements, define system capabilities, and ensure operational needs are successfully translated into engineering solutions. This position requires a seasoned systems engineer who enjoys collaborating across multidisciplinary teams while driving technical planning and systems engineering efforts from concept through implementation.

Responsibilities

• Gather, analyze, and document user, system, and mission requirements.
• Develop systems engineering artifacts including:
  • Requirements specifications
  • Interface Control Documents (ICDs)
  • Systems Engineering Plans (SEPs)
  • Technical documentation
• Work directly with customers, users, and stakeholders to understand operational workflows and mission objectives.
• Translate complex operational problems into clear technical requirements for engineering teams.
• Support workflow analysis, capability planning, and process improvement initiatives.
• Coordinate across engineering, development, and operational teams to maintain alignment throughout the project lifecycle.
• Develop customer-facing systems engineering documentation and concepts of operation.
• Support requirements management, traceability, interface definition, and lifecycle planning.
• Assist with integrating emerging technologies, including AI capabilities, into development workflows.

Required Qualifications

• Twenty (20) years of Systems Engineering experience supporting programs of similar scope, type, and complexity.
• Demonstrated experience planning and leading Systems Engineering efforts.
• Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering Science, Engineering Management, or a related field.
  • Five (5) additional years of Systems Engineering experience may be substituted for the degree.
• Experience gathering, analyzing, and documenting user and system requirements.
• Experience developing systems engineering documentation and technical artifacts.
• Experience working directly with customers, users, and mission stakeholders.
• Strong technical writing and communication skills.
• Ability to coordinate multiple technical teams and priorities.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Agency dataflow, compliance, policy, and data governance.
• Experience supporting analyst workflows and mission visibility initiatives.
• Experience managing complex, distributed systems involving large datasets.
• Experience with requirements traceability and systems lifecycle management.
• Experience developing Concepts of Operation (CONOPS) and workflow documentation.
• Familiarity with AI technologies and integrating AI into engineering workflows.
• Strong understanding of mission-focused systems engineering processes.

Nice to Have

• Prior Agency Analyst experience
• Experience with Enterprise Data Labels and Data Formats

Compensation

$215,000 – $240,000, based on experience and qualifications.

Benefits

Our client offers a comprehensive, flexible benefits package supporting financial security, health, and work-life balance.

Retirement

• 15% automatic company 401(k) contribution (3% safe harbor + 12% discretionary profit sharing)

• No vesting – 100% immediately vested

• Pre-tax and Roth options; contributions deposited every payroll

Paid Time Off & Flexibility

• PTO accrued at 13% of hours worked ( 6 weeks / 30 days annually for full-time employees)

• Up to 240 hours carryover

• Flexible option to adjust PTO and/or 401(k) contributions in exchange for salary adjustments

Health & Wellness

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance with significant company contribution

• CareFirst medical plans:

  • Platinum POS – $0 deductible

  • High Deductible POS – $1,600 / $3,200 deductible

    • Company contributes 25% of deductible to HSA quarterly

• HSA and FSA options available

Insurance (Company-Paid)

• $50,000 Life Insurance

• $50,000 AD&D

• Short-Term Disability: 60% pay (up to $1,000/week)

• Long-Term Disability: 60% pay (up to $6,000/month)

Flexible Schedule

• Hourly pay with flexible/alternate schedules (customer approval required)

Education & Training

• Up to $5,000 annually for certifications, courses, conferences, books, and related expenses

Additional Perks

• $100 annually toward company-branded apparel