Chief Digital Systems Engineer
On-siteSydney, New South Wales, Australia
Job Summary
Architect and own the MDI technical architecture end-to-end, covering sovereign cloud, classified bilateral networks, maritime C2 patterns, and coalition interoperability. Make hard architectural calls on technology selection, accreditation-driven design constraints, and build-vs-buy decisions while holding the full picture across 8+ concurrent milestones. Define and enforce engineering standards including IaC practices, security baselines, and RFC-governed decision processes to drive measurable reliability and quality improvements. Build reusable infrastructure patterns and module libraries that enable "build once, deploy per nation" scaling, ensuring each subsequent national deployment is faster than the last. Lead the distributed engineering team across US, UK, and AUS, setting the technical hiring bar and establishing cross-timezone collaboration patterns without becoming a bottleneck.
Required Qualifications
- Deep experience designing and building classified network infrastructure across multiple nations or accreditation frameworks
- Hands-on with sovereign cloud architecture -- not just design, but implementation (IaC, module development, deployment automation)
- Experience with COMSEC integration, HAIPE/KG-175X, and the intersection of network sovereignty and cryptographic key management
- Demonstrated ability to set engineering standards for a distributed team and drive adoption without micromanagement
- Track record of building reusable infrastructure patterns that scale -- not one-off builds that require re-engineering for each deployment
- Understanding of multinational compliance and accreditation (at least 2 of: DCSA/NIST 800-53, IRAP/ISM, NCSC Cyber Essentials+/OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE)
- Experience operating as the architectural decision-maker -- not waiting for direction, but setting it
- Ability to hold both tactical delivery and strategic architecture simultaneously without sacrificing either
Desired Qualifications
- Experience in the AUKUS or Five Eyes defense industrial context
- Familiarity with bilateral/multilateral classified data sharing mechanisms (CDS, policy-controlled release)
- Background in both network engineering and cloud infrastructure (not just one)
- Experience with defense accreditation processes from the engineering side -- building systems that pass, not just documenting compliance
- Prior experience working with or within allied Defence organizations (US DoD, Australian Defence, UK MOD)
Hiring someone like this?
Get your role in front of qualified candidates on Sorce.