Chief Systems Architect
$160,000–$240,000 year
On-siteArlington, Virginia, United States
Job Summary
Design and execute macro-level enterprise architecture strategy for a high-visibility government program, defining integration fabrics, APIs, and data standards to unify disparate vendor solutions and legacy applications into a cohesive, cloud-native ecosystem. Serve as the primary technical arbiter across cloud, data engineering, and distributed microservices while establishing composable frameworks that enforce strict DevSecOps pipelines and Zero-Trust Network Access principles. Translate vague operational requirements into rigorous technical specifications and deliver strategic briefings to senior corporate and government mission leaders regarding technology trade-offs and innovation vectors. Provide technical mentorship and alignment across multiple high-performing engineering cohorts to ensure decentralized execution matches centralized architectural vision. This role requires 15+ years of progressive IT experience, including 5+ years as a Chief or Principal Architect, with a DoD clearance and onsite presence in Arlington, Virginia.
Required Qualifications
- 15+ years of progressive IT and engineering experience
- 5+ years as a Chief or Principal Architect leading large-scale, multi-vendor modernization and systems integration efforts
- Proven track record of successfully integrating disparate architectures, heterogeneous data streams, and siloed software solutions into a singular enterprise platform for the DoD or IC
- Deep architecture experience with AWS GovCloud/Azure Government
- Experience with Kubernetes
- Experience with container orchestration
- Experience with mesh networks
- Strong background engineering modern data platforms, distributed data systems, and real-time analytics pipelines
- Demonstrated proficiency guiding large-scale architectures within Agile frameworks (e.g., SAFe, Scrum@Scale)
- Experience with automated CI/CD delivery pipelines
- Exceptional ability to distill highly complex, multi-layered technical strategies into clear, value-driven roadmaps for non-technical and senior military/civilian leaders
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field
- Equivalent experience/certifications (to Bachelor's degree)
- Willingness to travel as required by the position
- Eligibility to obtain and maintain a DoD clearance
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