Ground Systems Engineer & Architect
$195,000–$235,000 year
On-siteReston, Virginia, United States
Job Summary
Define and develop end-to-end architectures for mission-critical ground systems supporting space, ISR, and national security missions. Lead system integration, verification, validation, and operational testing to ensure ground systems meet performance and cybersecurity requirements. Design secure computing environments including COMSEC, RED/BLACK architectures, cross-domain interfaces, and containerized Kubernetes services. Serve as technical authority for design, leading requirements development, interface definition, and customer design reviews throughout the program lifecycle. Collaborate across multidisciplinary engineering teams to deliver mission-ready capabilities using DevSecOps, Infrastructure as Code, and modern software deployment pipelines. Based on-site in Reston, VA.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related technical discipline.
- Active TS/SCI security clearance with the ability to maintain access.
- 8-12+ years of professional experience in systems engineering, software engineering, infrastructure engineering, or ground systems engineering supporting complex government or aerospace programs.
- Experience designing, architecting, integrating, and verifying mission-critical ground systems supporting Intelligence Community (IC), DoD, space, ISR, or other national security programs, including system architecture, interface definition, requirements development, and verification planning.
- Experience developing and implementing Communications Security (COMSEC) plans, key management, and secure communications requirements.
- Strong understanding of RED/BLACK architectures, secure system boundary design, cross-domain considerations, and classified network security principles.
- Experience with IT infrastructure and network integration, including secure networking, virtualization, storage, servers, and enterprise computing environments.
- Experience developing Kubernetes/Docker containerized services.
- Strong systems engineering experience leading system integration, verification, validation, operational testing, and requirements decomposition for complex ground systems.
- U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions requiring an active U.S. Government security clearance or the ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.
Desired Qualifications
- Master's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- 15+ years of professional experience in systems engineering, software engineering, infrastructure engineering, or ground systems engineering supporting complex government or aerospace programs.
- Experience supporting ISR, SAR, or other space-based intelligence collection missions.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with experience collaborating across multidisciplinary engineering teams and government stakeholders.
- Proficiency in one or more programming languages such as Python, C/C++
- Hands-on experience with enterprise IT hardware, including servers, networking equipment, storage appliances, and virtualization platforms.
- Experience with automated integration and test frameworks, scripting, and laboratory development.
- Familiarity with DevSecOps practices, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), and modern software deployment pipelines.
- Knowledge of satellite mission operations, TT&C systems, mission planning, or ground data processing architectures.
- Experience supporting U.S. Government, DoD, Intelligence Community, or NRO space programs.
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