Chief Engineer - USSF Ground Framework

RKF Engineering Solutions, LLC (DBA Auria); Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) Match

Tuition support

Healthcare

Life Insurance

PTO and holidays

Job summary

Auria is seeking an experienced Chief Engineer to lead architecture, systems engineering, integration, and technical evolution of a large-scale U.S. Space Force ground framework.

The role requires translating mission objectives into durable technical decisions while coordinating with government leadership, software teams, cybersecurity, and industry partners. Contingent position based in Washington, DC / Northern Virginia; remote considered for highly qualified candidates.

Qualifications

• Current U.S. Government Secret clearance and ability to obtain TS/SCI; U.S. Citizenship required.
• 15+ years of relevant technical leadership on complex programs.
• Experience as Chief Engineer or senior technical leader for Government tech programs.

Responsibilities

• Serve as senior technical authority across architecture, engineering, software, cloud, cybersecurity, and operations.
• Lead evolution of system architecture, baselines, interfaces, data flows, and verification strategies.
• Translate mission objectives into technical requirements and actionable roadmaps.
• Drive MOSA/open architecture, modular interfaces, and vendor-agnostic integration.
• Partner with cybersecurity and governance teams to ensure RMF/ATO readiness.

Skills

Chief Engineer

Technical leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or related field

Job description

Auria is seeking an experienced Chief Engineer (CHENG) to provide technical leadership for a complex U.S. Space Force ground architecture framework and integration effort. As Key Personnel, the Chief Engineer will serve as the program's senior technical authority and lead the architecture, systems engineering, integration, verification, and technical evolution of a large-scale enterprise ground environment. The successful candidate must have deep experience with satellite ground systems, cloud-based architectures, systems-of-systems integration, and modern software engineering practices. This individual must understand how ground systems support end-to-end space mission operations and how independently developed Government and commercial systems, applications, infrastructure, networks, and services are integrated into a cohesive and resilient operational enterprise. This role requires more than traditional systems engineering oversight. The Chief Engineer must be capable of establishing a technically sound architecture and engineering baseline while continuously evaluating how that architecture should evolve as mission requirements, technologies, providers, interfaces, security environments, and operational needs change. The Chief Engineer will work in close partnership with the Program Director, Government technical leadership, architects, systems engineers, software and platform teams, cybersecurity personnel, integration/test teams, operators, vendors, and industry partners. The individual must be able to translate mission objectives into technical architecture and engineering decisions, clearly communicate technical tradeoffs and risks, and drive disparate organizations toward integrated mission outcomes. This is a contingent position out of Washington, DC / Northern Virginia; remote considered for highly qualified candidates.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO DO:

Essential Functions / Responsibilities

• Serve as the program's senior technical authority, providing overall technical leadership across architecture, systems engineering, software, cloud/platform infrastructure, cybersecurity, integration, test, deployment, and operational transition.
• Lead development, maintenance, and evolution of the system architecture and technical baseline, ensuring requirements, interfaces, data flows, infrastructure, security, integration, verification, and operational mission threads remain aligned.
• Translate Government mission objectives and operational needs into technical requirements, architecture decisions, integration strategies, engineering priorities, and executable technical roadmaps.
• Lead engineering of a complex system-of-systems environment involving Government and commercial systems and services, satellite ground capabilities, mission applications, cloud infrastructure, networks, cybersecurity components, and independently developed third‑party solutions.
• Apply Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) principles, open standards, well‑defined interfaces/APIs, modularity, and interoperability to enable integration and evolution of capabilities while minimizing unnecessary vendor dependencies.
• Establish and govern technical interfaces and integration boundaries across independently developed systems, ensuring clear ownership, interface control, dependency management, data exchange, version compatibility, and integration readiness.
• Lead development and governance of interface control documents, architecture products, system requirements, data flows, technical standards, engineering plans, and other artifacts necessary to maintain an authoritative technical baseline.
• Ensure the architecture supports efficient onboarding, integration, replacement, and evolution of third‑party systems and services without unnecessary redesign of the broader enterprise.
• Maintain a strong understanding of satellite ground and mission operations, including mission planning, scheduling, command and control, telemetry, communications, network services, ground infrastructure, and spacecraft interfaces, and ensure the technical architecture supports complete end‑to‑end mission threads.
• Provide technical leadership for cloud‑native architecture and deployment, including cloud infrastructure, microservices and containerized applications, APIs, CI/CD and DevSecOps pipelines, data services, identity and access management, observability, resiliency, scalability, and deployment across Government security environments.
• Partner closely with cybersecurity leadership to ensure security and accreditation considerations are incorporated into architecture and engineering decisions from inception, rather than addressed as downstream deployment constraints.
• Lead the program's integration and verification strategy, including incremental integration, system‑level testing, interface verification, performance testing, mission‑thread validation, regression testing, and operational readiness.
• Establish objective technical entrance and exit criteria for integration events, demonstrations, test activities, design reviews, and major technical milestones.
• Identify and manage technical risks, assumptions, dependencies, and opportunities, ensuring issues are surfaced early with clear assessment of mission, architecture, schedule, cost, and integration impacts.
• Conduct and lead technical trade studies and architecture assessments, providing the Government and program leadership with clear alternatives, benefits, limitations, risks, and recommended courses of action.
• Evaluate proposed requirements and technical changes for their impact on architecture, interfaces, cybersecurity, integration, performance, scalability, schedule, and lifecycle sustainment before incorporation into the technical baseline.

WHAT THE TEAM REQUIRES:

• Current U.S. Government Secret clearance and ability to obtain and maintain TS/SCI eligibility; U.S. Citizenship required.
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, computer science, information systems, or a related technical discipline and 15+ years of relevant technical experience, including progressively responsible technical leadership of complex systems; Master's degree and equivalent experience considered.
• Demonstrated experience serving as a Chief Engineer, Lead Systems Engineer, Solution Architect, Technical Director, or equivalent senior technical leader for a complex Government technology program.
• Proven experience architecting, integrating, deploying, or technically leading large‑scale software‑intensive, space ground, C2, cloud, or system‑of‑systems environments.
• Strong understanding of satellite ground systems and mission operations, including the relationships among spacecraft, ground infrastructure, mission applications, communications/network services, mission planning, command and control, and operational users.
• Demonstrated experience integrating independently developed systems, products, or services and managing technical dependencies across multiple organizations or vendors.
• Strong knowledge of systems architecture and systems engineering principles, including requirements development, functional decomposition, interface management, architecture development, verification/validation, configuration management, and technical risk management.
• Demonstrated understanding of MOSA, open architecture, API/interface design, interoperability, data exchange, and modular integration principles.
• Experience designing, integrating, or deploying cloud‑based systems and infrastructure, with an understanding of containerization, microservices, CI/CD, DevSecOps, networking, data services, identity/access management, resiliency, scalability, and observability.
• Experience integrating cybersecurity considerations into system architecture and working within DoD RMF/ATO and secure deployment environments.
• Experience developing and maintaining architecture and engineering artifacts, including system architecture diagrams, requirements specifications, interface definitions, data flows, design documentation, engineering plans, and technical roadmaps.
• Demonstrated ability to perform technical analysis, identify root causes, challenge assumptions, resolve ambiguity, and develop practical solutions to complex engineering and integration problems.
• Ability to operate with limited direction, exercise sound technical judgment, and make or recommend decisions with significant program and mission implications.
• Excellent written, verbal, briefing, and interpersonal skills, including demonstrated ability to communicate technical concepts and recommendations to senior Government officials, executives, operators, engineers, and industry partners.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and mentor multidisciplinary engineering teams and build consensus across organizations with differing technical approaches and priorities.

WHAT THE TEAM PREFERS:

• 10+ years of experience supporting U.S. Space Force, Air Force, SDA, or other DoD space missions, with significant experience in satellite ground systems strongly preferred.
• Experience with large-scale satellite constellations or proliferated space architectures and the ground infrastructure required to support increasing spacecraft, mission, provider, and user scale.
• Experience integrating Government and commercial systems or services within an operational system-of-systems environment.
• Experience with satellite operations, mission management, command and control, ground networks, ground stations/GEPs, spacecraft interfaces, scheduling, or related mission capabilities.
• Experience implementing architectures using MOSA, open standards, reusable interfaces/APIs, and vendor‑agnostic integration patterns.
• Experience with cloud-native DoD environments, software factories, DevSecOps, Kubernetes/container orchestration, CI/CD, Zero Trust, RMF/ATO, and multiple security environments.
• Experience establishing technical onboarding and integration processes for third‑party systems, software, vendors, or service providers.
• Experience with Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and industry‑standard modeling methodologies and tools used to manage complex architectures, interfaces, and requirements.
• Experience developing technical roadmaps and architecture evolution strategies that balance current mission delivery with future scalability, interoperability, technology insertion, and lifecycle considerations.
• Experience leading design reviews, technical interchange meetings, integration readiness reviews, test readiness reviews, and other formal engineering decision forums.
• Experience supporting capture, proposal development, solution architecture, technical estimating/BOEs, technical risk assessment, and transition planning for major DoD pursuits.
• Demonstrated leadership maturity, sound judgment, intellectual curiosity, and the ability to establish credibility and trusted relationships with Government technical leadership, operators, industry partners, and engineering teams.

PAY TRANSPARENCY:

$180,000 - $230,000

APPLICATION DEADLINE:

Oct 24, 2026

THE AURIA TEAM:

Auria is a provider of solutions and software in support of complex Space, National Security, and Cyber missions of federal, international, and commercial customers. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, CO our success is built on the excellence of diverse teams advancing innovative systems and operational software to strengthen our customers' missions. With a distinguished track record and a spirit of relentless pursuit, and R&D, we set the pace for progress and execute every mission with the utmost precision.

Why You'll Love Working at Auria

We believe our team does their best work when they are well-supported, financially secure, and have the freedom to balance life outside of the office.

Time for What Matters

• Generous & Growing PTO: Start with a substantial paid time off package that increases every year you're with us.
• True Flexibility: Contract permitting, use Flex Time to work in a way that fits your life, not just your 8-to-5.
• 11 Paid Days Off: Enjoy 6 fixed company holidays plus 5 Floating Holidays to use whenever you choose.

Invested in Your Future

• 401(k) Match - Yours to Keep Instantly: We match up to 4% of your contributions. Both your contributions and the company match are yours from day one with no vesting wait-period.
• Industry-Leading Education Support: Level up with up to $12,000 annually for tuition and certifications. We don't just hire talent; we grow it.

Health & Peace of Mind

• Premium Healthcare, Lower Costs: High-quality medical plans paired with a Company-Sponsored HSA to help you save for the future.
• Fully Covered Life Insurance: Breathe easy with life insurance up to $50K provided at zero cost to you.
• Holistic Support: Access our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for mental health, financial coaching, and more.

…and that's just the beginning!

Auria is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action-Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class.