Senior SIGINT Mission Engineering Lead

SAIC; Chantilly (VA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

SAIC is seeking a Senior SIGINT Mission Engineering Lead to support a Prime NRO program in Chantilly, VA. You will provide technical, architectural, and mission engineering expertise across SIGINT ground hosting, mission processing, and enabling capabilities.

As a SETA leader, you will manage a team of engineers, collaborate with Government, FFRDC, and industry partners, drive cloud modernization, and ensure mission alignment through acquisition and integration activities.

Qualifications

• Active Top Secret/SCI with Polygraph.
• Experience with SIGINT ground systems, hosting environments, mission processing, or related intelligence capabilities.
• Knowledge of modern cloud and hybrid-cloud architectures, including cybersecurity, Zero Trust, cloud engineering, DevSecOps, CI/CD, Kubernetes/CNCF technologies, and commercial cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud).
• Experience supporting system integration, cloud migrations, tenant onboarding, capability transitions, and deployment activities.
• Familiarity with Agile development methodologies and Jira/Confluence.
• Knowledge of mission readiness processes, control gates, and associated entry/exit criteria.
• Experience supporting Government acquisition, systems engineering, technical assessments, requirements development, and risk management activities.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and technical communication skills for briefings to senior stakeholders.
• Proven leadership, collaboration, and stakeholder engagement skills in fast-paced environments.
• Familiarity with NRO, DoD, or IC space, intelligence, and national security programs.
• Ability to support CONUS and OCONUS travel (10%-20%).

Responsibilities

• Serve as a trusted technical advisor to Government leadership on SIGINT ground architectures and hosting environments.
• Lead SETA engineering activities supporting command and control, mission management, and ground enterprise modernization.
• Assess architectures, cloud hosting, and integration strategies to support current and future mission needs.
• Evaluate system readiness, risks, dependencies, and provide actionable recommendations to decision-makers.
• Support onboarding, transition, and operational integration of new capabilities across mission environments.
• Analyze contractor solutions, program plans, and architecture approaches for mission alignment.
• Support development and assessment of CONOPS, requirements, test plans, and acquisition documentation.
• Provide leadership and mentorship to a team of SETA engineers.
• Collaborate with Government, contractor, and mission partners to resolve challenges and advance enterprise objectives.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Agile methodologies

Cloud engineering

Kubernetes

DevSecOps

Technical communication

Problem solving

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor’s degree in STEM

Master’s degree

PhD or JD

Tools

Jira

Confluence

AWS

Azure

Google Cloud

Kubernetes

Job description

Description

SAIC is seeking a Senior SIGINT Mission Engineering Lead to support a SAIC Prime NRO program focused on advancing the adoption of next-generation space and intelligence capabilities at the NRO in Chantilly, VA.

Note: The role requires anactive Top Secret/SCI with Polygraph.

In this highly visible SETA leadership role, you will provide technical, architectural, acquisition, and mission engineering expertise across the lifecycle of SIGINT ground hosting, mission processing, and enabling capabilities.

As a trusted advisor to Government leadership, you will help shape the future of SIGINT ground architectures, cloud modernization initiatives, mission integrations, and enterprise technology strategies. You will lead a team of SETA engineers while partnering with Government, FFRDC, and industry stakeholders to deliver innovative, scalable, and mission-focused solutions across the Ground Enterprise.

Key Responsibilities to include:

• Serve as a trusted technical advisor to Government leadership on SIGINT ground architectures, mission integration, and hosting environments.

• Lead SETA engineering activities supporting command and control, mission management, mission processing, and ground enterprise modernization efforts.

• Assess technical architectures, cloud-hosting solutions, integration strategies, and acquisition approaches supporting current and future mission needs.

• Evaluate system readiness, technical risks, dependencies, and integration activities while providing actionable recommendations to Government decision-makers.

• Support onboarding, transition, and operational integration of new capabilities across Government mission environments.

• Analyze contractor technical solutions, program plans, engineering artifacts, and architecture approaches to ensure mission alignment and technical viability.

• Support development and assessment of CONOPS, requirements, test plans, acquisition documentation, engineering plans, and executive briefings.

• Provide leadership, mentorship, and oversight to a team of SETA engineers supporting the acquisition program.

• Collaborate across Government, contractor, and mission partner organizations to resolve technical challenges and advance enterprise objectives.

Qualifications

Required Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) field and fourteen (14) years or more experience; Masters and twelve (12) years or more experience; PhD or JD and nine (9) years or more experience. Relevant experience to be substituted in lieu of degree.

• Active Top Secret/SCI with Polygraph.

• Experience with SIGINT ground systems, hosting environments, mission processing, mission management, or related intelligence capabilities.

• Knowledge of modern cloud and hybrid-cloud architectures, including cybersecurity, Zero Trust, cloud engineering, DevSecOps, CI/CD, Kubernetes/CNCF technologies, and commercial cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud).

• Experience supporting system integration, cloud migrations, tenant onboarding, capability transitions, and deployment activities.

• Familiarity with Agile development methodologies and collaboration tools such as Jira and Confluence.

• Knowledge of mission readiness processes, control gates, and associated entry/exit criteria.

• Experience supporting Government acquisition, systems engineering, technical assessments, requirements development, and risk management activities.

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and technical communication skills, with the ability to brief and influence senior Government and contractor stakeholders.

• Proven leadership, collaboration, and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to operate independently in a fast-paced mission environment.

• Familiarity with NRO, DoD, or IC space, intelligence, and national security acquisition programs.

• Ability to support CONUS and OCONUS travel (10%-20%).

Target salary range: $180,001 - $220,000. The estimate displayed represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience and other factors.

REQNUMBER: 2618023

SAIC is a premier technology integrator, solving our nation's most complex modernization and systems engineering challenges across the defense, space, federal civilian, and intelligence markets. Our robust portfolio of offerings includes high-end solutions in systems engineering and integration; enterprise IT, including cloud services; cyber; software; advanced analytics and simulation; and training. We are a team of 23,000 strong driven by mission, united purpose, and inspired by opportunity. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $6.5 billion. For more information, visit saic.com. For information on the benefits SAIC offers, see Working at SAIC. EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability