Senior Systems Engineer - TS/SCI

VMD Corp; Bethesda (MD); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible schedule

Job summary

Xcelerate Solutions in Bethesda, MD is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer (Hybrid) to lead software design, integration, and deployment on a complex OSINT/D3P project. You will guide an application team, manage backlogs, and ensure high-quality delivery while collaborating with government and contractor stakeholders.

The role emphasizes Agile/Safe practices, continuous improvement, and mentoring engineers, with most work on-site and flexible schedule options.

Qualifications

• BS in Engineering, Computer Science, Systems Engineering or related field; 12–15 years of experience or Masters with 10–13 years.
• Active Top Secret clearance with TS/SCI w/ Polygraph eligibility.
• Software development experience in Java or Python.
• Experience as Systems Engineer or Product Owner in Agile teams.
• Experience with requirements/design docs and system-level analysis.
• Strong Agile knowledge and tooling (GitLab, Jira, Confluence).
• Effective cross-functional collaboration and communication.

Responsibilities

• Lead an application team, directing software development and deployment efforts.
• Plan, design, and oversee software solutions with architecture focus.
• Maintain engineering practices, backlogs, and sprint execution.
• Collaborate with other teams for high-value system integrations.
• Refine backlog items, acceptance criteria, and sprint planning.
• Mentor mid-level and junior engineers and drive process improvements.
• Coordinate SAFe program increment planning and Agile ceremonies.

Skills

Agile methodologies

Backlog management

Leadership

Communication

System architecture

Distributed systems

Risk management

Collaboration

Education

BS in Engineering/Computer Science/Systems Engineering

Masters in related field (optional)

Tools

GitLab

Jira

Confluence

Docker

Kubernetes

PostgreSQL

Elasticsearch

GraphQL

Keycloak

Job description

Senior Systems Engineer (Hybrid) - TS/SCI

Xcelerate Solutions has an exciting opening for you, as our next TS/SCI cleared Senior Systems Engineer, to play a critical role with design, engineering, development and deployment of software supporting the DIA-NMEC (National Media Exploitation Center) DOMEX Technology Platform (DTP). Under this 10-year contract containing multiple Task Orders, we support the DOMEX Data Discovery Platform (D3P) Modernization program as well as DIA-OSIC’s mission to centralize and standardize Tasking, Collection, Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination (TCPED) of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) across the DoD and IC enterprise. This position provides an opportunity to have impact as part of a mission focused, solutions oriented, and adaptive team that values innovation, collaboration, and professional development. The selected individual will work closely with the Lead Systems Engineer, Release Train Engineer, and government leads to decompose high priority requirements from the product roadmap into valuable delivered solutions, executing on requirements analysis, design, system integration, and system testing.

As a Senior Systems Engineer you will lead an application team responsible for maintaining the continuous flow of new software enhancements and deployments, while you manage risks, elevate impediments, and help to drive continuous process improvement. While most work is conducted on-site at our client location in Bethesda, MD, we offer a flexible schedule and, occasionally, some tasks may be performed remotely. Come join our award-winning organization and work with some of the most talented and brightest minds in the GovCon industry.

Location: Bethesda, MD (Hybrid)

Security Clearance: TS/SCI

Responsibilities

• Manage, direct, coordinate, and provide technical direction for all aspects of the team’s development efforts.
• Plan, design, and oversee implementation of software development solutions. Provide technical support, coordination, and execution of systems engineering activities such as feature/requirements analysis, design, implementation planning, integration and test, sustainment, documentation, deployment, and system assessment.
• Ensure sound engineering practices are followed.
• Provide direction for interpretation and application of policies and procedures to the engineering and development activities
• Develop a working knowledge of government business processes and provide recommendations accordingly.
• Collaborate with other development teams to identify and develop high-value integrations with other systems/applications.
• Develop, manage and continually improve the backlog of work items for an Agile scrum team. Update and prioritize stories and epics via feedback from various program stakeholders ensuring the team is always working on the highest-value tasks.
• Support Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) program increment planning and execution through creation of work tickets in GitLab as well as program/system documentation using collaboration software (e.g., GitLab wiki). Lead/participate in all Agile ceremonies to include daily stand up, planning, reviews, and retrospectives.
• Stay informed of increment and sprint progress and work with the team to identify and remove impediments and dependencies.
• Perform backlog refinement on a regular basis. This may include decomposing features into workable stories, prioritizing or reprioritizing items in the backlog for upcoming sprints, refining acceptance criteria and complexity estimates or removing tickets that are no longer relevant.
• Accept or reject completed work based on defined acceptance criteria to ensure delivery of high-quality software.
• Lead the design and architecture of backend systems and services.
• Drive initiatives across the engineering team related to scalability, reliability, and performance.
• Develop requirements and design documents
• Contribute to and review RFCs, and requirements, design, and architecture reviews
• Coordinate with Test Team to develop and monitor automated system integration tests to identify failed modules and components
• Manage individual project priorities, deliverables, and deadlines
• Provides specific input to the software components of system design to include hardware/software trade-offs, software reuse, use of COTS/GOTS in place of new development, and requirements analysis and synthesis from system level to individual software components
• Foster an environment of collaboration with the different team members in the goal of providing quality service and product to our customers
• Act as a mentor to mid-level and junior engineers, offering guidance on best practices and career growth

Minimum Requirement

• BS in Engineering, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, or related field and 12 – 15 years of prior relevant experience or Masters with 10 – 13 years of prior relevant experience. Additional years of experience in lieu of degree are acceptable
• Must have an active Top Secret security clearance with the ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI with Polygraph.
• Software development experience in languages such as Java or Python.
• Experience as a Systems Enginer, Product Owner, or a similar role in an Agile software development team.
• Experience with requirements and design documentation, including process flow diagrams.
• Demonstrated ability to break down complex problems into actionable steps.
• Experience managing and prioritizing product backlogs effectively.
• Strong understanding of Agile methodologies, and experience with tools like Gitlab, Jira, and Confluence.
• Experience with facilitating scrum for the team (Planning, Retrospective, Grooming & Review/Demo).
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) to articulate technical and non-technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Proven ability to work cross-functionally with engineering, design, and project management teams.
• Demonstrated ability to manage expectations and maintain strong relationships with government and contractor stakeholders.

Preferred Qualification

• Experience with Kafka or other message passing systems
• Experience on a production/enterprise system
• Cloud infrastructure experience
• Experience with Appian or other low-code software technologies
• Experience with any of the following technologies:
• PostgreSQL
• Containerization, especially with Docker
• DevOps practices and tools including Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) tools and practices, especially Gitlab or Jenkins
• GraphQL
• Keycloak
• Proactive in identifying tech debt, systemic issues, and areas for team/process improvement
• Expertise building and maintaining microservices in production in Kubernetes
• Understanding of Elasticsearch internals: sharding, performance tuning, analyzers, query DSL
• Elasticsearch certifications or other program stack related certifications
• Strong Kafka experience: event design, stream processing, performance tuning
• Familiarity with schema registries and Kafka streaming patterns
• Familiarity with authentication and authorization products such as Keycloak
• Experience with security best practices for services: authN/Z, secrets management, data protection
• GraphQL familiarity
• Hardware on-prem and cloud-based deployments using Kubernetes
• Proficiency with infrastructure-as-code (ie CloudFormation, Terraform, Pulumi)
• Experience of a production/enterprise systems at scale
• Knowledge of distributed systems concepts (e.g., idempotency, eventual consistency)
• Experience leading technical projects and mentoring engineers
• Strong testing discipline with a focus on automation, coverage, and CI/CD pipelines
• Hands-on development and/or scripting experience, especially Java and Python
• Experience with AWS cloud-based architecture, services, and software development

About Xcelerate Solutions

Founded in 2009 and headquartered in McLean, VA, Xcelerate Solutions (www.xceleratesolutions.com) is one of America's fastest-growing companies. Xcelerate’s culture is defined by our diversified workforce of dynamic and versatile professionals, supported with growth and development opportunities that contribute to individual and company growth. This strong commitment to our employees has been recognized by our inclusion on the Washington Business Journal’s “50 Best Places to Work” list as well as being a “Great Place to Work” certified company with a 4.6 star, and a 99% CEO approval Glassdoor rating. Come find out why Xcelerate Solutions is one of the DC Metro top employers!

Xcelerate Solutions is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, age, equal pay, disability, veteran status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, or expression of another protected characteristic. As part of this commitment to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals, Xcelerate provides reasonable accommodations if needed because of an applicant's or an employee's disability.

Pay Transparency Notice: Xcelerate Solutions will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant.