Systems Engineer – Standards / Technical Specifications

Vtgdefense; Bethesda (MD); On-site; USD 190,000 - 215,000; Full time

Job summary

VTG is seeking an experienced Systems Engineer to manage technical specifications and design machine-readable schemas. The role focuses on ontology, schema design, and collaboration across stakeholders in a security-cleared environment.

Candidates should have a BS/MS/PhD with extensive experience (12–15 years for BS, 10–13 for MS; Doctorate possible), exposure to DevOps and modeling, and strong communication skills. On-site in Bethesda, MD, US.

Qualifications

• Active TS/SCI clearance with polygraph.
• BS degree with 12–15 years experience or a Master’s with 10–13 years (Doctorate possible).
• Strong knowledge of DevOps, requirements engineering, coding, documentation, configuration management, QA, integration and testing.
• Experience with Protégé and OWL.
• Ability to build code collaboratively in a team.
• Excellent written and oral communication.

Responsibilities

• Technical Specification Management: maintain and update technical specifications with formal update packages.
• Ontology and Schema Design: capture logic as information models and define properties, relationships, taxonomies; formalize in machine-readable schema.

Skills

TS/SCI clearance with polygraph

DevOps

Requirements engineering

Coding

Documentation

Configuration management

Quality assurance

Integration

Testing

Team collaboration

Communication

Automation pipelines

UML & system modeling

Protégé

OWL

Education

Bachelor's degree with 12–15 years experience OR Master’s with 10–13 years OR Doctorate

Tools

Protégé

OWL

Python

Java

Job description

Overview

VTG is is seeking an experienced, results-oriented Systems Engineer with experience in Standards or Technical Specifications to join our team in the Bethesda, Maryland area. You will play a critical role in improving and maintaining our client's technical specification repository by applying structured systems engineering approaches.

What will you do?

Primary Responsibilities:

• Technical Specification Management: Engage with stakeholders to help manage the process of maintaining and updating technical specifications that are used by many different organizations. This includes issuing formal update packages according to a set schedule. Perform this work using system engineering best practices.
• Ontology and Schema Design and Implementation: Evaluate sets of technical specifications in light of user needs and written policy. Work with stakeholders to capture the logic of the technical specification as information models and define the relevant properties, relationships, and taxonomies. Formalize this in machine-readable schema.

Do you have what it takes?

Basic Qualifications:

• Active TS/SCI security clearance with polygraph.
• Ability to work on-site full-time in the Bethesda, Maryland area.
• Typically requires BS degree and 12-15 years of prior relevant experience or master's degree with 10-13 years of prior relevant experience. May possess a Doctorate in a technical domain. Experience may be exchanged for degree requirements.
• Strong knowledge of standard software development processes, such as DevOps, requirements engineering, coding, documentation, configuration management, quality assurance, integration, and testing.
• Experience with relevant tools and languages, such as Protégé and OWL.
• Demonstrated ability to build code collaboratively in team environments.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate technical insights into actionable recommendations and present them orally or in writing.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience with automation pipelines.
• Basic coding skills in Python or Java.
• Master's degree in a relevant field.
• Five or more years of experience working with or in the Intelligence Community (IC).
• Familiarity with U.S. Government information sharing frameworks, policies, and interoperability requirements.
• Familiarity with system modeling and Unified Modeling Language (UML).

• Pay Range: VTG's estimated starting pay range is $190,000-$215,000 annually, which is a general guideline for the geographic location. When extending an offer, VTG also considers work experience, education, skill level, market considerations and may possibly include contractual requirements which may cause an offer to fall outside of this range.