Systems Engineer with Security Clearance

Zeta Associates; Fairfax (VA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Zeta Associates, Inc. seeks a systems engineer to work with ground processing system developers, modernize legacy applications, and transition to the SIGINT Mission Framework.

You will develop prototypes, document roadmaps, and support post-migration operations across multiple government sites using Confluence and Jira. The role emphasizes agile planning, collaboration with distributed teams, and hands-on experience with container orchestration, Kubernetes, and CI/CD practices in secure

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Computer Science.
• 3+ years performing technical system engineering tasks, software, hardware, or firmware development, testing or systems integration.
• Active TS/SCI clearance.
• Ability and desire to work independently and adapt to evolving needs.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate small technical teams and monitor progress.
• Communicate progress to distributed teams.
• Document system architectures, interfaces, and CONOPs.
• Plan and execute agile processes with Jira epics and stories.
• Containerize components and use Kubernetes orchestration.
• Develop prototype tools and documentation.

Skills

Team coordination

Communication

Adaptability

Self-starter

Problem solving

Documentation

Public speaking

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Computer Science

Tools

Kubernetes

Docker

Helm

GitLab

Jira

Confluence

OpenSearch

Prometheus

Grafana

Job description

Position Description

Work with ground processing system developers to satisfy evolving mission requirements (e.g. modern communications signals) and ground architecture requirements (e.g. resiliency) working to transition legacy applications from their current hosting infrastructure to the SIGINT Mission Framework (SMF), and provide continuing post-migration support. SMF provides an operationally supported container orchestration environment and processing capability at several government sites. SMF enables DevSecOps pipelines for Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery/Deployment and Continuous Operations, driving toward rapid software/hardware updates with reduced transition timelines and cost. Interact with developers, teammates, and customer within a weekly/monthly/quarterly rhythm to plan and execute agile processes; e.g. facilitate creation of Jira epics and stories, assignment of story points, and assessment of progress toward objectives Investigate and implement agile software development and deployment techniques to modernize current systems; e.g. containerize components, Kubernetes orchestration Develop prototype tools, documentation, and common implementation pattern examples Document system architecture, interfaces, CONOPs, trade study plans and results Create documentation of roadmaps, key technical capabilities, and detailed plans utilizing tools such as Confluence and Jira

Required Skills and Experience

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Computer Science At least 3 years performing technical system engineering tasks, software, hardware, or firmware development, testing or systems integration Active TS/SCI clearance Ability and desire to work independently; i.e. adapt tasking to fulfill needs as they evolve, self- starter, work to high level objectives and intent rather than formal requirements

• Proven skills facilitating small technical team coordination and productivity Responsible for team progress/reporting/monitoring Responsible for collaborating across organization to remove roadblocks
• Effectively communicate in-progress efforts with distributed remote team Proven capability to learn complex topics and perform engineering tasks in an uncertain problem space
• Comfortable adapting to evolving constraints, processes and tools
• Willingness to independently research and document existing systems as well as explore potential solutions to improve them
• Capable of taking measured risks and learning from failure, must be able to give and receive constructive criticism
• Aptitude for system analysis utilizing both top down and bottom up approaches
• Organized and detail oriented, but comfortable with high level solution oriented thinking
• Able to apply high level systems engineering concepts such as ROI, technical debt, scope creep when evaluating potential solutions ,
• Driven to pursue improvement but disciplined enough to accept the good over the perfect solution
• Strong communication skills; facilitate technical and programmatic information sharing across systems team, developers, and with customer

Desired Skills and Experience

Master’s degree in Engineering or Computer Science Experience with Kubernetes and related containerization technologies (Docker, Helm, k9s) Experience and familiarity with DevSecOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and automated testing Proficiency or experience with at least one scripting/programming language such as Python, Bash, VBA, or Go Familiarity with cybersecurity best practices for cloud-native and on-premises deployments, PKI, container security scanning, and zero-trust principles Experience with configuring and monitoring a suite of logging tools (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack, OpenSearch) Basic understanding of networking fundamentals (routing, switching, firewalls, VPNs) and secure communications in distributed computing systems Experience working with Jira, Confluence, and GitLab Proven leadership skills and the ability to nurture productive relationships with customers Knowledge and experience in the IC and/or NRO Expertise in SIGINT tasking, collection, processing, exploitation, and/or dissemination Familiar with Cloud Native Compute Foundation (CNCF) offerings and how they can be used to facilitate application deployment in on-premises or cloud environments Familiarity with ground processing systems Experience as an IPT lead or other small team technical leadership Experience in modernizing non-cloud native legacy systems to function in cloud environments