Watch Operator – Junior

KBR Careers; Chantilly (VA); On-site; USD 102,000 - 124,000; Full time

Job summary

KBR is seeking a Watch Operator – Junior to provide real-time monitoring and operational support for mission-critical systems in a 24/7 environment at a government facility in Virginia. The role emphasizes continuous situational awareness, incident escalation, and thorough event logging.

Qualified candidates will have advanced education or equivalent experience, familiarity with incident response, and the ability to work rotating shifts.

Responsibilities

• Monitor operational systems, dashboards, and alerts to ensure continuous availability and performance.
• Detect and elevate anomalies, outages, or security incidents in accordance with standard operating procedures.
• Maintain accurate documentation of events, actions taken, and system status updates.
• Support incident triage and coordinate with technical teams for timely resolution.
• Provide situational awareness updates and briefings to leadership during operational events.
• Participate in shift handovers to ensure continuity of operations across watch teams.
• Assist in refining operational procedures and contributing to process improvements.
• Operate within a 24/7 shift schedule, including nights, weekends, and holidays.

Job description

Title: Watch Operator – Junior Belong. Connect. Grow. with KBR!

KBR’s National Security Solutions team provides high-end engineering and advanced technology solutions to our customers in the intelligence and national security communities. In this position, your work will have a profound impact on the country’s most critical role – protecting our national security.

Why Join Us?

Innovative Projects: KBR’s work is at the forefront of engineering, logistics, operations, science, program management, mission IT and cybersecurity solutions.

Collaborative Environment: Be part of a dynamic team that thrives on collaboration and innovation, fostering a supportive and intellectually stimulating workplace.

Impactful Work: Your contributions will be pivotal in designing and optimizing defense systems that ensure national security and shape the future of space defense.

This is a contingent position based upon contract award KBR is seeking a Jr. Watch Operator to provide real‑time monitoring and operational support for mission‑critical systems in a 24/7 environment. This role ensures continuous situational awareness, identifies anomalies, and escalates incidents according to established protocols. The specialist will maintain accurate event logs, assist in incident response, and coordinate with internal teams to resolve operational issues. Strong attention to detail and the ability to work effectively under pressure are essential for success. This position offers an opportunity to gain hands‑on experience in watch operations and contribute to the reliability and security of enterprise systems. This role is performed full‑time on site at a government facility and is contingent upon contract award.

Primary Responsibilities

• Monitor operational systems, dashboards, and alerts to ensure continuous availability and performance.
• Detect and elevate anomalies, outages, or security incidents in accordance with standard operating procedures.
• Maintain accurate documentation of events, actions taken, and system status updates.
• Support incident triage and coordinate with technical teams for timely resolution.
• Provide situational awareness updates and briefings to leadership during operational events.
• Participate in shift handovers to ensure continuity of operations across watch teams.
• Assist in refining operational procedures and contributing to process improvements.
• Operate within a 24/7 shift schedule, including nights, weekends, and holidays.

Required Qualifications

• Education & Experience: Master’s degree and 1 year of relevant experience with demonstrated expertise; OR Bachelor’s degree and 2 years of relevant experience with demonstrated expertise; OR No degree and 4 years of relevant experience with demonstrated expertise.
• Experience with operational monitoring tools, dashboards, or incident management systems.
• Ability to work rotating shifts in a 24/7 operational environment.
• Familiarity with standard incident response and escalation procedures.
• Active Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) clearance with adjudicated polygraph.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a Network Operations Center (NOC), Security Operations Center (SOC), or similar watch‑floor environment.
• Knowledge of IT infrastructure components (servers, networks, cloud services) and their operational dependencies.
• Exposure to cybersecurity principles and practices in an operational setting.

Basic Compensation

$101,700 - $124,300 This range is for the Virginia area only The offered rate will be based on the selected candidate’s knowledge, skills, abilities and/or experience and in consideration of internal parity.

Additional Compensation

KBR may offer bonuses, commissions, or other forms of compensation to certain job titles or levels, per internal policy or contractual designation. Additional compensation may be in the form of sign on bonus, relocation benefits, short‑term incentives, long‑term incentives, or discretionary payments for exceptional performance.

Belong, Connect and Grow at KBR

At KBR, we are passionate about our people and our Zero Harm culture. These inform all that we do and are at the heart of our commitment to, and ongoing journey toward being a People First company. That commitment is central to our team of team’s philosophy and fosters an environment where everyone can Belong, Connect and Grow. We Deliver – Together. KBR is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

KBR — Delivering Solutions, Changing the World. KBR brings together the best and brightest to deliver science, technology and engineering solutions that help governments and companies around the world accomplish their most critical missions and objectives. In everything we do, we are guided by our ONE KBR Values: We Value Our People – We create diverse, inclusive environments in which each person can feel safe, respected and valued, and where everyone has opportunities to grow and reach their full potential. We Deliver – We are uncompromising in our commitment to deliver innovative, high‑quality, technology‑led solutions for our customers and exceptional, sustainable value for all our stakeholders. We Are People of Integrity – We value honesty, trust, courage, fairness, prudence and tenacity. We believe doing what’s right for the planet, the communities where we work, and our people is good for business. We Empower – We empower our people with a shared purpose, the right tools and the supportive culture they need to be proactive decision‑makers, to be adaptive to change, and to succeed. We Are a Team of Teams – We have a will to succeed, but we value the achievements of our team of teams over individual accomplishments. Our collective focus makes us a better, stronger, more effective company. We have also embedded environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles in every business operation and corporate function. Not only are we committed to operating safely, sustainably and equitably, but we are also committed to using our capabilities and expertise to help our customers accomplish their sustainability goals. Worldwide, KBR employs a diverse workforce approximately 29,000 people strong, with customers in more than 80 countries and operations in 40 countries. At KBR, We Deliver.