Job Description

The Senior Systems Engineer leads the design, integration, and optimization of complex, enterprise‑scale systems in a highly regulated government environment. They serve as a technical authority for translating strategic requirements into robust architectures, overseeing system performance, and guiding junior engineers through best‑practice systems engineering processes. This role emphasizes advanced trade studies, risk management, and end‑to‑end lifecycle oversight, from requirements decomposition through deployment and sustainment.

The Senior Systems Engineer also drives process improvements, mentors cross‑functional teams, and ensures that mission‑critical systems meet stringent security, reliability, and compliance objectives. This hybrid role is based in the DC area within an enterprise or federal IT environment and requires close collaboration with engineering, cybersecurity, operations, and executive stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the architecture and design of complex systems, including definition of subsystem interfaces, integration patterns, and resiliency strategies for enterprise platforms.
• Oversee requirements engineering activities, ensuring clear decomposition, allocation, and traceability from stakeholder needs through implementation, test, and operations.
• Direct advanced trade studies and technical risk assessments, balancing performance, security, interoperability, and lifecycle cost to inform executive and program‑level decisions.
• Design and review verification and validation strategies, including test plans, procedures, and acceptance criteria for large‑scale, mission‑critical solutions.
• Provide technical leadership during system integration, coordinating across hardware, software, and network teams to resolve complex defects and interoperability issues.
• Conduct deep‑dive performance and reliability analyses, leveraging monitoring data and modeling techniques to identify systemic bottlenecks and drive optimization.
• Establish and refine systems engineering standards, templates, and workflows, promoting consistent documentation, configuration management, and governance across projects.
• Mentor journeyman and junior engineers, providing guidance on modeling, requirements management tools, and structured problem‑solving in high‑consequence environments.
• Collaborate with security and compliance stakeholders to ensure architectures, access controls, and data flows align with government policies and high‑assurance requirements.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Typically 8–12 years of progressively responsible systems engineering experience, including leadership of complex, mission‑critical programs.
• Demonstrated experience leading system architecture and design efforts, including subsystem integration, interface definition, and resiliency planning for enterprise platforms.
• Proven track record overseeing requirements engineering, including decomposition, allocation, traceability, and alignment to verification and validation strategies.
• Experience conducting advanced trade studies, risk assessments, and performance analyses to guide executive and program‑level decisions.
• Strong background coordinating system integration across hardware, software, and network teams, resolving complex technical issues in high‑consequence environments.
• Ability to obtain and maintain any required background investigation for work in a U.S.‑only staffing context; U.S. citizenship required.

Preferred Qualifications

• INCOSE CSEP or equivalent senior systems engineering credential.
• Prior experience leading systems engineering on classified or Top Secret programs.
• Demonstrated expertise with enterprise‑scale MBSE, requirements management, and configuration control tools.
• Experience establishing systems engineering standards, templates, and workflows across multi‑project or portfolio environments.

Qualifications

Compensation Ranges

Compensation ranges for ASM Research positions vary depending on multiple factors; including but not limited to, location, skill set, level of education, certifications, client requirements, contract-specific affordability, government clearance and investigation level, and years of experience. The compensation displayed for this role is a general guideline based on these factors and is unique to each role. Monetary compensation is one component of ASM's overall compensation and benefits package for employees.

EEO Requirements

It is the policy of ASM that an individual's race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation or national origin are not and will not be considered in any personnel or management decisions. We affirm our commitment to these fundamental policies.

All recruiting, hiring, training, and promoting for all job classifications is done without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, or age. All decisions on employment are made to abide by the principle of equal employment.

Physical Requirements

The physical requirements described in "Knowledge, Skills and Abilities" above are representative of those which must be met by an employee to successfully perform the primary functions of this job. (For example, "light office duties' or "lifting up to 50 pounds" or "some travel" required.) Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with qualifying disabilities, who are otherwise qualified, to perform the primary functions.

Disclaimer

The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.

Compensation Range

130,000 – 150,000