Description & Requirements
Chief Engineer is responsible for the end-to-end technical integrity of the system delivered under a program/project. This role ensures that all system elements-software, infrastructure, networks, data, security, and operations-work together as a cohesive, verifiable, and mission ready whole while also meeting program requirements and contractual obligations, as managed by the Chief Engineer.
While embedded in the program, the Chief Systems Engineer operates with enterprise authority, enforcing systems engineering rigor, standards, and lifecycle discipline consistent with organizational best practices.
This position is Hybrid with an expectation to be on-site in McLean, VA as needed for Program Travel
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Serve as the overall technical authority for the contract or program, responsible for the integrity, feasibility, and quality of all engineering solutions.
- Ensure all technical deliverables meet contractual requirements, service level agreements (SLAs), performance objectives, and applicable compliance standards.
- Lead technical decision-making for scope changes, tradeoffs, risk mitigation, and issue resolution throughout the program lifecycle.
- Ensure tracking and transparency of technical work, schedules, reviews, and meetings.
- Identify opportunities for cross-program reuse and standardization, and feed lessons learned back into enterprise engineering practices.
- Partner with enterprise engineering, security, DevOps, and architecture teams to ensure program solutions scale beyond a single contract.
- Own technical risk management for the program, including architectural, security, performance, and integration risks.
- Ensure engineering processes support high reliability, security, scalability, and maintainability.
- Provide escalation and resolution for complex technical issues impacting cost, schedule, or mission success.
- Typically manage a department or small sub-function for the organization or a job function for a small to mid-sized business, which includes multiple teams led by managers and/or supervisors. May also lead through influence of other teams/departments.
Job-Specific Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
Technical Leadership:
- Serve as the overall technical authority for the contract or program, responsible for the integrity, feasibility, and quality of all engineering solutions.
- Ensure all technical deliverables meet contractual requirements, SLAs, performance objectives, and compliance standards.
- Lead technical decision making for scope changes, tradeoffs, risk mitigation, and issue resolution throughout the program lifecycle.
- Work directly with the Program Manager to document how scope changes impact contractual delivery; ensure clear and concise communications between all impacted stakeholders.
- Act as the senior technical interface with Program customers, supporting design reviews, technical interchange meetings, and executive briefings.
- Ensure tracking and transparency of technical work, schedule, reviews, and meetings.
- Set expectations for technical rigor, documentation quality, and engineering discipline across the program team.
- Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Architecture & Engineering Direction:
- Define and own the Program engineering vision and architecture, ensuring consistency across systems, platforms, and solution components.
- Ensure solutions align with enterprise reference architectures, security frameworks, cloud/DevOps standards, and reuse strategies.
- Chair or participate in architecture and technical review boards related to the Program and relevant corporate strategies.
- Drive alignment between solution, systems, and platform engineering teams.
- Ensure dependencies on third party providers and complementary solutions or components are understood, documented, and maintained.
Enterprise Alignment & Reuse:
- Leverage and enforce enterprise standards, accelerators, and reusable components to reduce cost, schedule risk, and technical debt.
- Identify opportunities for cross program reuse and standardization, feeding lessons learned back into enterprise engineering practices.
- Partner with enterprise engineering, security, DevOps, and architecture teams to ensure program solutions scale beyond a single contract.
Risk, Quality & Delivery Assurance:
- Own technical risk management for the program, including architectural, security, performance, and integration risks.
- Ensure engineering processes support high reliability, security, scalability, and maintainability.
- Provide escalation and resolution for complex technical issues impacting cost, schedule, or mission success.
Minimum Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in relevant field of study.
-10+ years of relevant professional experience required.
Job-Specific Minimum Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
- 10+ years of progressive engineering experience, including senior technical leadership on large, complex programs.
- Proven experience leading architecture development and maintenance across software, cloud, infrastructure, data, and security domains.
- Strong background in government or regulated environment programs, including compliance and contract execution.
- Experience interfacing with both customer and contractor teams to manage deliverables and ensure alignment with both strategic roadmaps and dynamic program needs.
- Proven ability to manage competing priorities and collaborate across teams to drive outcomes.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to brief senior/executive stakeholders.
- Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with strong attention to detail.
- Ability to obtain and maintain required security clearance, if applicable.
Minimum Salary
$
188,000.00
Maximum Salary
$
282,000.00
