GovCIO is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to support a critical government computer system for the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Software Yard – Capability Development Branch. This role is primarily responsible for providing engineering leadership, establishing consistent technical approaches, and driving application modernization and technical debt reduction strategies across assigned technology platforms. This position will be located in Kearneysville, WV, and will be a hybrid position.

As a Senior Systems Engineer, you will serve as a primary technical leader for enforcing architectural coherence, enterprise standards, and long-term sustainability across platform-aligned Product Teams. Working within a vendor-heavy environment, you will translate complex mission needs into scalable, secure, and continuously delivered capabilities. Key responsibilities include:

• Lead and enforce consistent engineering approaches and technical standards across multiple Product Teams developing applications on assigned platforms.
• Drive technical modernization initiatives, including application refactoring, code modernization, and comprehensive technical debt reduction.
• Oversee continuous software delivery pipelines and lead disciplined release train management activities aligned with enterprise requirements.
• Architect and execute complex performance tuning, scalability enhancements, and deep root-cause analysis for system and software failures.
• Ensure all engineered capabilities and automated deployment frameworks strictly comply with federal security standards, government baselines, and DISA STIGs.
• Embed technical continuity within the Capability Development branch, preventing the accumulation of brittle, siloed systems that increase cybersecurity risk.
• Collaborate closely with government leadership, Product Owners, and external vendors to shape and prioritize product backlogs based on technical and mission demands.
• Create, review, and maintain comprehensive engineering documentation, reference architectures, configuration baselines, and standard operating procedures.

High School with 9+ years (or commensurate experience)

Required Skills & Experience 

• DoD 8570 IAT Level II certification (Security+ CE, CySA+, CCNA Security).
• Senior-level systems engineering experience leading software system modernization, infrastructure engineering, or enterprise platform management.
• Proven experience design-leading application refactoring, systemic bug mitigation, and technical debt extraction within complex environments.
• Comprehensive operational understanding of modern software delivery architectures, automated CI/CD pipelines, and disciplined release train management.
• Strong experience engineering solutions that mitigate cybersecurity risks and enforce architectural coherence across multiple technology domains.
• Proficiency steering engineering tasks and managing technical baselines within enterprise tools (such as Jira, Azure DevOps, or ServiceNow).
• Strong foundational understanding of diverse IT domains including enterprise virtualization, software-defined infrastructure, network boundaries, and enterprise storage.

Clearance Required: Active Secret Clearance 

Preferred Skills & Experience 

• Experience supporting U.S. Coast Guard, Software Yard, or Department of Homeland Security (DHS) programs.
• Deep familiarity with PEO C5I enterprise strategies, configuration management controls, and continuous software authorization boundaries.
• Relevant enterprise-level certifications highly preferred (e.g., AWS/Azure Certified Solutions Architect, VMware VCP/VVC, or Red Hat Certified Engineer).
• Advanced understanding of container orchestration platforms (Kubernetes, Tanzu, OpenShift) and automating containerized software workloads.
• Experience leading engineering teams or serving as a primary technical liaison in a high-density, multi-vendor environment.