Principal Systems Engineer

Job ID: 2611229

Location: Reston, VA, US

Date Posted: 2026-04-09

Category: Engineering and Sciences

Subcategory: Systems Engineer

Schedule: Full-Time

Shift: Day Job

Travel: Yes - 10% of the time

Minimum Clearance Required: TS.SCI

Clearance Level Must Be Able to Obtain: None

Potential for Remote Work: ORA_ON_SITE

Description

SAIC is seeking a highly skilled Principal Systems Engineer to take a leadership role in the design, development, and integration of complex software systems. This position requires deep expertise in software architecture, systems engineering, and large-scale software integrations. As a Principal Systems Engineer, you will be responsible for driving the technical direction, leading design efforts, and overseeing the delivery of high-performance, secure, and scalable systems to the Department of the Air Force's (DAF) Integrated Fires Command and Control Command and Control (DIFC2) Program. This position will lead collaboration with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration of software, hardware, and network components. The successful candidate will have excellent communication, organizational and problem-solving skills. They will be expected to continually balance and adjust work priorities to meet short deadlines.
This position is ONSITE in Reston, VA
Key Responsibilities:
System Architecture & Design: Lead the design and development of sophisticated software systems, including distributed architectures, real-time systems, and cloud-based applications. Define and document high-level system architecture, design principles, and technical roadmaps.
Leadership & Mentorship: Act as a technical leader for the Lead System Integrator (LSI) Advance Team, providing guidance, mentoring, and technical direction to engineers. Lead architectural reviews, design discussions, and ensure adherence to best practices across the engineering team.
Software Development & Optimization: Oversee the design and implementation of software solutions, ensuring high-quality, maintainable, and scalable code. Lead efforts in performance tuning, debugging, and optimization for large-scale systems.
Systems Integration & Validation: Oversee end-to-end validation and testing to ensure systems meet performance, reliability, and security requirements.
Kafka Integration: Design and implement systems utilizing Apache Kafka for real-time data streaming, event-driven architectures, and building fault-tolerant, scalable messaging systems. Lead the integration of Kafka into existing systems, ensuring high throughput, low latency, and fault tolerance.
Innovation & Technology Evaluation: Stay current on emerging technologies and industry trends, and lead the adoption of new tools, frameworks, and methodologies that improve the development process and system performance.
Strategic Planning: Contribute to the long-term technical strategy and roadmap for software systems. Ensure that systems are built with future scalability and business needs in mind.
Documentation & Communication: Lead the creation of detailed technical documentation, including system designs, APIs, and architectural diagrams. Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders and executives.

Qualifications

Required Skills/Experience:
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent work experience). Masters degree preferred.
14+ years of experience in software engineering and systems design, with a proven track record in designing and delivering complex software systems at scale.
Active TS/SCI or SCI eligible
5+ years in a leadership or principal engineer role, driving architecture, design, and integration of software systems. Significant experience with distributed systems, cloud technologies (AWS, Azure, etc.), and integrating software with hardware and network components.
Deep knowledge of designing scalable, maintainable, and high-performance software systems.
Expertise in integrating Apache Kafka into large-scale systems, including the configuration of Kafka brokers, producers, consumers, and stream processing.
Extensive experience in cloud-native architectures, microservices, and distributed system design. Familiarity with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).
Experience with DevOps practices, infrastructure as code (e.g., Terraform, Ansible), and CI/CD pipelines.
Familiarity with Agile frameworks (e.g., Scrum, Kanban) and the ability to drive high-quality, iterative development.
Ability to balance technical leadership with project management, ensuring projects are delivered on time and meet business objectives.
Certifications (Preferred):
AWS or Azure Certified Solutions Architect
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
VMware Certified Professional (VCP)

Employers have access to artificial intelligence language tools (“AI”) that help generate and enhance job descriptions and AI may have been used to create this description. The position description has been reviewed for accuracy and Dice believes it to correctly reflect the job opportunity.

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• Dice Id: 10111346
• Position Id: 2611229
• Posted 1 day ago