Hybrid Senior Systems Architect

at ValidaTek, Inc.

• Job title: Senior Systems Architect
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Senior
• Salary: Not specified
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Tech skills: Ansible, AWS, Azure, Cloud, Cyber Security, DNS, Grafana, Jenkins, Kubernetes, OpenShift, Prometheus, Splunk, Terraform, VMware
• Location requirements: Hybrid, United States

About the role

• Senior Systems Architect providing technical leadership in cybersecurity sensing solutions for DoD programs. Collaborating with teams to create and maintain system designs in compliance with DoD standards.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain system architectures that ensure conformance to standards, requirements, and associated systems, utilizing DoDAF and other frameworks as specified by the Government.
• Provide preliminary and final designs, including system diagrams, design descriptions, and interface control documents, in support of project and customer requirements.
• Lead the integration of sensing software/hardware solutions with associated networks, validating software packages and devices.
• Design and test capabilities to address operational issues or shortfalls, ensuring seamless integration with existing systems.
• Develop and maintain the program’s Systems Engineering Plan (SEP) that aligns with program plans.
• Architect and develop Cyber Sensing Solutions designed to monitor the DoD telecommunications infrastructure, encompassing requirement analysis, design, and implementation at customer sites.
• Lead end-to-end architecture for mission systems across storage, network, security, data, and identity domains.
• Produce and maintain DoDAF views (OV, SV, CV, DIV) and system/solution architecture artifacts (logical/physical diagrams, interface control documents, data flow diagrams, sequence diagrams).
• Define capability roadmaps, technology standards, and reference architectures aligned to DISA/DoD policy, Cloud SRG IL2–IL6, and mission needs.
• Engineer for HA/DR/COOP, performance, scalability, and cost optimization; establish capacity models and SLOs/SLIs.
• Lead the design and integration of Windows/RHEL, virtualization (VMware/Nutanix), containers/Kubernetes/OpenShift, and GovCloud (AWS/Azure) services.
• Architect and implement ICAM/PKI/CAC, network services (DNS/DHCP/IPAM), load balancing, and edge/security services (SWG, WAF, proxies).
• Build Infrastructure-as-Code and Configuration-as-Code pipelines (Terraform, Ansible, PowerShell/Bash, GitLab/Jenkins/Azure DevOps) for secure, repeatable deployments.
• Integrate observability (SolarWinds, Prometheus/Grafana, Splunk/ELK) and design telemetry for proactive operations.
• Lead the RMF lifecycle from categorization to ATO/cATO, creating and maintaining SSP, SCTM/RTM, POA&M, test plans/evidence, and continuous monitoring dashboards.
• Apply DISA STIGs/SRGs, SCAP, ACAS/Tenable, HBSS/ESS/EDR baselines; drive remediation and control inheritance.
• Architect to Zero Trust principles (identity, device, network, app/data, analytics, automation); design micro-segmentation, policy enforcement, and continuous assessment.
• Partner with ISSM/ISSO and cyber operators to align controls with operational reality and mission risk.
• Provide Tier III technical leadership, conduct root cause analysis, and publish RCAs with corrective/preventive actions.
• Establish SOPs/runbooks, as-built documentation, change management artifacts, and operational dashboards tied to KPIs/SLAs.
• Participate in CABs, IPTs, design reviews, and readiness assessments; brief senior government stakeholders on trade-offs, risk, and performance.
• Serve as a technical lead for a cross-functional team (systems, network, security, DevSecOps, data).
• Mentor junior engineers and review designs/PRs for architectural compliance and secure coding/infrastructure patterns.
• Coordinate with vendors and DISA partners to evaluate COTS/GOTS solutions and conduct POCs.

Requirements

• Active DoD Secret clearance.
• 8+ years of systems architecture experience.
• Extensive experience in systems architecture and engineering, particularly within cybersecurity or IT sectors, with a focus on network and cloud environments.
• Demonstrated expertise in utilizing the DoD Architecture Framework (DoDAF) and other relevant architectural frameworks.
• Proven ability to lead the development and maintenance of Systems Engineering Plans (SEPs).
• In-depth knowledge of requirements analysis, system design, integration, and testing methodologies.
• Ability to author clear architectures and brief complex topics to technical and executive audiences.
• Experience with cloud technologies and transitioning systems to cloud environments.
• Familiarity with COTS and GOTS solutions.

Benefits

• Health insurance
• 401(k) matching
• Flexible work hours
• Paid time off
• Remote work options