Software and Systems Engineer

MANTECH seeks a motivated, career-oriented SOFTWARE & SYSTEMS ENGINEER to join our team supporting the Marine Corps in STAFFORD, VA.

This position will ensure our technical initiatives are executed optimally utilizing modern DevSecOps, programming, and Systems Engineering principles as well as strong project management discipline to tackle operational problems by creating viable technical solutions for transition through research, development, testing & evaluation.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Provide senior-level expertise in the research, design, and deployment of complex hardware/software solutions, leading prototyping initiatives and maintaining comprehensive architecture documentation and runbooks.
• Develop, review, and execute highly detailed engineering artifacts (e.g., SEPs, ICDs) and lead Systems Engineering Technical Review (SETR) milestones from preliminary design through software acceptance.
• Drive the assessment and integration of transformative technical capabilities across ground, air, maritime, and space platforms within both tactical and enterprise information environments.
• Design and execute comprehensive Test and Evaluation Strategies (TES/TEMP), conducting rigorous functional, integration, regression, and performance testing to validate system requirements.
• Define and support rigorous Configuration, Change, and Release Management processes (including Engineering Change Proposals) while leading multi-phase risk management assessments.
• Oversee operational security compliance (DISA STIGs, GPOs, ACAS), perform system monitoring and root-cause analysis, and provide expert Tier 3 troubleshooting for complex Linux-related issues.
• Lead coordination efforts with vendors, technical staff, and cross-functional stakeholders across multiple organizations to ensure the timely and successful delivery of capabilities.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in engineering, computer engineering, information technology, systems engineering, or a related technical discipline with 12 or more years of experience, OR Bachelor’s Degree with similar discipline and 14 or more years of experience.
• Must hold an active DoD 8570/ DoDi 8140 IAT Level III certification (e.g., CISSP).
• Extensive experience directing technical teams through the entire SDLC for complex enterprise or tactical operational problems, providing hands-on engineering down to the component, subcomponent, and circuit level; proven background supporting the Marine Corps Information Environment Enterprise (or similar DoD environments) while adhering to ISO/IEC/IEEE, Military (MIL-STD), and Federal (FED-STD) standards, and managing lifecycle testing (unit, integration, system, acceptance) with rigorous test standards, scripts, and plans.
• Strong proficiency designing, deploying, hardening, patching, and maintaining RHEL server infrastructures in production environments, with in-depth technical knowledge of SELinux, fapolicy, systemd, firewall configuration, kernel tuning, and performance optimization to troubleshoot complex system and application issues.
• Proven experience leveraging Red Hat Satellite, Ansible, and Automation Platform for configuration management alongside virtualization/containerization (KVM, Podman, Docker, OpenShift), CI/CD pipelines, Git, DevOps workflows, and foundational networking (TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, routing, firewalls, VLANs), combined with hands-on expertise implementing secure protocols, PKI concepts (CA, CRLs, OCSP, key generation/lifecycle management using OpenSSL and Keytool), and RHEL identity tooling to integrate systems with IdM/FreeIPA, LDAP, Active Directory, and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).
• Self-driven analytical thinker capable of managing priorities in fast-paced environments and delivering technical briefings to senior government organizations (including Officer, Enlisted, and Civilian personnel); highly proficient with the Microsoft Family of Software and Tools (Office, Visio, SharePoint, Project) alongside development/task management capabilities like Jira and Confluence.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Direct experience engineering systems/software in the R&D phase aligning with Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 4 through 7; deep understanding of UAF and DoDAF artifacts, Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), and lifecycle management to design secure, scalable, and redundant architectures. INCOSE CSEP/ESEP certification is highly desirable.
• Proven experience utilizing ITIL, ITSM, or similar maturity models within Agile Scaled Environments (SAFe); strong familiarity with Agile software coding principles and possession of professional leadership certifications such as Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Scrum Master (CSM), or Lean Six Sigma.
• Familiarity with the Marine Corps Operational Test and Evaluation Activity (MCOTEA), including the MCOTEA Operational Test & Evaluation Manual (6th Edition); experience planning Field User Evaluations and Joint Service Exercise events incorporating Electronic Warfare and Intelligence collection platforms under the Risk Management Framework (RMF).
• Experience designing, modernizing, and maintaining hybrid cloud environments (AWS, Azure, or private cloud) with the demonstrated ability to seamlessly integrate RHEL and Windows systems with enterprise applications, middleware, and cloud services.
• Strong proficiency with Bash and Python scripting alongside API interactions (REST, JSON, XML) to drive system integration and automation; familiarity with foundational website development, including CSS and web server setup, configuration, and integration.

Clearance Requirements:

• Must have current and active TS/SCI (or SCI eligible) security clearance with the ability to obtain and maintain a CI Poly.

Physical Requirements:

• Physically capable of supporting field exercises, including lifting up to 50 lbs., traversing rugged terrain, and traveling via military tactical vehicles, ships, and aircraft.
• Must be able to remain in a stationary/ desk position 50% of the time, occasionally and communicate with co-workers, management, and customers, via email, phone, and/or virtual communication, which may involve clearly delivering briefings/ presentations.