Senior System Engineer

Senior Systems Engineer

Location: Columbia, MD

Type: Contract

Compensation Range: $190 -$220K

Clearance: Active TS/SCI w/ Polygraph needed to apply

Company Overview: Cornerstone Defense is the Employer of Choice within the Intelligence, Defense, and Space communities of the U.S. Government. Realizing early on that our most prized assets are our employees, we continually focus our attention on improving the overall work/life experience they have supporting the mission. Our Team is pushed every day to use their industry leading knowledge to provide end-to-end solutions to combat our nation's toughest and most secure problems. If you are looking for a place to not only be professionally challenged, but encouraged and supported by a company that cares, don't look any further than Cornerstone Defense.

Benefits Overview

Cornerstone Defense offers a very comprehensive benefits package including, but not limited to: Medical, Dental and Vision Plans Generous PTO Policy 401(k) HSA and FSA options Life and Disability Insurance Tuition Reimbursement and Training Perks at Work Discount Program Referral Program Leads Generation Program CollegeAmerica 529 Fitness Reimbursement Program Travel Assistance Norton Lifelock Benefit Solutions Life Planning Financial & Legal Services

Position Description

Seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to provide strategic systems engineering, technical governance, and enterprise integration support to PAE JCWA (Joint Cyber Warfare Architecture). This highly visible SETA position serves as a trusted advisor to leadership, supporting architecture development, systems engineering governance, Agile execution, and cross-functional coordination across JCWA programs. The role requires a blend of technical expertise, strategic thinking, process discipline, and exceptional communication skills to support complex systems-of-systems development within a DoD environment.

Core Tasks

• Provide strategic systems engineering, technical governance, and enterprise integration support across JCWA programs, serving as a trusted advisor to senior leadership.
• Collaborate with architecture and engineering teams to develop JCWA Systems Engineering documentation, Reference Designs, and governance artifacts including Charters, SOPs, MFRs, Systems Engineering Plans, ADRs, and Technical Needs.
• Lead enterprise architecture governance, systems integration efforts, and decision-making processes while maintaining awareness of DoD and Army policies impacting engineering activities.
• Facilitate and coordinate large-scale SAFe PI Planning events involving 900+ personnel across multiple ARTs; develop planning materials, communication guides, AARs, lessons learned, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Build automated workflows, dashboards, and reporting capabilities using Confluence and Jira to enhance transparency, requirements traceability, and operational effectiveness.
• Support maturation of the JCWA Lean Agile Center of Excellence (LACE) and identify opportunities for process improvement, automation, and standardization.
• Coordinate Priority Operational Needs across Agile Release Trains to ensure alignment with operational and organizational priorities; collaborate with PMOs, Service Cyber Components, mission partners, and technical organizations.
• Lead and support Functional Area Requirements Working Groups, improving governance, stakeholder transparency, and requirements management processes.
• Develop executive-level dashboards and reporting products demonstrating compliance, performance, and progress toward JCWA priorities.
• Engage routinely with senior military and civilian leaders, communicating risks, issues, mission impacts, and technical recommendations.
• Produce strategic communications that articulate JCWA capabilities, accomplishments, operational outcomes, and mission value for executive audiences.
• Maintain situational awareness of key JCWA issues, dependencies, risks, and provide timely recommendations, briefs, and governance documentation.
• Manage knowledge repositories and enterprise collaboration resources using expert-level Confluence and Jira integrations.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 15 years of experience with a Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering Science, Engineering Management, or related discipline.
• Demonstrated experience supporting DoD environments and defense contracting organizations.
• Proven experience applying systems engineering principles to complex systems-of-systems and enterprise-scale programs.
• Experience supporting large organizations (200–2,000 personnel) with complex technical, operational, and governance structures.
• Expert-level proficiency with Atlassian Confluence and Jira, including dashboards, automation, requirements management, and enterprise collaboration.
• Deep understanding of SAFe, Agile Release Trains, and Program Increment Planning.
• Experience developing governance frameworks, technical documentation, SOPs, MFRs, ADRs, and systems engineering artifacts.
• Strong understanding of DoD acquisition policies, lifecycle processes, and the Adaptive Acquisition Framework.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, capable of distilling complex technical concepts for executive audiences.
• Experience supporting USCYBERCOM, cyber mission programs, enterprise architecture initiatives, or large modernization efforts.
• Experience with Mattermost and Confluence.

Preferred:

• SAFe certification or formal SAFe training.
• CISSP certification preferred but not required