Lead Software Solutions Architect - TS/SCI

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Job Description:

Parsons is seeking an exceptionally talented Lead Software Solutions Architect to join our team. In this role, you will serve as a senior technical leader responsible for designing and delivering secure, data-intensive software solutions for complex defense and intelligence missions.

You will work closely with the Chief Engineer, Product Owners, software engineers, data engineers, analysts, and government stakeholders to translate mission needs into scalable architectures, technical designs, and deployable capabilities.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on software architect with deep experience in distributed systems, real-time data integration, tactical-edge environments, and multi-domain defense applications.

What You'll Be Doing

• Define Software Solutions: Design end-to-end architectures for secure, distributed, event-driven, and data-intensive mission applications.
• Lead Technical Design: Develop software architecture views, interface specifications, data models, technical designs, and implementation approaches.
• Integrate Mission Systems: Architect integrations among applications, sensors, intelligence platforms, simulation environments, and operational systems using APIs, messaging, streaming, and shared data services.
• Guide Product Delivery: Act as the Systems Engineering Product Owner Analyst within a SAFe environment, helping translate mission objectives into capabilities, features, technical enablers, and user stories.
• Provide Technical Leadership: Advise the Chief Engineer, program leadership, Product Owners, and business partners on software design decisions, technology selection, system evolution, and mission alignment.
• Support Agile Execution: Participate in PI planning, backlog refinement, architecture reviews, demonstrations, retrospectives, and technical interchange meetings.
• Solve Mission-Critical Challenges: Design for reliability, scalability, cybersecurity, interoperability, and operation in disconnected, intermittent, and limited-bandwidth environments.
• Improve Engineering Practices: Promote effective software development, DevSecOps, automation, deployment, observability, and laboratory integration practices.
• Represent the Program: Present technical approaches and software solutions during customer engagements, technical reviews, stakeholder meetings, and industry events.

Required Clearance

• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Must possess an active TS/SCI clearance.

What Required Skills You'll Bring

• Bachelor’s degree and 15+ years of experience in software engineering, software architecture, solution architecture, or related technical leadership roles. Additional years of experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Demonstrated expertise designing and delivering software solutions for multi-domain defense, intelligence, aerospace, or other mission-critical environments.
• Experience defining architectures for distributed systems, microservices, event-driven applications, real-time data pipelines, or tactical-edge platforms.
• Hands‑on experience with military and intelligence data standards and formats, including Cursor on Target, FMV/KLV, and JSON.
• Strong experience with Apache Kafka, including topics, producers and consumers, security configuration, SASL/SCRAM, and TLS.
• Experience with the TAK ecosystem, including TAK Server, WebTAK, or ATAK.
• Experience integrating intelligence platforms and applications that use rich data models, including TRAX- or OMNI‑compliant databases.
• Proficiency with S3‑compatible storage, including MinIO or AWS S3, and experience designing object‑storage‑based solutions.
• Experience with microservices, APIs, network protocols, and service communication technologies, including TCP/IP and gRPC.
• Understanding of Zero Trust architecture and network access technologies, such as ZTNA, AppGate, or software‑defined perimeter solutions.
• Demonstrated experience designing fault‑tolerant software for disconnected, intermittent, and limited‑bandwidth environments.
• Ability to communicate complex software architecture and technical decisions clearly to engineers, customers, executives, and mission stakeholders.

What Desired Skills You'll Bring

• Experience with Kafka federation, multi-cluster messaging, or cross‑domain event distribution.
• Advanced data modeling experience, including OMNI data models and lightweight tactical formats such as Cursor on Target.
• Experience with DevSecOps, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, containerization, and orchestration technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes.
• Experience deploying and operating software in classified, disconnected, tactical‑edge, or otherwise secure environments.
• Familiarity with Cross‑Domain Solutions and the movement of data across security classification levels.
• Experience with Palantir Foundry, including Ontology, OSDK Functions, OSDK Sinks, and data ingestion.
• Experience with infrastructure as code, automated deployment, observability, performance engineering, and secure software supply chains.
• Experience collaborating with analysts and mission experts to integrate operational data, intelligence workflows, modeling, simulation, and experimentation capabilities.
• Experience with modern programming languages such as Java, Python, Go, C++, or JavaScript/TypeScript.

Security Clearance Requirement

An active Top Secret SCI security clearance is required for this position.

This position is part of our Federal Solutions team. The Federal Solutions segment delivers resources to our US government customers that ensure the success of missions around the globe. Our intelligent employees drive the state of the art as they provide services and solutions in the areas of defense, security, intelligence, infrastructure, and environmental. We promote a culture of excellence and close‑knit teams that take pride in delivering, protecting, and sustaining our nation's most critical assets, from Earth to cyberspace. Throughout the company, our people are anticipating what's next to deliver the solutions our customers need now.

Salary Range: $148,300.00 - $266,900.00

We value our employees and want our employees to take care of their overall wellbeing, which is why we offer best‑in‑class benefits such as medical, dental, vision, paid time off, 401(k), life insurance, flexible work schedules, and holidays to fit your busy lifestyle!

Parsons is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other protected status.

We truly invest and care about our employee's wellbeing and provide endless growth opportunities as the sky is the limit, so aim for the stars! Imagine next and join the Parsons quest