Principal Systems Engineer ( TS/SCI with Poly)

Location: Annapolis Junction, MD
Employment Type: Full-Time
Industry: Advanced Data Systems, Multimedia Processing, Distributed Storage
Compensation: $221,000 – $247,000+ annually (commensurate with experience)

Position Overview

Clearance Requirement: TS/SCI with Polygraph

We are seeking a Systems Engineer to design, develop, and integrate large-scale, secure, high-throughput storage and retrieval systems. This role focuses on multimedia and multilingual content processing across globally distributed environments, leveraging modern distributed storage frameworks and integrating Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) and Government-Off-The-Shelf (GOTS) technologies.

The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in distributed storage architectures, metadata analytics, performance optimization, and secure system integration for mid-to-large scale programs.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and support distributed peer-to-peer storage and retrieval systems operating at scale (500+ nodes)

• Architect solutions for ingesting, storing, indexing, and retrieving large volumes of multimedia and multilingual content

• Develop and optimize metadata indexing, summarization, data mining, visualization, and analytics capabilities

• Define and implement system performance, availability, scalability, manageability, and security requirements

• Design and optimize storage, retrieval, backup, and data retention strategies for globally distributed, high-throughput systems

• Develop and deploy storage solutions within clustered and cloud-based environments

• Integrate and extend COTS and GOTS products from multiple vendors into cohesive system architectures

• Design and implement distributed storage routing and querying algorithms

• Implement and manage storage area networks (SANs), data warehouses, and data marts

• Collaborate with end users and cross-functional Integrated Product Teams (IPTs)

• Plan and integrate secure, compliant solutions aligned with legal, policy, and regulatory requirements

• Lead and contribute to agile and spiral development efforts

• Produce clear, concise technical documentation for system designs, issues, and training materials

Required Qualifications

• Extensive experience working with large-scale multimedia and multilingual content processing systems

• Strong background in distributed peer-to-peer storage architectures and large-node environments

• Proven experience with metadata-driven systems, analytics, and data visualization

• Hands-on experience integrating and extending COTS and GOTS technologies

• Experience developing and deploying storage solutions in clustered or cloud environments

• Demonstrated ability to work directly with users and within cross-IPT environments

• Experience leading or contributing to agile and/or spiral development models

• 20+ years of experience in relative work and scope

Technical Expertise (Preferred)

• Deep knowledge of distributed storage frameworks such as HDFS, Hadoop, HBase, Accumulo, or BigTable

• Experience with storage routing and querying algorithm development

• Experience implementing and optimizing SANs, data warehouses, and data marts

• Expertise in system performance tuning, scalability planning, and high-availability architectures

Benefits

This position includes a competitive and flexible benefits package, including:

• Paid Time Off: PTO accrues at a rate of 13% of hours worked, which equals approximately 6 weeks, or 30 days, per year for a typical full-time employee.
• PTO Carryover: Up to 240 hours of PTO may be carried over from year to year.
• Retirement Contribution: 15% automatic company 401(k) contribution, including 3% safe harbor and 12% profit sharing/company discretionary contribution.
• 401(k) Vesting: No vesting period.
• Payroll Contributions: Employer 401(k) contributions are deposited every payroll.
• 401(k) Options: Pre-tax and Roth 401(k) contributions are available.
• PTO and Retirement Flexibility: Employees may have flexibility to adjust PTO and 401(k) contributions based on personal preferences, with appropriate pay rate offsets.
• Medical Insurance: Medical insurance available with significant company contribution.
• Medical Plan Options: Options include a CareFirst BlueChoice Advantage Platinum Plan with $0 deductible and a CareFirst BlueChoice Advantage High Deductible Plan with HSA.
• HSA Contribution: For employees enrolled in the High Deductible Plan, the company contributes 1/4 of the deductible to the employee’s HSA quarterly.
• Dental Insurance: CareFirst BlueDental Plus.
• Vision Insurance: CareFirst BlueVision Plus.
• Health Savings Account: Employees enrolled in the High Deductible Plan may contribute additional funds to an HSA up to IRS limits.
• Flexible Spending Account: Medical FSA contribution limit of $3,200 per year.
• Dependent Care FSA: Dependent Care FSA contribution limit of $5,000 per year for married couples filing jointly.
• Flexible Schedule: Flexible or alternate work schedules may be available as long as customer approval is received.
• Life Insurance: $50,000 life insurance and $50,000 AD&D coverage, paid by the company.
• Short-Term Disability: Coverage of 60% of pay, up to $1,000 per week, paid by the company.
• Long-Term Disability: Coverage of 60% of pay, up to $6,000 per month, paid by the company.
• Education and Training: Up to $5,000 per any twelve-month period for approved training, courses, books, materials, online courses, college courses, seminars, conferences, travel, and related costs.
• Company Apparel Allowance: $100 per calendar year toward company logo apparel.

Compensation & Benefits Flexibility:
NOTE: Client can also provide no benefits or adjust current benefits to accommodate a higher salary. Adjusted benefits may include reducing the amount contributed to the 401(k), the amount of leave, or other components. Client can also offer a higher salary in lieu of benefits, or adjust the current benefits package to accommodate increased compensation. Adjustments may include modifications to the 401(k) contribution, paid time off, or other benefit components, based on candidate preference.

Why Join This Opportunity

• Work on complex, mission-critical systems at enterprise scale

• Competitive compensation package

• Opportunity to influence architecture and design decisions on advanced data platforms

• Collaborative, engineering-focused environment with high technical impact

We do not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factor.