Lead Systems Integration Engineer

Lyntris is a defense technology company that connects sensing to action across the connected battlespace. The company supports U.S. and allied defense organizations across every branch and domain, delivering integrated hardware, software, and mission expertise for complex, contested environments. This full‑time, on‑site position is located in Sterling, VA, with work split between standard office space and SCIF environments.

Responsibilities

• Own system integration testing (SIT) across multiple internal subsystems and external systems, identifying issues related to interface contracts, data exchange, timing, usability, functionality, safety, and security.
• Define and maintain SWIT and SIT test threads, cases, and steps, and drive traceability from requirements through verification evidence.
• Lead integration events with external system owners and government stakeholders, including dry runs, formal test events, and site acceptance activities.
• Triage integration defects to root cause across system boundaries and drive them to closure with the responsible team.
• Design, build, and maintain test tooling (simulators, stubs, message injectors, data generators, log analyzers, results reporting) as a first‑class engineering product.
• Develop automated test suites and utilities, keeping them current as subsystems and external interfaces evolve.
• Build and maintain automated regression capability integrated into CI/CD pipelines to surface integration failures early.
• Establish standard test reporting and evidence artifacts for engineering and compliance consumers.
• Design integration and test capabilities for reuse across programs, consolidating duplicated effort into shared, versioned components.
• Define and champion common standards for interface documentation, test structure, and environment configuration.
• Use container technologies to configure and deploy software to lab, integration, and customer site environments.
• Build and maintain automation pipelines, artifact management, and environment provisioning for both connected and disconnected/classified enclaves.
• Embed security and compliance controls into the pipeline.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams to define, design, and implement new software and its verification approach.
• Write and maintain comprehensive documentation for integration, test, and deployment processes.
• Mentor engineers on integration engineering, test design, and automation practice.
• Stay current with industry trends in software integration, test engineering, and secure delivery.

Required Qualifications

• A degree in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) with at least 5 years of relevant experience, or an advanced degree with at least 3 years of experience.
• 2 + years in a technical leadership role.
• Experience leading system integration and test efforts across multiple subsystems or external systems.
• Experience designing and building test automation frameworks, harnesses, or utilities (not just authoring test cases).
• Experience leading DevSecOps adoption in secure, regulated environments.
• Experience building tooling or infrastructure intended for reuse across more than one program, team, or product line.
• Experience working in cross‑functional software development teams.
• Expertise in at least one major public cloud provider (AWS or GCP preferred).
• Experience with cloud‑native container orchestration platforms and technologies (e.g., Kubernetes, Istio, Helm, Podman, Docker, ArgoCD, Flux).
• Proficiency with Python and testing frameworks such as Pytest; Linux shell scripting and core CLI tooling (grep, awk, sed, ssh, scp); automation pipeline development using tools such as GitLab and Artifactory.
• Experience creating test threads, cases, and steps for SWIT and/or SIT.
• Active and transferable TS/SCI U.S. government‑issued security clearance required prior to start date.
• U.S. citizenship (required for security clearance).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience testing distributed, real‑time, or message‑driven systems where timing and ordering matter.
• Experience building interface simulators or emulators for systems unavailable in the lab.
• Familiarity with test reporting and results aggregation standards (e.g., JUnit XML, CTRF, Allure).
• Experience with behavior‑driven test formats (Gherkin, Cucumber) as shared artifacts between engineering and stakeholders.
• Experience with data integration and streaming technologies, including NiFi, Kafka, and REST APIs.
• Experience with documentation tools like Swagger.
• Experience with modeling tools like Cameo.
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate certification.
• Certified Kubernetes Administrator certification.
• DoD IAT Level II security certification (Security+ CE, GSEC, SSCP, or CCNA Security).

Physical Requirements

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Ability to lift up to 15 pounds as needed.
• On‑site requirement of five days per week at a secure controlled information facility in Sterling, VA.

Clearance Requirements

This position requires an active TS/SCI U.S. government security clearance. Candidates must be U.S. citizens and either already possess the required clearance or be able to complete the investigation process with a favorable determination and maintain the clearance throughout employment.

Pay

The pay range for this role is $152,300 – $198,100 USD per year (Sterling, VA).

Benefits

• Paid Time Off
• Paid Company Holidays
• Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance
• Optional HSA and FSA
• Base and Voluntary Life Insurance
• Short‑Term & Long‑Term Disability Insurance
• 401(k) Matching
• Employee Assistance Program