Principal Innovation Engineer

Job Description

Parsons is seeking a Principal Innovation Engineer to drive applied innovation for a mission-critical global identity and mobility platform deployed across various operating environments. This is a hands-on senior engineering role for a technologist who can identify promising technologies, evaluate them against real operational needs, build compelling prototypes and demonstrations, and help transition the best ideas into production-ready capabilities.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in systems engineering, software engineering, platform engineering, or applied R&DD
• Demonstrated experience turning emerging technology concepts into working prototypes or production capabilities
• Strong hands-on technical depth in several of the following: distributed software systems, cloud platforms, edge or embedded deployments, networking or hybrid connectivity, identity or security systems, biometrics or device/peripheral integration, observability or operational analytics
• Experience evaluating technology not only for technical merit, but for operational realism, reliability, security, supportability, and lifecycle fit
• Experience working in mission-critical, operational, public sector, regulated, or globally distributed environments
• Strong communication skills with the ability to present complex ideas clearly to both engineers and non-technical decision makers

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with identity verification, biometrics, access-control, document technologies, automated gate/peripheral systems, or related domains
• Experience designing solutions for remote, austere, power-constrained, or intermittently connected environments
• Experience with Java-based distributed systems, microservices, and event-driven architectures
• Experience with AWS, Terraform, and hybrid edge/cloud architectures
• Familiarity with technologies such as MongoDB, Elasticsearch/OpenSearch, RabbitMQ/Kafka, Grafana, ELK, HashiCorp Consul, Nomad, and Vault
• Experience with AI/ML-enabled analytics, computer vision, anomaly detection, or intelligent automation
• Experience engaging with vendors, standards bodies, industry forums, or customer technical demonstrations

What You Will Do

• Identify, evaluate, and prototype new technologies that improve a globally deployed mission-critical platform
• Build working demonstrations, proof-of-concepts, and pilot implementations that can be shown to internal leadership, customers, and external stakeholders
• Explore innovation across areas such as: digital identity and verification, biometrics and contactless capture, edge computing and low-power deployments, resilient/offline-first operations, cloud-native modernization, analytics and AI-assisted workflows, automation and operator experiences, secure peripherals and smart devices
• Assess emerging commercial and open technologies for fit, maturity, operational value, security implications, and deployability
• Translate innovation ideas into practical architectures that can operate in low-bandwidth environments with intermittent connectivity, power-constraints, environmental challenges, or infrastructure limitations
• Assist leadership with transition from prototypes to implementation roadmaps
• Produce technical trade studies, architecture recommendations, demonstration plans, and innovation briefings
• Support technical presentations, showcases, and evaluations with customers, sponsors, and partners
• Shape an innovation pipeline from concept to prototype to fieldable capability

Benefits

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Paid time off
• Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
• 401(k)
• Life insurance
• Flexible work schedules
• Holidays

About the Role

Guided by our leadership vision of valuing people, embracing agility, and fostering growth, we cultivate an innovative culture that empowers you to achieve your full potential. Unleash your talent and redefine what’s possible.