SITEC - Lead Systems Engineer (SME) - Fort Bragg, NC

Peraton is a next-generation national security company driving missions of consequence globally. As a leading mission capability integrator and transformative enterprise IT provider, Peraton delivers trusted, highly differentiated solutions to protect the nation and its allies. The company operates at the critical nexus of traditional and nontraditional threats across land, sea, space, air, and cyberspace, supporting essential government agencies and every branch of the U.S. armed forces.

Peraton provides USSOCOM, its Component Commands, Theater Special Operations Commands (TSOCs), deployed forces, CIO/J6, and end-users with high-quality IT platform and network services over an eight-year period. This role supports the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Special Operations Forces Information Technology Enterprise Contract (SITEC) 3 Enterprise Operations and Maintenance (EOM) Task Order. Positions are embedded with USSOCOM Theater Special Operations Commands (TSOCs) and Component Commands worldwide, serving as the senior on-site engineering lead for mission systems, enterprise infrastructure, and modernization initiatives.

About the Role

The Lead Systems Engineer serves as the primary technical engineering representative for the assigned TSOC or Component Command, providing engineering leadership, technical oversight, and systems integration support for enterprise IT capabilities. This role partners closely with Government leadership, mission stakeholders, architects, cybersecurity personnel, and operations teams to ensure mission requirements are translated into resilient, supportable, and secure technical solutions. The position is located at Fort Bragg, NC.

The SITEC 3 EOM Task Order provides USSOCOM and its globally deployed forces with secure Operations and Maintenance (O&M) services sustaining resilient, mission-ready, and Zero Trust-aligned Network Operations (NetOps). Support includes maintaining enterprise systems and network infrastructure, delivering identity-aware end-user and common device support, enabling secure configuration and asset management, conducting cybersecurity operations, and performing IMAC services across distributed 24x7x365 environments.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the senior technical engineering lead supporting the assigned TSOC or Component Command, providing Zero Trust Architecture systems engineering expertise across planning, implementation, sustainment, modernization, and lifecycle management activities.
• Lead systems engineering efforts including requirements analysis, capability decomposition, systems integration, interface management, technical baseline development, verification, validation, and transition to operations.
• Develop engineering approaches and technical solution designs aligning with USSOCOM enterprise architecture, Zero Trust principles, and operational mission requirements while maintaining a hands-on engineering role.
• Provide technical leadership for the operation, sustainment, integration, and security of enterprise infrastructure, networking technologies, compute platforms, and system administration services supporting classified and unclassified environments.
• Collaborate with Enterprise Architects, Network Engineers, Cybersecurity Engineers, and Government stakeholders to evaluate new technologies, develop technical roadmaps, and execute modernization initiatives improving operational capability and mission effectiveness.
• Support trusted agent (TA) operations, Identity and Access Management (IAM), Privileged Access Management (PAM), end-user support, asset management, and cybersecurity operations in accordance with Zero Trust principles, including least privilege, continuous authentication, policy-based access control, and micro-segmentation.
• Engineer and integrate secure infrastructure supporting cloud-native, virtualized, hyperconverged, and edge computing environments, including VMware, Azure Stack, AWS Outposts, and emerging enterprise platforms.
• Design, integrate, configure, and sustain virtual machines, containerized workloads, software-defined infrastructure, virtual storage, networking services, and hybrid cloud capabilities supporting globally distributed operations.
• Ensure technical solutions comply with DoD Zero Trust Strategy, NIST 800-207, Risk Management Framework (RMF), DISA Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs), and USSOCOM cybersecurity policies while balancing operational requirements and mission availability.
• Lead engineering assessments, technical reviews, root cause analyses, and system performance evaluations to identify risks, recommend improvements, and drive continuous optimization of enterprise capabilities.
• Provide engineering oversight for Controlled Cryptographic Item (CCI), Commercial Solutions for Classified (CSfC), and Bring Your Own Approved Device (BYOAD/BES) technologies, ensuring secure implementation and operational compliance.
• Coordinate engineering activities across multiple technical disciplines to ensure interoperability, integration, and alignment between enterprise services, mission systems, and operational requirements.
• Develop and present engineering recommendations, technical documentation, system implementation plans, and architecture decision support products to Government leadership.
• Monitor system health, technical performance, operational readiness, cybersecurity posture, and engineering metrics to support informed decision-making and continuous service improvement.
• Serve as the primary engineering interface for the assigned TSOC or Component Command, providing technical leadership during planning sessions, operational events, system deployments, and modernization efforts.
• Implement and manage data-centric security controls, including data classification, data loss prevention (DLP), and end-to-end encryption to protect sensitive data at rest, in transit, and in use.
• Design and implement automated security responses and orchestration workflows using Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platforms to enable rapid threat containment and policy enforcement.
• Engineer and enforce security policies for application workloads and APIs, ensuring secure communication and access control between services and microservices within the enterprise.
• Utilize advanced security analytics and machine learning to establish user and entity behavior baselines, proactively hunt for threats, and detect anomalies indicative of a compromise.

Requirements

• Minimum 14 years of experience with a HS degree, 12 years with an AS/AA degree, 10 years with a BS/BA, 8 years with an MS/MA, or 6 years with a PhD.
• Active DoD TS/SCI clearance is required.
• DoD IAT II Certification.

Qualifications

• Must be DoD 8140 compliant under Work Role Code 451 - Systems Administrator (Advanced level or higher) by 1 October 2026.
• Experience engineering infrastructure and endpoint management solutions in DoD or federal environments.
• Familiarity with IT Service Management (ITSM) frameworks and translating technical changes into ITIL workflows.
• Experience with hybrid-cloud identity integrations and cloud-native endpoint management strategies.
• Knowledge of applying secure baseline configurations (DISA STIGs) to enterprise operating systems and application delivery platforms.
• Experience with data loss prevention (DLP) solutions and data classification frameworks.
• Proficiency with scripting languages (e.g., Python, PowerShell) and experience with SOAR or other security automation platforms.
• Knowledge of API security best practices and experience with Web Application Firewalls (WAF) or API gateways.
• Experience with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) tools.

Pay

Target salary range: $104,000 - $166,000. Salary is determined by scope, responsibilities, experience, education, knowledge, skills, competencies, geographic location, and business or contract considerations. Eligible employees may receive overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Life and health savings account (HSA)
• Short-term and long-term disability
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Parental leave
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Paid time off (PTO) for vacation
• Company-paid holidays