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Principal Systems Engineer

SAIC

Chantilly, VAJob$160–200K/yrSeen todaySeen in employer's feed today

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At a glance

Compensation
$160–200K/yr
Location
Chantilly, VA
Work Authorization
Not specified

Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.

Requirements

Credentials this posting asks for.

TS/SCI clearance

Job overview

SAIC seeks a Principal Systems Engineer for a program in Chantilly, supporting operational tool development, evaluation, training, and customer engagement. The engineer will help identify operational requirements, assess specialized equipment, train personnel, and liaise with vendors and government partners. The role calls for a broad technical background, operational field experience, and collaboration with engineers, field personnel, and customer stakeholders.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

Technical Systems KnowledgeOperational Field ExperienceEquipment EvaluationTraining DevelopmentPresentation DevelopmentIndependent WorkPriority ManagementWritten CommunicationVerbal CommunicationCollaborationInterpersonal SkillsMentoring

Qualifications

TS/SCI and Poly10+ Years Relevant ExperienceBachelor's or Relevant Experience

Full job description

Description

SAIC has an immediate opening on a program in Chantilly for a Principal Systems Engineer. In this position, you will serve as a key resource in supporting operational tool development, evaluation, training, and customer engagement activities. This position requires a broad technical background, operational field experience, and the ability to collaborate effectively with engineers, vendors, field personnel, and customer stakeholders. You will play an integral role in identifying operational requirements, supporting tool development initiatives, providing training, and serving as a liaison with industry and government partners.

Key Responsibilities:

Technical Support and Tool Development:

  • Participate in technical discussions with engineers, vendors, and field operations personnel to ensure operational requirements are incorporated into new tool development efforts

  • Evaluate specialized equipment and technologies and provide recommendations regarding capabilities, suitability, and operational application

  • Contribute to discussions on future technology development, equipment enhancements, and program direction

  • Support ongoing evaluation efforts for specialized audio and operational tools

  • Maintain awareness of emerging technologies and identify opportunities to incorporate new capabilities into operational activities.

Vendor and External Partner Engagement:

  • Serve as a primary liaison with vendors regarding equipment development, testing, and operational applications

  • Regularly attend vendor meetings to discuss current and future technology developments

  • Maintain relationships with technical specialists across government agencies to exchange information on emerging tools, best practices, and operational capabilities

  • Identify and evaluate external technologies for possible integration into mission operations

Training and Instruction:

  • Serve as a lead instructor for specialized operational training courses, including participation in multi-week drill training programs

  • Develop and deliver technical briefings and presentations to audiences of varying experience levels

  • Train new personnel in the operation and application of specialized equipment and tools

  • Support customer training initiatives, orientation programs, mission history briefings, and operational demonstrations

  • Assist with outreach events designed to showcase operational capabilities and technologies

Operational Support:

  • Assist in drafting, reviewing, and coordinating operational cables and related communications on a daily basis

  • Provide operational guidance and mentorship to junior officers and newly assigned personnel

  • Support program activities requiring operational expertise in drill programs, tools, techniques, and field operations

  • Contribute to mission planning and operational readiness initiatives as required

Briefings and Stakeholder Engagement:

  • Prepare and present recurring Points of Interest (POI) briefings and other program updates to customers and stakeholders

  • Communicate technical information clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences

  • Represent the organization at meetings, training events, demonstrations, and working groups

Qualifications

  • Must currently hold a TS/SCI and Poly to be considered

  • 10 or more years of relevant experience

  • Bachelor's Degree or relevant experience can be substituted for the degree

  • Broad technical background with the ability to understand and discuss complex equipment and technology systems

  • Operational field experience

  • Demonstrated ability to work independently and manage multiple concurrent priorities

  • Experience evaluating technical equipment and providing operational feedback

  • Strong written and verbal communication skills

  • Experience developing and delivering training and presentations

  • Ability to collaborate effectively with engineers, vendors, customers, and operational personnel

  • Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to mentor junior personnel

Travel Requirements:

  • Ability to travel on Temporary Duty (TDY) assignments approximately 10% of the time to attend vendor meetings, training events, equipment evaluations, and other mission-related activities

Target salary range: $160,001 - $200,000. The estimate displayed represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience and other factors.

REQNUMBER: 2618869

SAIC is a premier technology integrator, solving our nation's most complex modernization and systems engineering challenges across the defense, space, federal civilian, and intelligence markets. Our robust portfolio of offerings includes high-end solutions in systems engineering and integration; enterprise IT, including cloud services; cyber; software; advanced analytics and simulation; and training. We are a team of 23,000 strong driven by mission, united purpose, and inspired by opportunity. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $6.5 billion. For more information, visit saic.com. For information on the benefits SAIC offers, see Working at SAIC. EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability

How this job compares

Set against the 11,655 open Systems Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 8, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$160–200K/yr
  • Virginia median$120–182K/yr852 salary ranges
  • US median$116–190K/yr8,674 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $180K, is 19% above the Virginia median midpoint ($152K) — in the middle half of Systems Engineer salary ranges in Virginia.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 1,085 open Systems Engineer jobs in Virginia and 11,655 across the US. 5% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in Virginia
Experience
This posting asks for at least 10 years of experience — more than three in four Systems Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for (median 5 years, across 9,734 postings).
Education
4,448 of the 11,655 open Systems Engineer jobs (38%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 8, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.

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