Senior Systems Architect

Job Description

Everforth ECS is seeking a Senior Systems Architect who lives in close proximity to the National Capital Region (NCR) to join a premier, enterprise-scale cybersecurity program supporting a major federal civilian agency.

Please Note: This position is contingent upon contract award.

Salary Range: $175,000 - $195,000

This flagship initiative unifies 24x7x365 Security Operations (SOC), proactive threat hunting, and advanced Security Engineering and Architecture into a cohesive defensive mission. As a systems architect on this program, you will drive the protection of highly sensitive, national-level financial, and personally identifiable information (PII). You will be at the forefront of modernizing the agency's cyber posture, implementing advanced automation, and ensuring continuous operational resilience across a massive, highly complex federal IT enterprise.

Position Responsibilities

• Supports all aspects of operational, technical, and informational architecture design, ensuring alignment across enterprise domains and mission requirements.
• Discerns and interprets customer requirements, validates that architectural models accurately address those needs, and communicates findings to relevant stakeholders.
• Develops and articulates IT solutions grounded in the enterprise's strategic business and technical requirements, translating complex needs into actionable architectural direction.
• Defines the structural approach for each application, including identifying and recommending the most appropriate technology solutions based on mission objectives and enterprise standards.
• Defines, validates, and documents technical requirements and architecture quality attributes to guide consistent, high-quality solution delivery.
• Designs high-quality architectures and leads architecture activities that align with organizational requirements established by leadership, while adhering to enterprise architectural standards and governance frameworks.
• Designs, develops, implements, utilizes, and conforms to enterprise information technology, cloud architecture application solutions, strategies, processes, and standards, focusing on expertise in cloud technologies.
• Designs and maintains security to support CI/CD DevOps infrastructure.
• Manages Information Technology (IT) applications projects, including the design, development, and implementation of key components within the broader IT architecture.
• Develops and communicates well-structured architectural proposals for various projects and initiatives, ensuring clarity and alignment across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Develops and coordinates IT strategy and oversees implementation of integrated systems.
• Collaborates with business owners, analysts, engineers, development teams, and infrastructure services to define, establish, and communicate application and data architecture standards, policies, and strategic direction.
• Designs, validates, and implements scalable system infrastructure.
• Maintains and evaluates existing systems and equipment to identify opportunities for performance improvements, lifecycle refresh, or decommission.
• Evaluates and analyzes complex systems architecture for performance, efficiency, and security improvements, recommending and implementing enhancements as needed.
• Designs high quality architectures and drives architecture activities that are aligned to organization requirements set by leadership on behalf of stakeholders and are consistent with enterprise architectural standards.
• Provide the capabilities to design the solution for the client based on cloud technologies.
• Leads or supports cloud design efforts, ensuring the designs account for organizational requirements, federal security standards, and long-term scalability.
• Designs and validates enterprise security architectures aligned with Zero Trust and NIST SP 800-207.
• Leads the development of Engineering Design Documents (EDDs), architecture blueprints, and security control mappings.
• Supports integration of SIEM, SOAR, CDM, TDSP, EDR, AWS cloud-native services, and identity platforms across multiple cybersecurity tools.
• Advises on IT modernization strategies, cloud migration planning, and secure system design best practices.
• Participates in architecture governance boards and technical working groups.

Required Skills

• Bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity, Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field or equivalent professional experience.
• U.S. Citizenship required.
• 12+ years of experience in supporting Cybersecurity Information Technology.
• Remote but within close proximity to the NCR.
• Active Public Trust 6c clearance, or the ability to obtain and maintain one.
• AWS Solution Architect certification - mandatory.
• 3+ years of experience supporting cloud-based solutions, with additional AWS Cloud certifications considered a plus.
• Experience with planning, management, leadership, and coordination of multiple concurrent tasks, each with strict deadlines for a large-scale cybersecurity design that is integrated with business-critical systems.
• Demonstrated understanding of the software development, enhancement, maintenance lifecycle.
• Ability to perform complex technical tasks independently and in collaboration with multi-disciplinary teams in a fast-paced federal environment.
• Strong technical knowledge of cybersecurity deployment, functionality, and operation of security capabilities including SIEM, EDR, CDM, penetration testing, DevSecOps, Identity and Access Management, and AWS GovCloud systems.
• Strong knowledge of recent and emerging advances in cybersecurity, computer science, and enterprise IT engineering.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to both technical teams and non-technical federal stakeholders.
• Experience with Amazon EKS, Amazon ECS and overall containerized environments.

Desired Skills

• Master's degree in Cybersecurity, Information Assurance, Systems Engineering, Computer Science, or a related discipline.
• One of the following certifications:
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional
• AWS Certified Security - Specialty
• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
• Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)
• Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
• TOGAF 9 or 10 Certified
• Certified in Governance, Risk and Compliance, formerly CAP (CRGC)
• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
• CompTIA Security+
• SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) Agilist or PMI-ACP
• Prior experience supporting federal civilian agency IT or cybersecurity programs, including direct engagement with agency CIOs, CISOs, or technical program offices.
• Experience designing and implementing Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) solutions in alignment with OMB M-22-09 and the CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model.
• Familiarity with the DHS Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program, including asset management, identity management, network security management, and data protection capabilities.
• Demonstrated experience supporting FISMA compliance, Authority to Operate (ATO) processes, and NIST Risk Management Framework (RMF) implementation across complex federal environments.
• Experience designing and integrating SIEM and SOAR platforms (e.g., Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, Palo Alto XSOAR) within large-scale SOC environments.
• Hands-on experience with AWS GovCloud architecture and operations, including FedRAMP-authorized service design and deployment.
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code (IaC) tools such as Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, or Ansible in support of automated, repeatable architecture deployments.
• Familiarity with microservices architecture, API gateway design, and service mesh frameworks (e.g., AWS App Mesh, Istio) within containerized environments.
• Experience integrating Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions within a Zero Trust framework (e.g., CyberArk, Okta, AWS IAM Identity Center).
• Background supporting Red Team operations, penetration testing programs, or threat-informed architecture reviews.
• Experience contributing to or leading Architecture Review Boards (ARBs) or Technical Review Boards (TRBs) within federal or enterprise environments.
• Familiarity with TOGAF, SABSA, or other enterprise architecture frameworks as applied to federal IT programs.

ECS Federal LLC is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate or allow discrimination on the basis any characteristic protected by law. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local jurisdiction law.

Everforth ECS is the federal segment of Everforth, a $4B global organization with over 10,000 employees. Our nearly 3,500 professionals deliver advanced technology solutions in data and AI, cybersecurity, and enterprise transformation, serving defense, intelligence, and federal civilian agencies.

Our work powers mission-critical outcomes, strengthens technology partnerships, and creates meaningful opportunities for our people. We are defined by a commitment to excellence in delivery, a culture of innovation, and an environment where talent can thrive and grow.

We Value

• Attracting and developing top talent and high-performing teams
• Fostering a culture that is engaging, accountable, and mission-driven

Meet the challenge. Make a difference with Everforth ECS!