Chief Engineer
Overview
LMI is a new breed of digital solutions provider dedicated to accelerating government impact with innovation and speed. Investing in technology and prototypes ahead of need, LMI brings commercial-grade platforms and mission-ready AI to federal agencies at commercial speed.
Leveraging our mission-ready technology and solutions, proven expertise in federal deployment, and strategic relationships, we enhance outcomes for the government, efficiently and effectively. With a focus on agility and collaboration, LMI serves the defense, space, homeland, healthcare, and intelligence sectors-helping agencies navigate complexity and outpace change. Headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, LMI is committed to delivering impactful results that strengthen missions and drive lasting value.
Responsibilities
LMI is seeking an accomplished Chief Engineer to serve as the program's senior technical authority for enterprise IT and communications capabilities across secure facilities. The Chief Engineer will establish the engineering vision, maintain the integrated technical baseline, and align systems, network, infrastructure, cybersecurity, cloud, applications, data, and operations around a coherent solution. This execution-oriented leadership role supports a fast-paced, milestone-driven prototype with near-term commitments. Success requires broad technical credibility, disciplined governance, executive communication, and balanced judgment across mission, security, resilience, cost, schedule, and lifecycle risk.
Primary duties include:
- Establish the program's technical vision, engineering strategy, priorities, architecture, standards, and modernization roadmap.
- Serve as the principal technical advisor to the Program Manager, government sponsors, executive leadership, and engineering teams.
- Own the integrated technical baseline across systems, network, infrastructure, cybersecurity, cloud, applications, data, facilities, and operations.
- Lead architecture reviews, design reviews, readiness reviews, technical interchange meetings, and engineering working groups.
- Manage technical risks, architecture gaps, interface challenges, conflicting requirements, technical debt, and lifecycle concerns.
- Direct trade studies addressing assumptions, alternatives, cost, schedule, security, risk, and operational consequences.
- Ensure mission requirements remain traceable through architecture, implementation, integration, verification, validation, transition, acceptance, and operations.
- Resolve cross-domain conflicts and communicate major decisions, risks, dependencies, and recommendations to stakeholders.
- Establish an integrated automation strategy spanning engineering, cybersecurity, testing, monitoring, compliance, and operations.
FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS
- Enterprise architecture and multidisciplinary systems engineering.
- Requirements, interfaces, integration, verification, validation, and lifecycle management.
- Networking, infrastructure, cloud, cybersecurity, applications, identity, data, and operations.
- Technical governance, configuration management, change control, and decision management.
- Reliability, availability, resilience, scalability, maintainability, and operational supportability.
- Security architecture, zero-trust principles, risk management, and defense in depth.
- Automation, observability, infrastructure as code, configuration management, and modern engineering practices.
- Technical risk analysis, trade studies, investment prioritization, and lifecycle cost.
- Executive communication, negotiation, conflict resolution, mentoring, and multidisciplinary technical leadership.
Location: This position is based in the Washington, DC metro area, with travel to program locations.
Travel: This position requires approximately 25-50% travel to support activities across multiple program locations.
Qualifications
Required:
- Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field.
- 12+ years of progressive experience designing, integrating, modernizing, or sustaining complex enterprise IT, including classified environments.
- Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering organizations or major initiatives across dispersed locations.
- Broad technical knowledge across enterprise architecture, systems, networking, infrastructure, cybersecurity, cloud, applications, and operations.
- Experience leading architecture reviews, trade studies, risk assessments, integration, and major engineering decisions.
- Experience engineering capabilities for SCIF or other accredited classified environments, including multi-enclave systems and security boundaries.
- Working knowledge of the Risk Management Framework (NIST SP 800-37 / 800-53) and experience advising senior leaders.
- Active Top Secret Clearance (SCI eligibility) required.
- Excellent communication skills both verbally and in writing. Ability to develop papers, reports, and briefings targeted to senior decision makers.
Nice to Have:
- Advanced degree or relevant senior-level systems engineering, architecture, program management, or cybersecurity certification.
- Experience integrating cross-domain solutions (CDS) into enterprise architectures.
- Experience supporting Special Access Program (SAP) facilities, systems, or environments.
- Experience designing or standing up network or security operations centers (NOC/SOC), including 24x7 coverage models.
TS/SCI clearance and SAP eligibility are required for this position. Applicants selected will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information. LMI will only consider applicants with current security clearances. Please note that only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance.
Target salary range: $125,000 - $250,000
Disclaimer:
The salary range displayed represents the typical salary range for this position and is not a guarantee of compensation. Individual salaries are determined by various factors including, but not limited to location, internal equity, business considerations, client contract requirements, and candidate qualifications, such as education, experience, skills, and security clearances.