IT Engineer, Principal (Top Secret Clearance Required)

Qualcomm•San Diego, CA

1d•$168,400 - $252,600•Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking an exceptional Principal IT Engineer to serve as the senior-most technical authority within the infrastructure engineering organization. This role is responsible for defining infrastructure strategy, driving technology modernization, and ensuring the delivery of secure, scalable, and resilient platforms that support critical business operations and government mission requirements. As the highest-level individual contributor within the organization, the Principal IT Engineer provides technical leadership across enterprise infrastructure, network architecture, cloud platforms, identity services, virtualization, endpoint management, storage technologies, and automation. This individual establishes engineering standards, influences executive decision-making, drives architectural governance, and leads the resolution of the organization's most complex technical challenges. The successful candidate will have a proven track record of leading large-scale infrastructure initiatives, developing long-term technology roadmaps, mentoring engineering teams, and partnering with executive leadership to align technology investments with business objectives and mission requirements. This position requires an active U.S. Top Secret (TS/SCI) security clearance and the ability to maintain that clearance throughout employment. Candidates must be U.S. citizens and capable of working with sensitive and classified information in accordance with government and customer security requirements. Experience supporting classified environments and working within NIST, RMF, CMMC, FedRAMP, and related federal compliance frameworks is strongly desired. This position is ON-SITE only and is in San Diego, CA.

Requirements

Minimum 12+ years of progressive experience in enterprise infrastructure engineering, architecture, or operations.
Minimum 5 years operating at a senior technical leadership level with responsibility for enterprise architecture, engineering strategy, infrastructure modernization, or enterprise-wide initiatives.
Demonstrated success leading complex infrastructure modernization and transformation efforts.
Experience serving as a senior technical authority across multiple technology domains.
Experience developing enterprise architecture standards, governance processes, and long-term technology roadmaps.
Proven ability to translate business and mission requirements into scalable, secure, and supportable technical solutions.
Experience supporting classified, regulated, or government environments.
Experience partnering with executive leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
Deep expertise in enterprise infrastructure architecture, engineering, and operations.
Strong experience designing and supporting secure Microsoft-based environments, including cloud, identity, endpoint, and collaboration services.
Demonstrated expertise in network architecture, solution design, and infrastructure modernization.
Experience with enterprise virtualization, storage, data protection, and end-user computing platforms.
Strong understanding of automation, Infrastructure-as-Code, configuration management, and engineering best practices.
Experience designing and implementing Zero Trust architectures and security-focused infrastructure solutions.
Experience supporting classified, regulated, or government environments, including compliance with NIST, RMF, CMMC, and FedRAMP frameworks.
Proven ability to evaluate emerging technologies and translate business and mission requirements into scalable, secure, and supportable technical solutions.
Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field; or equivalent experience.
Active U.S. Top Secret (TS/SCI) security clearance required.
Must be a U.S. citizen.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree preferred.
Experience supporting GCC High, Azure Government, classified cloud environments, or equivalent highly regulated platforms preferred.
Relevant industry certifications such as CISSP, CISM, Microsoft, VMware, or cloud certifications preferred.
Experience working within NIST, RMF, CMMC, FedRAMP, and related federal compliance frameworks is strongly desired.

Responsibilities

Serve as the senior technical authority and subject matter expert for enterprise infrastructure services
Define and maintain strategic infrastructure roadmaps aligned with business and mission objectives
Lead the design, architecture, and implementation of enterprise-scale infrastructure solutions
Establish engineering standards, reference architectures, technical governance models, and operational frameworks
Drive enterprise-wide architectural decisions spanning infrastructure, networking, cloud platforms, identity services, and endpoint technologies
Evaluate emerging technologies and provide recommendations regarding adoption, modernization, lifecycle management, and investment strategy
Serve as a trusted technical advisor to executive leadership on technology strategy, risk management, and infrastructure investments
Lead technical decision-making for highly complex programs and initiatives spanning multiple engineering teams
Act as the final technical escalation point for high-risk architectural, security, operational, and performance-related issues
Partner with cybersecurity, compliance, and risk management teams to ensure infrastructure architectures meet security and regulatory requirements
Define enterprise network architectures supporting both classified and unclassified environments
Lead network modernization initiatives involving segmentation, resiliency, Zero Trust principles, and secure connectivity
Establish standards for network reliability, scalability, performance, and security
Lead end-to-end infrastructure and network solution design efforts, ensuring solutions are secure, supportable, and aligned with enterprise architecture standards
Produce and review technical designs, implementation strategies, and operational transition plans
Assess solution alternatives and provide recommendations that balance business needs, cost, risk, security, and operational supportability
Design and implement infrastructure solutions that comply with government, regulatory, and customer security requirements
Develop and maintain technical controls aligned with: NIST SP 800-171, NIST SP 800-53, RMF, CMMC, FedRAMP, Zero Trust Architecture principles
Support audits, accreditation activities, compliance assessments, and continuous monitoring initiatives
Ensure infrastructure services remain audit-ready and compliant with applicable contractual and regulatory requirements
Lead resolution efforts for the organization's most complex technical and operational incidents
Provide technical leadership during major incidents, service disruptions, and critical business-impacting events
Drive root cause analysis, corrective actions, and continuous improvement initiatives
Establish operational engineering standards, service reliability objectives, and performance metrics
Champion automation, Infrastructure-as-Code, configuration management, and engineering best practices
Identify technical debt and develop remediation and modernization strategies aligned with business priorities
Lead enterprise-wide infrastructure modernization and transformation initiatives
Partner with Program Managers, Architects, Cybersecurity teams, and Business Leaders to ensure successful delivery of strategic programs
Provide executive-level reporting, technical recommendations, architectural guidance, and risk assessments
Evaluate project dependencies, architectural impacts, implementation risks, and operational considerations
Influence prioritization of technology investments and engineering initiatives
Mentor engineers through technical leadership, architecture reviews, coaching, and knowledge sharing
Develop future technical leaders and contribute to organizational engineering maturity
Lead architecture reviews and engineering governance activities
Establish and promote engineering best practices across teams
Foster a culture of accountability, technical excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement
Represent Infrastructure Engineering in executive briefings, customer engagements, and strategic planning discussions
Influence technical decisions and organizational direction without direct managerial authority