Mission Systems Engineer

Brandes Associates Inc. • , DC

2d • $145,000 - $165,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Brandes Associates Inc. (BAI) is seeking a Mission Systems Engineer with 5+ years of experience to join the Agile Empowerment Technologies (AET) product support and sustainment team. The Mission Systems Engineer supports deployed AET software products used for DoD Organizational Messaging, information sharing, monitoring, and related mission workflows. This is an operational engineering role focused on customer support, product sustainment, release delivery, field issue investigation, documentation, training, and support to embedded Product Support Engineers. The Mission Systems Engineering team ensures the product can be delivered, operated, supported, and sustained in customer environments. The ideal candidate is comfortable learning complex software products, customer workflows, system architecture, and operational data formats through formal and on-the-job training. The ideal candidate will be located in the Washington, DC/Baltimore, MD metro area with the ability to drive to Frederick, MD and Annapolis Junction, MD based upon operational need. (Hybrid work from home 85% / multiple customer sites 15%).

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in a customer-facing technical role such as product support, systems integration, field engineering, system administration, testing, or operations support.
• Strong troubleshooting skills, including the ability to diagnose issues using logs, system behavior, user reports, configuration details, and available technical evidence.
• Ability to articulate technical information clearly to customers, field support personnel, developers, and non-technical stakeholders.
• 5+ years supporting, administering, or troubleshooting Java applications
• 5+ years working with Linux command line tools, Bash scripting, SQL queries, logs, system errors, and configuration files
• 5+ years deploying, maintaining and troubleshooting web application environments, including web servers such as Jetty, Apache, or IIS, networking concepts, sockets, web services, PKI, certificates, and key management
• 5+ years supporting software releases, patches, vulnerability remediation packages, IAVAs, security updates, or customer delivery artifacts
• 5+ years’ experience conducting manual QA, validation testing, installation testing, or customer acceptance support
• Current DoD 8140 / DCWF qualifications required for the applicable work role and customer environment; COMPTIA Security Plus will cover this role
• Active DoD Secret clearance at the time of application
• US citizenship at the time of application

Nice To Haves

• Ability to read, understand and code in Java or JavaScript for troubleshooting is desired
• Experience with virtual machines, cloud environments, Azure, development/test environments, or internal support infrastructure is desirable
• Experience with DoD Organizational Messaging, Information Transport Service, Defense Messaging, Naval Messaging, Military Messaging, Legacy Messaging, or related mission systems is desirable
• Experience using AI-enabled tools, copilots, or lightweight agents to improve technical support, troubleshooting, log analysis, ticket triage, knowledge-base development, documentation, test-case generation, scripting, release support, or engineering workflow automation is desirable

Responsibilities

• Support customer and Product Support Engineer escalations through ticket triage, investigation, troubleshooting, and resolution support
• Assist with advanced product support for customers without embedded Product Support Engineer coverage
• Review logs, system behavior, customer reports, configuration details, and other technical evidence to help diagnose product or environment issues
• Help document issue severity, customer impact, workaround availability, and technical findings so issues can move through the appropriate support or engineering path
• Communicate technical information clearly to customers, Product Support Engineers, and internal stakeholders
• Assist with preparation and validation of customer-facing product releases, patches, IAVAs, advisories, and other update packages
• Help consolidate installers, dependencies, scripts, documentation, and release artifacts into customer-deliverable packages
• Support installation, upgrade, patching, and validation activities through scripting, documentation updates, troubleshooting, and field coordination
• Participate in post-delivery support to help resolve issues identified during customer installation, testing, or operational use
• Create and update product documentation, installation guidance, release notes, advisories, support procedures, and customer-facing technical materials.
• Support updates to training materials, exercises, environments, and related documentation as products and customer needs evolve.
• Participate in operator, administrator, or product-specific training for customers during formal engagements or on-the-job support activities.
• Provide product knowledge and troubleshooting support to embedded Product Support Engineers.
• Assist with site integration, backend system support, system validation, and field issue investigation when needed.
• Provide backup support during planned coverage gaps, urgent field needs, or surge demand.
• Support occasional on-site activities, customer engagements, training events, or travel based on operational need.
• Coordinate with development, support, field, and management stakeholders to help move customer issues toward resolution.
• Assist in preparing clear technical inputs for development review, workaround validation, procedure validation, defect analysis, or change-control activity.
• Maintain accurate status and next-action information for assigned work in the team workflow.
• Communicate blockers, unclear requirements, priority conflicts, or customer-impacting risks in a timely manner.

Benefits

• Salary will be based on current qualifications, directly related experience, geographic location, and possible contractual requirements which could fall outside of this range.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level