Senior Systems Engineer

Belay Technologies•Laurel, MD

27d

About The Position

Belay Technologies is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to join our intel team. We just got the keys to the kingdom: approval to move our CNO development the cloud! You'll be the technical pioneer architecting how we leap from a patchwork legacy environment to a modern, cloud-native backbone that can support AI-enabled development, FVEY collaboration, and next generation of CNO development - all while the mission keeps running.

Requirements

TS/SCI Clearance with polygraph
12 yrs., B.S. in a technical discipline or 4 additional yrs. in place of B.S.
Deep systems engineering expertise - you have built, broken, and rebuilt complex enterprise infrastructure. You understand the realities of legacy environments, know why "lift and shift" usually fails, and can design pragmatic migration paths that keep systems operations during transformation.
Production AWS/cloud architecture experience - you have architected and deployed cloud solutions in production (not just labs), understand cloud economics and trade-offs, and can confidently navigate VPC design, storage tiers, compute options, and security controls to build scalable solutions.
Infrastructure modernization experience - you have led technical transformations before, know how to prioritize competing demands, can build ROI models that resonate with leadership, and understand the discipline of incremental migration.
Technical communication and stakeholder management - you translate effectively between cloud consultants, mission developers, security teams, and executives. You build consensus across technical and non-technical audiences, document architectural decisions clearly, and can advocate for solutions without drowning people in jargon.
Understanding of agency specific nuances with Cloud Migration, specifically with regards to ATO and the WANDS environment.
Service mindset - you see yourself as a customer-service professional first. Technology choices serve mission needs, never the other way around
Collaboration over heroics - you leverage your embedded position through constant communication and iteration with teammates and customers, delivering solutions quickly rather than perfectly
Mission-driven pragmatism - you understand the strategic goals and build toward that vision while solving today's most pressing issues. Long-term architecture matters, but not at the expense of immediate mission impact. You design for optionality - enabling hybrid approaches where teams can leverage common cloud resources while continuing to manage their own infrastructure when mission requires.
Team cultivation - you help everyone around you grow, share knowledge generously, and empower others to deliver exceptional service
Iterative delivery - you recognize the privilege of proximity to mission, and make the most of it through rapid prototyping, tight feedback loops, and incremental wins

Nice To Haves

CNO experience - experience in CNO spaces or similar high-side environments is highly valued.
CNO development experience - understanding what developers actually need makes you a more effective infrastructure architect.
Enclave experience - you understand what makes restricted environments different - the constraints, the processes, and how security controls impact architecture decisions.
Cost optimization expertise - experience right-sizing cloud resources, building FinOps practices, or making defensible recommendations about when cloud implementations actually save money vs. when managed service costs spiral.

Responsibilities

Lead cloud architecture strategy, designing the technical roadmap and reusable patterns that enable teams to leverage cloud solutions where it makes sense. Starting with high-ROI pilots, you'll develop "easy button" templates and common resources for teams to adopt while preserving the flexibility for organizations to continue managing their own on-premise infrastructure when mission demands it.
Architect end-to-end solutions for complex CNE services, tackling challenges like moving 90%+ capacity services to cloud storage, creating integration patterns between legacy systems and cloud-native services, and ensuring solutions maintain security controls while improving performance and scalability.
Conduct technical assessments of existing infrastructure, working with stakeholders to unpack services running on aging platforms, document dependencies, evaluate utility, and build prioritization frameworks based on EOL dates, mission impact, cost efficiency, and user pain points.
Partner with cloud professional services and mission stakeholders, working alongside AWS ProServe teams to scope engagements, validate architectures, and ensure cloud solutions meet the unique requirements of CNE development, testing, and collaboration while reporting directly to the Y12 technical director.
Design modernized workflows and user experiences, reimagining how CNE developers interact with their development environment - from implementing unified SSO across disparate clients to architecting solutions for large-scale datasets.
Above all ... make CNO the best place for software development at the agency. Create the development environment that will attract the best talent and keep them here, instead of chasing them away.

Benefits

8 weeks paid leave - 4 weeks of personal leave, 3 Yay! days, take off on your birthday,11 paid holidays and optional leave up to 6 days through Belay's volunteer program
10% matching in 401(k) contributions vested on day one
$5,000 annual training/tuition
Student Loan Repayment Program
100% company-funded HSA
Rich medical coverage (100% coinsurance)
Dental coverage including orthodontia
Up to $420,000 in life insurance, premiums 100% company funded
Amazon Prime, gym reimbursement, monthly lunches, games and prizes
Pet adoption program, generous referral bonus program, fun events, and more!