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Lead Systems Engineer Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

Develop system automation and system integration of business processes. * Improves engineering job ... Be part of our Cloud journey and as a member of our team help lead Software automation and ...

This position offers the opportunity to work on a new project early in its architecture, influence processes, and grow into or serve as a Lead Systems Engineer. Responsibilities * Design, develop ...

Lead Systems Engineer - Agile Team Systems Engineering Leidos is seeking Lead Systems Engineers to join the Air Traffic Business Area within the Homeland Sector, supporting the development of next ...

Senior Systems Engineer (S)

Dahlgren, VA · On-site

$106K - $145K/yr

Lead systems engineering lifecycle activities from requirements through deployment * Experience with Distributed Interface System (DIS) and High-Level Architecture (HLA) compliant systems * Apply ...

Senior Systems Engineer (S)

Dahlgren, VA · On-site

$106K - $145K/yr

Lead systems engineering lifecycle activities from requirements through deployment * Experience with Distributed Interface System (DIS) and High-Level Architecture (HLA) compliant systems * Apply ...

In this role, you will serve as the engineering team's Systems Engineering Lead, ensuring engineering process compliance and standards across the project team. This involves ensuring complex software ...

Showing results 41-60

Lead Systems Engineer information

See Virginia salary details

$90.2K

$197.6K

$250.8K

How much do lead systems engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 12, 2026, the average yearly pay for lead systems engineer in Virginia is $197,618.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $165,600.00 and $250,800.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a lead systems engineer?

To thrive as a Lead Systems Engineer, you need advanced knowledge in systems architecture, network administration, and troubleshooting, usually backed by a degree in computer science or engineering. Familiarity with tools like VMware, Linux/Windows operating systems, cloud platforms (AWS, Azure), and certifications such as CISSP or CompTIA are often required. Strong leadership, project management, and communication skills enable effective team coordination and successful project delivery. These skills are vital for designing robust systems, ensuring reliability, and driving innovation within technical teams.

How does a lead systems engineer typically collaborate with cross-functional teams during large-scale projects?

A Lead Systems Engineer plays a central role in coordinating with cross-functional teams such as software developers, network specialists, project managers, and QA engineers. They facilitate clear communication between technical and non-technical stakeholders, ensuring requirements are well-understood and that implementation stays on track. Lead Systems Engineers often organize and lead design reviews, troubleshoot integration challenges, and mediate technical decisions to align with overall business goals. This collaborative approach is essential for delivering complex system solutions efficiently and effectively.

What is the difference between Lead Systems Engineer vs Systems Engineer?

AspectLead Systems EngineerSystems Engineer
CredentialsBachelor's or higher in Engineering, certifications like INCOSE, PMP often preferredBachelor's degree in Engineering or related field, certifications optional
Work EnvironmentLeading projects, coordinating teams, overseeing system design and integrationSupporting system development, testing, and implementation tasks
Employer & IndustryTechnology, aerospace, defense, manufacturing companiesSimilar industries, often within larger engineering teams
Search & Comparison IntentUnderstanding leadership roles, project management, advanced responsibilitiesEntry to mid-level system design and support roles

The main difference between a Lead Systems Engineer and a Systems Engineer lies in their responsibilities and leadership scope. Lead Systems Engineers oversee project coordination, team management, and system integration, often requiring additional certifications and experience. Systems Engineers focus on supporting system development and testing. Both roles are vital in engineering projects, but the Lead role emphasizes leadership and strategic oversight.

What does a lead systems engineer do?

A Lead Systems Engineer oversees the design, integration, and management of complex systems within an organization. They coordinate teams, ensure system reliability and security, and often serve as the primary technical point of contact for projects. Their responsibilities include evaluating system requirements, troubleshooting issues, and ensuring that all components work harmoniously. Lead Systems Engineers also mentor junior staff and collaborate with other departments to ensure project success.
What are the most commonly searched types of Lead Systems Engineer jobs in Virginia? The most popular types of Lead Systems Engineer jobs in Virginia are:
What job categories do people searching Lead Systems Engineer jobs in Virginia look for? The top searched job categories for Lead Systems Engineer jobs in Virginia are:
What cities in Virginia are hiring for Lead Systems Engineer jobs? Cities in Virginia with the most Lead Systems Engineer job openings:
What are popular job titles related to Lead Systems Engineer jobs in VA? For Lead Systems Engineer jobs in VA, the most frequently searched job titles are:
Infographic showing various Lead Systems Engineer job openings in Virginia as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 75% Full Time, and 25% Contract. Highlights an 75% In-person, and 25% Hybrid job distribution, with an average salary of $197,618 per year, or $95 per hour.

Lead Systems Engineer - (Hybrid)

CareFirst

Reston, VA • On-site

Full-time

Retirement

Re-posted 10 days ago


CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield rating

7.3

Company rating: 7.3 out of 10

Based on 31 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

234th of 304 rated insurance


Job description

Resp & Qualifications

PURPOSE: 
Defines, designs and develops system requirements.  Performs trade-off analysis of performance, life-cycle cost, risk, producibility, and other system or program requirements.  Assesses architecture and current hardware limitations, defines and designs system specifications, and evaluates input/output processes and working parameters for hardware/software compatibility.  Coordinates design of subsystems and integration of total system.  Defines system support requirements to include monitoring, capacity, staffing and patching/updating.  Analyzes and resolves program support deficiencies.  Conducts independent technical investigations in systems design.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

  • Installs, tunes, upgrades, troubleshoots, and maintains all computer systems relevant to the supported applications including all necessary tasks to perform operating system administration, user account management, disaster recovery strategy and networking configuration.
  • Develop and implement techniques to prevent system problems, troubleshoots incidents to recover services, and support the root cause analysis.
  • Evaluates new systems by performing in-depth tests, including end-user reviews. Researches software and related products to support recommendations and purchasing. Determines systems integration issues by evaluating components; developing and completing performance tests; analyzing test data; studying project requirements; analyzing user and potential user input; evaluating similar and related products and systems. Develop system automation and system integration of business processes.  
  • Improves engineering job knowledge by attending educational workshops; reviewing professional publications; establishing personal networks; benchmarking state-of-the-art practices; participating in professional societies.
  • Acts as a mentor for junior and senior team members.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY:
Leads a team utilizing a matrix management system.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Education Level: Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology or Computer Science OR in lieu of a Bachelor's degree, an additional 4 years of relevant work experience is required in addition to the required work experience.

Licenses/Certifications:

  • AWS certifications, minimum of One is required.

Experience: 8 years proven success overseeing the design, development, and implementation of software systems and applications.
Preferred Qualifications:

  • Minimum of 10 years of IT experience of which at least 5 years must be in Automation and Administration.
  • Previous Linux System administration is required.
  • Must be well versed in writing Terraform plans, Ansible playbooks, and Python code. 
  • Other experience with different automation tools and languages instead of Python to code infrastructure for automation is acceptable.
  • Must be well versed in writing Linux Bash scripts.
  • Must Have Hands on current Implementation and Production level experience AWS Cloud.
  • Hands on experience with Automation and Infrastructure Provisioning is a must Our goal is to only provision infrastructure with code. 
  • Current and actual Production level experience with Terraform and Ansible is Required. 
  • Experience with integrating other tools like CyberArk, Datadog, F5, WebSeal, Venafi is desired.
  • Must have hands on experience in writing Lambda functions preferably in Python (Boto3). 
  • Must have strong hands-on knowledge of AWS platform and services but not limited to VPC, Subnets, NACLs, Security Groups, EC2, S3, IAM, ELBs, Lambdas, Cloud Watch, CloudTrail, EKS etc. 
  • Experience with AWS CLI is desired.
  • Minimum of One AWS certification is required.
  • Hands-on experience with Containers, Amazon EKS is a big plus.
  • A great understanding of various DevOps toolchains, including Git/repo, Crucible, Jenkins etc.
  • Solid understanding and experience with a CI/CD tool chain.
  • 10+ years of overall experience in IT including hands-on Development and Systems engineering background.
  • Experience with Datacenter migration and Enterprise Cloud transformation efforts.
  • Experience with SRE principles and transformation.
  • 3+ years of experience with implementation of Containerization (Kubernetes), Cloud technologies (AWS, Azure, or Google, etc.), DevOps tool chain (Ansible, Jenkins, Artifactory, bitbucket, etc.), and technical patterns (IaC, Automated Provisioning/Release, CI/CD, etc.).
  • Solid understanding of Software coding techniques and experience with full spectrum of Software engineering (Build, Integration, Test, Releasing and Deployment) leveraging Python.
  • Experience in Developing and/or challenging engineering solutions/practices and collaborating with peers within and outside of immediate team, including customers (Dev, Architects, Engineers).

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs)

  • Communicates Architectural decisions, plans, goals, and strategies, while highlighting short-term trade-offs vs. long-term commitments and costs.
  • Engage in and improve the end-to-end Lifecycle of services, starting from Inception & design, deployment, operations, and refinement.
  • Support activities, including System design consulting, developing software platforms and frameworks, capacity planning, and launch reviews.
  • Willingness to roll up the sleeves to investigate issues and engage Customers is required.
  • Willingness and aptitude to learn New AWS services and other technologies as required.
  • Systems Scalability and sustainability leveraging automation and strive to improve our systems with changes that improve reliability and velocity.
  • Experience with Enterprise Cloud transformation efforts.
  • Be part of our Cloud journey and as a member of our team help lead Software automation and reliability of our platforms.
  • Actively participate and help guide customers on using Cloud-native design and architecture patterns.
  • Provide Consultation on Technology infrastructure planning and engineering for assigned systems; Assesses the implications of technology strategies on infrastructure capabilities.
  • Build strategy to migrate Legacy applications by conversion to multiple Microservices and hosting on AWS Cloud platform.
  • Leverage Cloud-native architecture components including Containers, immutable infrastructure, Microservices, Service Mesh etc., to build highly available and Fault tolerant applications.
  • Research on the global technology trends and their applicability to FEPOC products in support of our internal development teams and business.
  • Promotes and ensures Modern application design, applies engineering best practices in the development and operations life cycle and mitigates vulnerabilities.
  • Monitors and manages the Stability, Availability, and Performance of enterprise systems and platforms across IT domains.
  • Maintain and continually improve (patch and upgrade) our Cloud-based infrastructure.
  • Makes data-driven recommendations and decisions and continuously improves the overall efficacy and efficiency of our software delivery capability.
  • Mentoring peers as well as engaging with others across teams and socializing solutions.
  • Understanding of Cloud Native Architecture.
  • Linux, Shell scripting, and general admin skills.
  • Network, Security, Plugins, & Storage Skills.
  • AWS skills: EC2, S3, EBS, EFS, IAM, VPC, Lambda etc.
  • Cloud and DevOps certifications, e.g., AWS or Azure Solutions Architect and CKA.
  • Strong skills are desired in each of the following areas.
  • Development:  Experience programming with one or more languages: Python, Java, Groovy, Go, etc.
  • IAC Tools for Platform Automation:  Strong skills and experience in at least one: Ansible, and Terraform, AWS Cloud formation, CDK.
  • Containers: Docker or other OCI-certified containers- is a Plus
  • Container Orchestration Platform: Experience with Kubernetes, AWS EKS, AWS ECS is a plus.
  • Service Mesh: Istio, AWS App Mesh, OpenShift Service Mesh etc.
  • Platform Monitoring, Observability, & Performance Tools:  Data Dog, Cloud Watch etc.
  • DevOps Tools: Git/Repo, Crucible, Bitbucket, Jira, Ansible, Puppet, Jenkins, Argo CD, Bamboo, Maven, Artifactory, Nexus etc.
  • Other Required Skills:
        Understanding of Cloud Native Architecture  
        Linux, Shell scripting, and general admin skills
        Network, Security, Plugins, & Storage Skills
        AWS skills: EC2, S3, EBS, EFS, IAM, VPC, Lambda etc.
        Cloud and DevOps certifications, e.g., AWS Licenses/Certifications
     

Salary Range: 115,128 - 228,657

Salary Range Disclaimer

The disclosed range estimate has not been adjusted for the applicable geographic differential associated with the location at which the work is being performed. This compensation range is specific and considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate's work experience, education/training, internal peer equity, and market and business consideration. It is not typical for an individual to be hired at the top of the range, as compensation decisions depend on each case's facts and circumstances, including but not limited to experience, internal equity, and location. In addition to your compensation, CareFirst offers a comprehensive benefits package, various incentive programs/plans, and 401k contribution programs/plans (all benefits/incentives are subject to eligibility requirements).

Department

Cloud Platform Engineering

Equal Employment Opportunity

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield is an Equal Opportunity (EEO) employer.  It is the policy of the Company to provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.

Where To Apply

Please visit our website to apply: www.carefirst.com/careers

Federal Disc/Physical Demand

Note:  The incumbent is required to immediately disclose any debarment, exclusion, or other event that makes him/her ineligible to perform work directly or indirectly on Federal health care programs.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The associate is primarily seated while performing the duties of the position.  Occasional walking or standing is required.  The hands are regularly used to write, type, key and handle or feel small controls and objects.  The associate must frequently talk and hear.  Weights up to 25 pounds are occasionally lifted.

Sponsorship in US

Must be eligible to work in the U.S. without Sponsorship

#LI-ZW1 


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