Systems Engineer

At Ardent, we hire people who want more than a job — they want to serve a mission that matters. Our teams support the federal government’s most critical national security and defense priorities, helping protect the nation, strengthen resilience, and advance the technologies and capabilities that keep America secure. For veterans, cleared professionals, and purpose-driven innovators, Ardent is a place to continue serving alongside a team that understands the importance of the mission and the people behind it.

We also know top talent has choices, which is why we back our mission with benefits and flexibility that stand out: competitive pay, comprehensive health coverage, flexible PTO, federal holidays off, tuition reimbursement, professional development support, wellness stipends, and a culture that values and rewards hard work, dedication, and adaptability. If you want to build something meaningful, while enjoying the kind of flexibility and support that you need to do your best work — Ardent is where your next mission begins.

Ardent is seeking a System Engineer to join our team.  

This is a onsite position in Suitland, MD.

Position Description:

Ardent is seeking a Systems Engineer to provide technical leadership in the design, implementation, integration, and maintenance of enterprise IT systems. This role is responsible for translating business and mission requirements into scalable, secure, and sustainable technical solutions while ensuring alignment with enterprise architecture standards and best practices.
The ideal candidate will possess deep systems engineering expertise, experience supporting complex IT environments, and a strong understanding of systems architecture, Agile methodologies, and solution design. Experience within the geospatial industry is highly desirable.

Responsibilities and Duties:

• Provide technical leadership for the design, development, implementation, integration, and maintenance of enterprise IT systems and solutions.
• Analyze business, operational, and mission requirements and translate them into technical architectures and system design solutions.
• Develop and maintain system engineering artifacts, including system architecture diagrams, interface specifications, requirements traceability matrices, and technical documentation.
• Apply systems engineering principles, frameworks, and best practices throughout the system lifecycle.
• Ensure solutions align with enterprise architecture standards, security requirements, and organizational objectives.
• Support the development and implementation of scalable, reliable, and secure IT systems.
• Lead system design reviews, technical assessments, and architecture evaluations.
• Collaborate with stakeholders, project managers, developers, architects, and operational teams to ensure successful system delivery.
• Drive the adoption and utilization of Agile and Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) methodologies across engineering teams.
• Support quality assurance activities to ensure compliance with established standards, policies, and best practices.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend improvements to system performance, reliability, and maintainability.
• Identify technical risks and develop mitigation strategies throughout the system lifecycle.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to engineering and project teams.

Requirements: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field
• Minimum of 15 years of professional experience in systems engineering, systems architecture, enterprise IT, or related technical leadership roles.
• Experience supporting organizations within the geospatial industry.
• Experience with enterprise architecture frameworks such as TOGAF, DoDAF, or similar.
• Familiarity with cloud-based architectures and modern DevSecOps practices.
• Experience supporting large-scale government, defense, intelligence, or mission-critical systems.
• Additional certifications related to systems engineering, architecture, cloud technologies, or Agile methodologies.

Due to the nature of the work we support, all candidates in consideration for this role must be willing to undergo the government issued background investigation process.

Ardent is an equal opportunity employer. We will not discriminate in employment, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment against any employee or job applicant on the bases of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran's status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or any other basis protected by state, local, or federal law.