Systems architect Jobs in Washington, DC

Chief Systems Architect

At Two Six Technologies, we build, deploy, and implement innovative products that solve the world's most complex challenges today. Through unrivaled collaboration and unwavering trust, we push the boundaries of what's possible to empower our team and support our customers in building a safer global future.

Overview of Opportunity

Two Six Technologies is seeking a visionary Chief Systems Architect to serve as the overarching technical authority for a massive, multi-faceted government program. This is not a standard single-product architecture role; you will be responsible for System-of-Systems (SoS) integration, harmonizing disparate architectures, legacy platforms, and novel partner solutions into a unified, secure, and resilient ecosystem.

In this pivotal role, you will define the blueprint for interoperability, translate complex operational requirements into distributed technical components, and ensure the collective solution minimizes total cost of ownership while maximizing mission impact. If you excel at turning architectural chaos into a synchronized, high-performing global capability, this role is for you.

The work will be onsite based out of the Arlington, Virginia office.

What You Will Do

As the Chief Systems Architect at Two Six Technologies, you will drive the transformation of mission-critical systems for a high-visibility government customer. Your core responsibilities will include:

• Drive System-of-Systems Strategy: Design, own, and execute the macro-level enterprise architecture strategy. Define the integration fabrics, APIs, and data standards required to tie together diverse vendor solutions and legacy applications into a cohesive, cloud-native ecosystem.
• Serve as the Ultimate Technical Authority: Act as the primary technical arbiter across cloud, data engineering, distributed microservices, and cross-domain solution integration.
• Architect for Interoperability & Security: Establish a composable framework that ensures seamless interoperability across disparate technical stacks while enforcing strict DevSecOps pipelines and Zero-Trust Network Access (ZTNA) principles.
• Translate Mission to Tech: Partner with product owners, program executives, and government stakeholders to dissect vague, high-level operational needs into rigorous technical specifications and architectural allocations.
• Advise & Influence Leadership: Evaluate complex technology trade-offs (e.g., build vs. buy, tech debt vs. speed), identify emerging innovation vectors, and deliver compelling, strategic briefings to senior corporate and government mission leaders.
• Unify Engineering Teams: Provide technical mentorship and alignment across multiple high-performing, multi-disciplinary engineering cohorts to ensure decentralized execution matches the centralized architectural vision.

What You Need to Be Successful

To be considered for this high-impact role, you must meet the following baseline criteria:

• Experience: 15+ years of progressive IT and engineering experience, with at least 5+ years as a Chief or Principal Architect leading large-scale, multi-vendor modernization and systems integration efforts.
• Complex Integration Expertise: Proven track record of successfully integrating disparate architectures, heterogeneous data streams, and siloed software solutions into a singular enterprise platform for the DoW or IC.
• Cloud & Distributed Systems Mastery: Deep architecture experience with AWS GovCloud/Azure Government, Kubernetes, container orchestration, and mesh networks.
• Data Fabric Modernization: Strong background engineering modern data platforms, distributed data systems, and real-time analytics pipelines.
• Agile at Scale: Demonstrated proficiency guiding large-scale architectures within Agile frameworks (e.g., SAFe, Scrum@Scale) and automated CI/CD delivery pipelines.
• Executive Communication: Exceptional ability to distill highly complex, multi-layered technical strategies into clear, value-driven roadmaps for non-technical and senior military/civilian leaders.
• Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent experience/certifications).
• Mobility: Willingness to travel as required by the position.

Security Clearance

• Eligibility to obtain and maintain a DoD clearance

Two Six Technologies is committed to providing competitive and comprehensive compensation packages that reflect the value we place on our employees and their contributions. We believe in rewarding skills, experience, and performance. Our offerings include but are not limited to, medical, dental, and vision insurance, life and disability insurance, retirement benefits, paid leave, tuition assistance and professional development. The projected salary range listed for this position is annualized. This is a general guideline and not a guarantee of salary. Salary is one component of our total compensation package and the specific salary offered is determined by various factors, including, but not limited to education, experience, knowledge, skills, geographic location, as well as contract specific affordability and organizational requirements.

Salary Range

$160,000 - $240,000 USD