Senior Software Systems Lead

MANTECH seeks a career and customer oriented Senior Software Systems Lead in Lexington Park, MD. This is a hybrid position with 4 days onsite and 1 day remote.

This person will serve as the primary technical authority for a high-priority Department of Defense Modeling & Simulation (M&S) initiative. In this key personnel role, you will architect and guide innovative, scalable simulation platforms while acting as a Trusted Technology Advisor to government stakeholders. This is an opportunity to shape the future of battlespace simulation through high-impact leadership, digital transformation, and advanced software systems design.

Responsibilities may include but are not limited to:

• Act as the principal technical liaison between engineering teams and government stakeholders, advising on software strategy, procurement (GOTS/COTS), and performance to align mission needs with technical deliverables
• Direct top-level software architectures for real-time simulation and complex behavior modeling, providing infrastructure recommendations to maximize scalability and reduce lifecycle costs
• Lead the transition from legacy frameworks to cloud-native, DevSecOps-enabled simulation platforms, ensuring alignment with contemporary digital engineering standards
• Oversee the integration of distributed simulation protocols (DIS, HLA, TENA) into the GRID-based Joint Simulation Environment (JSE) to facilitate seamless cross-domain interoperability
• Develop comprehensive simulation capabilities, including models, hardware interfaces, and user interfaces, utilizing C++ and modern development frameworks
• Mentor multi-disciplinary development teams while enforcing high standards for code quality, configuration management, and streamlined knowledge transfer through better documentation
• Define comprehensive test plan strategies and lead root-cause analysis for critical, system-level software issues to ensure robust performance and reliability

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related technical field
• 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in software engineering, including direct support to M&S initiatives
• Expertise with both on premise and cloud-based development environments (Azure and AWS)
• Expert-level proficiency in C++, with demonstrated experience designing and implementing high-performance simulation systems
• Hands-on experience using a wide variety of commercially available development tools such as the Atlassian Tool Suite (Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket), Git, and Microsoft Visual Studio
• Proven track record of leading digital transformation initiatives using Agile methodologies and CI/CD pipelines, * Experience with multi-level security environment development and deployment
• Experience utilizing cloud-based development environments and tools
• Direct experience supporting tactical aviation systems and distributed battlespace environments
• In-depth understanding of synthetic environment generation platforms such as NGTS, JSAF, or equivalent frameworks
• Strong communication skills with the ability to present complex engineering trade-offs to senior technical and non-technical audiences

Clearance Requirements

• Must possess an active Top Secret clearance with current SCI eligibility

Physical Requirements

• Must be able to remain in a stationary position approximately 50% of the time
• Occasionally required to move throughout office spaces to access equipment, files, or interact with co-workers
• Must be able to effectively communicate with team members, leadership, and customers, including in presentation settings, and convey accurate technical information