Computer Systems Architect - Mid to Experienced Level (MD TX)

Summary

The Computer Architect is responsible for planning, designing, and governing the architecture of enterprise computing systems that support the mission, operations, and strategic objectives of the agency. This position provides technical leadership in the development of secure, scalable, resilient, and interoperable information technology solutions that comply with federal laws, regulations, and government-wide architecture standards.

Duties

Computer Systems Architects at NSA use commercial and government-developed hardware, software, networking, and security products to design, develop, and optimize the structure and performance of computer systems and computing platforms. Responsibilities may include: - Modernize IT architecture through analysis of research and introducing changes based on evolving project requirements by designing, developing, and optimizing the structure and performance of computer systems and computing platforms - Integrate industry trends, by evaluating and selecting emerging technologies to improve system performance, scalability, reliability, and efficiency through technologies and standards and new vendor features - Evaluate emerging technologies, standards and new vendor features, while supporting research and development efforts for new technologies, networking solutions, virtualization, cloud computing and artificial intelligence capabilities - Collaborate with experts in technical and application teams to identify, evaluate and recommend technical solutions to support project requirements - Produce compliance results for established project requirements and IT architecture while ensuring systems architecture meet security, reliability, availability and regulatory compliance requirements - Define and analyze data requirements, mapping legacy data stores and formats to logical and physical data models, review technical designs providing guidance on architectural best practices - Propose standard ways for information transport between IT systems and stored within corporate knowledge databases - Perform architectural alignment of the enterprise logical data model and physical data models, while supporting capacity planning and long-term infrastructure strategy to accommodate organizational growth - Create technical documentation, architecture diagrams, and design specifications for stakeholders and development teams - Provide technical leadership and mentoring to engineering teams Multiple opportunities are available in the following Areas of Specialization (AOS): AOS: Environment Maintenance and Sustainment (EMS) The selectee will be responsible for the maintenance and sustainment of advanced computing systems, ensuring their continuous operation and optimal performance. This role focuses on the upkeep and enhancement of existing systems rather than architectural design. The selectee will perform routine maintenance tasks to ensure the stability and performance of advanced computing systems, staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends, technologies, and best practices related to system maintenance and sustainment. They will work with technical teams to identify, configure, and assess system upgrades and patches, articulating and mitigating issues as needed. The selectee will implement system updates, patches, and enhancements to ensure the continuous operation of advanced computing systems, provide technical guidance and support to other team members and organizational units as needed, and troubleshoot and resolve system-related issues. Additionally, they will conduct routine audits and vulnerability analyses to ensure the security and integrity of advanced computing systems, integrate and configure hardware and software. AOS: Enterprise IT Architecture (EIA) The selectee will be responsible for providing robust and secure services that manage and protect the identities, credentials, and access permissions of users and systems within the NSA enterprise, while also serving the IC and DOW communities. This role involves developing and implementing encryption as a service and key management as a service for users across the agency and the Intelligence Community (IC). The selectee will manage digital rights management, and enterprise encryption libraries, ensuring continuous availability and optimal performance of these systems. They will collaborate with stakeholders to define system requirements and develop detailed technical specifications, providing technical guidance and support to other team members and organizational units as needed. AOS: Advanced Computing Systems (ACS) The selectee will be responsible for researching and evaluating next-generation cross-domain technologies. This presents an opportunity to work with commercial vendors to assess new tools that will shape the enterprise by identifying and configuring innovative solutions to facilitate secure data transfer across security domains. This role requires a strong understanding of operating systems, product evaluation, security protocols, network architecture, and systems integration to support cross-domain technologies, cloud computing, and virtualization technologies. The selectee will be responsible for conducting risk assessments and vulnerability analyses to ensure the security and integrity of cross-domain data transfers. They will integrate hardware and software component configurations to meet security and performance requirements.

Qualifications

The qualifications listed are the minimum acceptable to be considered for the position. Relevant experience must be in the design/development of computer or information systems and include engineering hardware and/or software over their lifecycle (i.e., requirements analysis, design, implementation, testing, integration, deployment/installation, and maintenance), programming, computer systems research, reverse engineering, and/or computer/network security. Completion of military training in a relevant area such as JCAC (Joint Cyber Analysis course) will be considered towards the relevant experience requirement (i.e., 24-week JCAC course will count as 6 months of experience). FULL PERFORMANCE Entry is with a Bachelor's degree plus 3 years of relevant experience or a Master's degree plus 1 year of relevant experience or a Doctoral degree and no experience. An Associate's degree plus 5 years of relevant experience may be considered for individuals with in-depth experience that is clearly related to the position. SENIOR Entry is with a Bachelor's degree plus 6 years of relevant experience or a Master's degree plus 4 years of relevant experience or a Doctoral degree and 2 years of relevant experience. An Associate's degree plus 8 years of relevant experience may be considered for individuals with in-depth experience that is clearly related to the position.

Education

Degree must be in Computer Science (CS). Related fields (e.g., Engineering, Mathematics, Information Technology, Information Systems) may be considered relevant if the programs contain, at minimum, a concentration of courses in the following foundational CS areas: algorithms; computer architecture (not network architecture); programming methodologies and languages; data structures; logic and computation; and advanced mathematics (for example, calculus, discrete mathematics). Note: Please upload a copy of your transcripts from all schools attended prior to applying for this position. Unofficial transcripts are fine at this stage. The minimum qualifications for this position require a degree that demonstrates a concentration of Computer Science (CS) courses in foundational CS areas.