Engineering Manager

Assured Information Security (AIS) is seeking a highly skilled and dynamic Engineering Manager to lead our Trusted Systems engineering and systems development teams. In this leadership role, you will drive technical excellence, foster innovation, and ensure the successful delivery of high-quality, scalable, and secure systems. You will play a key role in growing our technical business by supporting the creation of whitepapers and proposals that showcase our technical capabilities and solutions. Additionally, you will lead IR&D (Internal Research and Development) activities to explore new technologies and methodologies to strengthen our Trusted Systems solutions. This position requires strong expertise in enterprise architecture, scalability, availability, and aligning technical efforts with commercial objectives to help scale our business. You will also manage direct reports, conduct performance reviews, and provide staff coaching to support team growth and development.

What You'll Do:

Technical Leadership & Enterprise Architecture:

• Lead and mentor a team of engineers in the design and development of large-scale, distributed Trusted Systems. Provide strategic guidance on enterprise architecture and ensure the systems are scalable, highly available, secure, and maintainable. Champion modern architectural approaches such as microservices, event-driven architectures, and cloud-native solutions.

IR&D Leadership:

• Lead Internal Research and Development (IR&D) activities for the Trusted Systems business unit. Identify and evaluate emerging technologies, methodologies, and trends to drive innovation and enhance the competitiveness of our Trusted Systems offerings. Foster a culture of innovation within the engineering team by exploring new concepts, prototyping solutions, and providing actionable insights into future technological advancements.

Scalability & High Availability:

• Oversee the development of systems that are designed for optimal scalability and high availability. Ensure the implementation of performance tuning, load balancing, and failure recovery mechanisms to maintain system stability and performance under increasing loads.

Whitepaper & Proposal Development:

• Collaborate with technical and business teams to create whitepapers and technical proposals that demonstrate the company's engineering capabilities, innovative solutions, and the value we provide to clients. Contribute to the development of compelling technical content that supports sales, marketing, and business development efforts, helping drive new business and partnerships.

Direct Report Management & Staff Coaching:

• Manage a team of software engineers, overseeing their day-to-day activities and ensuring they meet both individual and team goals. Conduct regular performance reviews to assess technical and professional development, set clear expectations, and identify areas for improvement. Provide coaching and mentorship to help staff grow in their careers, encouraging skill development, leadership growth, and personal development.

Commercial Capability Development:

• Work closely with sales, product management, and business development teams to ensure that technical solutions meet market needs. Help translate technical concepts into marketable product features and develop strategies to align engineering with customer-facing initiatives. Participate in pre-sales activities and presentations to key clients and stakeholders.

Team Efficiency & Collaboration:

• Foster a collaborative, high-performance engineering culture focused on team efficiency. Identify process bottlenecks and implement improvements to ensure the engineering team delivers high-quality results on time. Promote an agile environment where continuous feedback and iterations are encouraged.

Cross-Functional Leadership:

• Work with cross-functional teams, including product, operations, QA, and business stakeholders, to ensure alignment on priorities, product roadmaps, and engineering objectives. Act as a liaison between technical and non-technical teams to ensure seamless communication and collaboration.

Continuous Improvement & Process Optimization:

• Identify and implement process improvements across the engineering lifecycle. Champion best practices in areas such as code quality, test automation, deployment pipelines, and system monitoring to optimize engineering productivity and product quality.

Education/Experience/Skillset Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field and 8 years of experience in software engineering OR equivalent combination of education and experience with at least 2 years in a leadership or managerial role.
• Strong experience in creating technical whitepapers and writing proposals that highlight engineering solutions and innovation.
• Experience managing direct reports, conducting performance reviews, and providing staff coaching.

Technical Expertise:

• Deep understanding of enterprise architecture, distributed systems, scalability, high availability, and security principles.
• Strong knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and modern software engineering practices (Agile, CI/CD, DevOps).
• Ability to lead technical teams in solving complex system design challenges and ensuring system reliability and performance.

Leadership & Communication:

• Proven ability to lead and inspire teams, with a focus on growing a high-performance culture.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear, accessible language for stakeholders at all levels.
• Experience in coaching and mentoring engineers to achieve career and personal growth.
• Experience in conducting performance reviews and providing actionable feedback to improve individual and team performance.

Commercial & Strategic Thinking:

• Ability to bridge the gap between engineering and business needs, working closely with product management, sales, and business development teams.
• Experience in shaping technical solutions to meet commercial objectives and customer demands.
• Knowledge of the business development process and how engineering solutions can support the growth of the company.

Preferred Experience/Skillset:

• Expertise in managing multi-cloud, distributed systems and enterprise-scale solutions.
• Experience with technologies such as Kubernetes, Terraform, Kafka, and serverless architectures.
• Background in business development or sales engineering, with a track record of supporting the growth of a technical business.
• Previous experience in the creation of business proposals, technical assessments, or product pitches.
• Experience with hypervisors (Type 1 & Type 2) and virtualization technologies.
• Experience with cross-domain solutions (transfer or access).
• Experience leading IR&D activities to drive innovation and explore new technologies.

Clearance Required: DoD Secret clearance required (TS/SCI clearance preferred)

Travel Required: Up to 25%

US Salary Range: $139,000 - $168,000

The salary offered to a selected candidate will be based on several factors including location, skills, and experience. In addition to a comprehensive benefits package which includes employer paid health insurance and a 7% contribution to your 401k, candidates may be eligible for other forms of compensation.

AIS is a leading cyber and information security company supporting mission critical operations across the DoD, intelligence community, commerce and beyond. Founded in 2001, AIS is a privately-owned company committed to excellence in all facets. We pride ourselves on offering some of the best benefits seen in the industry. We celebrate the unique backgrounds and experiences of our people and encourage new ideas, innovation, and the autonomy to create the future and career they want with our support.