SYSTEMS ENGINEER/TECHNICAL ADVISOR

Job Description:

Igniters operate in the world’s most demanding environment. Igniters are self-motivated, mission-driven, and relentless in solving the Warfighters’ hardest problems. We move fast, think differently, and execute with precision to tackle high-stakes challenges across AI/ML, space and missile defense intelligence, EMSO, advanced analytics, and programmatic domains.

As an employee-owned SDVOSB headquartered in Huntsville, AL, our team delivers mission-critical impact for the Army, Air Force, Space Force, MDA, NASA, DIA, and FBI.

Ignite exists to outpace the threat and deliver results that matter in the moments that count.

Ignite is seeking a Systems Engineer and Technical Advisor to support the Global Tactical Edge Acquisition Directorate (GTEAD), a US Government directorate within the Army acquisition enterprise focused on rapidly fielding mission-critical capability to forces operating at the tactical edge. This is not a back-office engineering seat.

The person in this role sits alongside government leadership, translates operational need into executable technical requirements, and keeps sensitive, fast-moving efforts technically sound from concept through fielding.

The ideal candidate has lived on the user side of Army operations, understands how acquisition actually works in a compressed timeline, and can hold a credible technical conversation with an engineer, a contracting officer, and an operator in the same afternoon.

Job Requirements

What You Will Do

• Serve as a trusted technical advisor to GTEAD government leadership on system architecture, technology maturity, risk, and integration decisions.
• Apply systems engineering discipline across the lifecycle: requirements definition and decomposition, interface management, trade studies, verification and validation, and transition planning.
• Translate operational requirements from Army and joint users into technical specifications, statements of work, and evaluation criteria.
• Conduct technology scouting and market research across commercial, non-traditional, and defense industrial base sources; assess vendor solutions for technical feasibility and fit.
• Support source selection and technical evaluation activities, including OTA, rapid prototyping, and other accelerated acquisition pathways.
• Evaluate capabilities against technical surveillance, signature management, and operational security considerations relevant to forces at the tactical edge.
• Plan and participate in user assessments, demonstrations, and test events; capture feedback and drive it back into requirements and design.
• Produce decision-quality products for senior leaders: briefings, white papers, technical assessments, and correspondence in accordance with AR 25-50.
• Coordinate across program offices, PEOs, S&T organizations, and operational units to de-conflict efforts and accelerate transition.

Required Qualifications

• Active TS/SCI clearance.
• US Army service with operational experience; senior NCO, warrant officer, or officer background strongly preferred.
• 8+ years of combined experience in systems engineering, technical program support, or capability development within DoD.
• Working knowledge of the DoD acquisition system, including the Adaptive Acquisition Framework, JCIDS or its successor processes, and rapid acquisition authorities.
• Demonstrated ability to decompose operational problems into technical requirements and communicate them clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong written and briefing skills, with the judgment to advise senior leaders directly and candidly.
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, computer science, information systems, or a related technical field, or equivalent experience in lieu of degree.

Desired Qualifications

• Master's degree in systems engineering, information technology, cybersecurity, or a related discipline.
• INCOSE certification (ASEP, CSEP, or ESEP) or DAWIA/Back-to-Basics Engineering credentials.
• Background in data science, tactical communications, or edge computing and the integration challenges that come with them.
• Experience with counter-surveillance, digital signature management, OSINT, or Ubiquitous Technical Surveillance (UTS) mitigation.
• Familiarity with Special Access Program or other sensitive program environments and their security requirements.
• Experience supporting OTA consortia, CSOs, or other non-traditional contracting vehicles.

Desired

Special Operations (SOCOM) Experience

Candidates with Special Operations backgrounds will find this role a natural fit. The following experience is highly desired:

• Service within USSOCOM or a component command, particularly USASOC, with an understanding of SOF operational requirements and how they differ from conventional force needs.
• Experience with SOF acquisition, including SOF AT&L, PEO-level programs, or Major Force Program 11 (MFP-11) funded efforts.
• Experience on SOCOM capability development, requirements, or innovation teams, such as data science, technology, or experimentation directorates.
• Familiarity with SOF rapid fielding models, including SOFWERX engagement, user assessments, and operator-driven prototyping.
• Established professional relationships across the SOF enterprise that support coordination between Army acquisition and SOCOM stakeholders.
• Senior enlisted leadership experience (Sergeant Major or Master Sergeant) in a Special Operations unit, bringing credibility with operators and the ability to represent the user voice in technical decisions.

What Success Looks Like

Within your first six months, government leadership should be calling you before they make a technical decision, not after. You will have helped move at least one effort meaningfully toward fielding, built working relationships across the user and acquisition communities, and produced products that leadership uses without needing a rewrite.