Description
SAIC is seeking a visionary Senior Principal Big Data Engineer to support and expand our autonomous systems portfolio. This senior-level role requires a rare combination of strategic technology leadership, hands-on AI/ML delivery, enterprise-scale server infrastructure management. The successful candidate will contribute to the growth of the while driving path-breaking ML/AI solutions and ensure the highest levels of server infrastructure availability, performance, and security.
The ideal candidate brings proven IT leadership, a demonstrated history of delivering first-of-kind technology solutions, and the analytical mindset of a strategic visionary capable of operating at both the executive and technical levels across massive server environments.
This is a Hybrid/Remote role with expectations to be On-Site throughout the week in San Diego, CA. Must be local to area.
JOB DUTIES:
Autonomous Systems & AI/ML
- Lead design and implementation of ML/AI solutions supporting autonomous systems programs
- Drive Big Data analytics frameworks enabling real-time autonomous decision-making pipelines
- Apply predictive modeling expertise — including high-frequency algorithmic model development — to autonomous system response and decision architectures
- Develop and maintain autonomous systems data pipelines integrating server-side compute resources with edge autonomous platforms
Server Infrastructure Management & Support
- Plan, deploy, and manage scalable server environments supporting autonomous systems compute workloads, drawing on proven experience
- Oversee end-to-end server lifecycle management including procurement, provisioning, configuration, patching, performance tuning, and decommissioning
- Implement and maintain high-availability (HA) and disaster recovery (DR) architectures for mission-critical autonomous systems server infrastructure
- Manage physical and virtual server environments including bare-metal, VMware, Hyper-V, and containerized workloads supporting DoD program requirements
- Drive server utilization optimization strategies leveraging allocation-to-utilization based models, achieving measurable efficiency improvements across server fleets
- Administer and support Redhat, Linux (RHEL/CentOS/Ubuntu) environments in classified and unclassified network enclaves
- Support server hardening and STIG compliance across all managed server assets in accordance with DoD cybersecurity requirements as required
- Monitor server health, performance metrics, and capacity planning using enterprise monitoring tools (SolarWinds, Nagios, Splunk, or equivalent)
- Manage storage area networks (SAN), NAS, and direct-attached storage (DAS) solutions supporting petabyte-scale data requirements
- Support GPU server infrastructure for AI/ML training and inference workloads critical to autonomous systems development
- Coordinate with network engineering teams to ensure optimal server-to-network integration across classified and unclassified environments
- Maintain server asset inventory and configuration management databases (CMDB) in compliance with DoD IT asset management standards
Data Center & Infrastructure Operations
- Manage Data Center operations supporting autonomous systems compute requirements including CUI (Controlled Unclassified Information) compliance and physical security
- Implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) practices using Ansible, Terraform, or equivalent tools for automated server provisioning and configuration management as required
- Drive cloud-hybrid server strategies integrating on-premises server infrastructure with Microsoft Azure and other cloud platforms
- Manage server backup and recovery solutions ensuring data integrity and business continuity for autonomous systems program data
- Support data center relocation and consolidation initiatives leveraging experience with portable, deployable server infrastructure
- Ensure compliance with FISMA, RMF (Risk Management Framework), and DoD 8570 requirements across all server infrastructure
Program & Stakeholder Management
- Support a cross-functional teams across software, data engineering, server administration, mechanical, and electrical disciplines in a matrix organization environment
- Prepare and deliver technical briefings on server infrastructure status, capacity planning, and modernization roadmaps to internal and external stakeholders including Federal and DoD entities
- Support RFP development and proposal responses for autonomous systems and server infrastructure opportunities
- Develop and maintain server infrastructure documentation including architecture diagrams, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and continuity of operations plans (COOP)
Innovation & Emerging Technology
- Research, prototype, and deliver cutting-edge autonomous and AI-driven technologies leveraging next-generation server platforms
- Evaluate and recommend emerging server technologies including ARM-based servers, composable infrastructure, and