Senior Principal Engineer - Tampa, FL

NexTech Solutions (NTS) is a team of experts and engineers who understand the challenges that organizations face in finding and implementing the best technologies and IT solutions to meet mission requirements. We work with our government customers in defense and civilian agencies ...

Job description

NexTech Solutions (NTS) is a team of experts and engineers who understand the challenges that organizations face in finding and implementing the best technologies and IT solutions to meet mission requirements. We work with our government customers in defense and civilian agencies to identify new technologies.

The Opportunity

NTS is seeking a Senior Principal Engineer to provide senior-level technical leadership across the program engineering portfolio in support of mission objectives.

This role serves as the senior technical integrator responsible for organizing multidisciplinary engineering efforts, structuring execution through a practical Agile task management approach, and producing mission-relevant technical outputs for senior leadership. The position bridges engineering execution and operational application, ensuring that development efforts directly support experimentation cycles, autonomy integration, and emerging capability deployment.

Key Responsibilities (*Essential Functions)

• Establish and maintain a structured Agile task management framework to organize multidisciplinary engineering efforts within applied R&D and rapid prototyping environments.
• Decompose mission objectives into prioritized, executable tasks aligned to Lines of Effort, experimentation timelines, and operational tempo.
• Lead sprint planning, backlog refinement, and engineering synchronization activities to ensure disciplined execution across prototyping, integration, testing, and evaluation cycles.
• Oversee cross-domain technical integration across unmanned systems, autonomy and AI enablement, sensor fusion, edge computing, tactical communications, TAK integration, and systems engineering functions
• Track technical risk, integration dependencies, configuration baselines, and lifecycle considerations to ensure cohesive system-level outcomes.
• Develop, review, and deliver DoD-compliant technical documentation including white papers, integration plans, test reports, engineering assessments, and capability briefs.
• Translate complex engineering activities into decision-ready products and executive briefings that clearly articulate operational impact, risk, and recommended courses of action for program leadership.
• Support acquisition and contract efforts through SOW development, technical volume preparation, and lifecycle engineering documentation.
• Serve as senior engineering advisor to the Technical Program Manager, establishing technical quality standards and mentoring engineering staff in disciplined systems thinking and execution rigor.
• Coordinate with external partners, theater node organizations, academic institutions, and industry collaborators while identifying capability gaps and recommending staffing or technical augmentation as required.

Supervisory Responsibilities

The Senior Principal Engineer provides direct technical leadership and execution oversight for approximately 10 to 15 on-site engineers and technical specialists, assigning and prioritizing work aligned to mission objectives, experimentation schedules, and operational timelines while ensuring disciplined systems engineering practices, documentation rigor, and quality control. In parallel, the position exercises technical direction over remote and partner organizations supporting various Lines of Effort, synchronizing distributed development activities, validating external deliverables for integration and compliance, mitigating cross-domain risks, and ensuring unified architectural alignment across autonomy, unmanned systems, communications, AI enablement, and systems integration efforts to deliver cohesive, mission-ready capabilities to program leadership.

• Fluency in English (written and spoken)
• Must have Active Top Secret clearance; eligibility for TS/SCI required

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline

Required Skills, Experience & Abilities

• 10 years of progressive engineering experience in enterprise or defense-related environments
• Minimum of 5 years in senior technical leadership roles within DoD or defense-related environments
• Proven ability to design and implement structured task management frameworks and Agile methodologies across multidisciplinary engineering teams to drive disciplined execution and measurable performance outcomes
• Experience administering and engineering solutions across Microsoft operating systems and software, VMware technology suite, and Linux-based environments within enterprise or hybrid infrastructure architectures
• Strong working knowledge of unmanned systems, autonomy integration, or applied R&D environments
• Extensive experience with DevOps methodologies, infrastructure automation, CI/CD pipelines, and advanced scripting using languages such as Python, PowerShell, Bash, or similar
• Familiarity with Department of Defense and Federal acquisition frameworks, contract execution environments, and operational experimentation or capability development cycles

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting Special Operations or high-tempo mission environments
• Background in autonomy architecture, AI-enabled systems, or sensor integration
• Experience preparing documentation for senior command-level decision makers
• Systems engineering background with lifecycle integration experience
• Experience with RF systems and applications, advanced compute implementations, embedded and edge processing architectures, and related technologies supporting mission-critical communications and sensing capabilities

Physical Demands & Work Environment

The physical demands and work environment described are representative of those that an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
• Ability to lift up to 50 lbs and work in austere field conditions
• Frequent use of hands and fingers for typing, writing, and handling documents
• Vision and hearing sufficient for meetings, presentations, and communication
• Ability to sit or stand for extended periods
• Ability to tolerate varying environmental conditions
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 25% of the time, which may include extended periods of standing, walking, or navigating airports and government facilities
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate
• Professional office environment with standard office equipment (computers, phones, printers)
• Frequent interaction with clients, executives, and government officials in both in-person and virtual settings
• Regular travel to customer sites, government facilities, and industry events
• Fast-paced, deadline-driven environment requiring adaptability and responsiveness
• Work may occasionally be performed in secure government facilities, requiring adherence to security protocols
• This position may involve travel to government test sites, training ranges, and operational locations, including potential OCONUS destinations for short periods of time
  Work may be conducted in laboratory, workshop, office, and field environments with varying conditions
• This is an onsite position at NTS Tampa, FL location

Equal Opportunity

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. NTS will also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws for employment.

For individuals with disabilities that need additional assistance at any point in the application and interview process, please email