Expert Systems Engineer
Bridge Core (BCore) · Herndon, VA
$170,000–$195,000from the description
Jul 12, 2026
Herndon, VA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A senior-level systems engineering role focused on integrating and managing diverse data streams across complex, multi-enclave network environments. Day-to-day work involves configuring data transfer pipelines, analyzing network and log data, establishing data standards, and troubleshooting data feeds. The position suits an experienced engineer with a network analysis background and familiarity with tools such as Splunk and Python, supporting government intelligence missions.
Senior level · 11+ years · Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV · TS/SCI clearance · Full-time
Advertised as Principal, but the requirements read as Senior.
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
Posted 2 times — it's one opening, so apply once.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $129,834 (middle half $101,882–$164,857). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (9)
The title 'Expert Systems Engineer' is treated as a Principal-level advertised claim, but the actual requirements (11+ years, network/data integration engineering work) are consistent with a Senior-level role — 'Expert' is a label used by this employer rather than a standard career-ladder band.
A TS/SCI with Polygraph clearance is explicitly required in the posting header; candidates must hold this clearance to be considered.
Degrees (Bachelor's or Master's) are listed as 'preferred,' not required, so the degree requirement is set to None.
Splunk is listed in the required section as 'familiarization' (lower bar) but also appears under Desired as 'Expertise with Splunk' — it is retained as required given its placement in the Required Qualifications block.
Python appears in the Required section alongside Splunk; Shell scripting and Ansible appear only under Desired Qualifications.
Data transfer tools are framed as 'Ex: NiFi, Cribl, etc.' — NiFi is used as the primary skill name with Cribl as an alternative; the 'etc.' signals other tools may be acceptable but no others are named.
The SOC classification is Medium confidence: the role blends systems engineering, network analysis, and data pipeline work — 15-1211 (Computer Systems Analysts) is the best fit given the data standards, integration, and multi-enclave network analysis focus, with 15-1244 as a plausible runner-up given the network engineering background requirement.
Ignored 2 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): network analysis, log analysis.
Requires a TS/SCI clearance — the cleared population is a small fraction of this occupation, so the real candidate pool is materially smaller than the estimate below, which does not model clearance.
Read the full posting
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