Systems Engineer III at Solutions³ LLC
Arlington, VA
$121,000–$140,000
Jul 14, 2026
Arlington, VA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A cyber technology researcher role embedded in a government incident response program, focused on identifying and evaluating commercial and open-source tools that meet federal cybersecurity mission needs. Day-to-day work involves researching and testing candidate technologies, managing those evaluations through a defined lifecycle, coordinating with stakeholders to clarify requirements, and maintaining an inventory of procured tools. Suits candidates with a background in federal cyber operations and technology assessment.
Senior level · 5+ years · National · Secret clearance · Contract
Advertised as Mid, but the requirements read as Senior.
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
Posted 4 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
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $132,021 (middle half $99,961–$167,095).
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 (10)
The posting requires an active Secret clearance with the ability to obtain TS/SCI — the hard gate is Secret; TS/SCI is an upgrade requirement, not a current possession requirement.
DHS Suitability is also required prior to starting, which is an additional vetting gate beyond the clearance itself.
The degree requirement accepts 7–9 years of directly relevant experience plus a High School Diploma in lieu of a Bachelor's degree, so no minimum degree is hard-gated.
The title is 'Systems Engineer III' (a numeric level III maps to Senior), but the actual scope — cyber technology research, case lifecycle management, stakeholder engagement — aligns most closely with Information Security Analysts (15-1212); Computer Systems Analysts (15-1211) is a plausible runner-up given the requirements-gathering and technology evaluation focus.
Employment type is inferred as Contract based on the explicit reference to 'Contract personnel' in the description.
Several 'Required Skills' are methodologies or domain knowledge areas rather than named tools (e.g., stakeholder management, operational risk assessment, documentation) and are omitted from the skills list per extraction rules.
DoD 8140 IAT Level II certification is listed under Desired Certifications — it is preferred, not a hard gate.
Ignored 4 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): federal cybersecurity operations, technology pilot management, change management, cloud operations.
Requires a Secret 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.
Posting is for a contract engagement — the market benchmarks below price full-time roles, so read the comp comparison with that in mind.
Read the full posting
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