Chief Engineer ​/ Architect

Type of Requisition:

Regular

None

None

BI Full 6C (T4)

Software Engineering

Application Development, Legacy Systems, Technical Architecture, Technical Leadership, Technical Strategy

None

15 + years of related experience

Yes

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), protects the American people, safeguards U.S. borders, and enhances the nation's economic prosperity through innovation, intelligence, and collaboration. Within CBP's Office of Information and Technology (OIT), the Border Enforcement Management Systems Directorate (BEMSD) manages a large, diverse portfolio of mission applications—sustaining legacy systems at high availability while modernizing and developing new solutions.

The Systems & Applications Integration & Lifecycle Support (SAILS) program will provide BEMSD with full-lifecycle IT services—from new application development and 24x7x365 operations to legacy modernization—delivered through Agile and Dev Sec Ops  practices.

GDIT is seeking a Chief Engineer/Architect to support the SAILS program. In this role, you will serve as the senior technical authority for the program, leading the program's technical architecture, modernization roadmap, and technical approach for Dev Sec Ops  within CBP's established CI/CD environment. You will partner with program leadership and BEMSD stakeholders to translate mission needs into secure, scalable, integrated solutions while shaping the program's long-term technical strategy.

• Lead enterprise architecture and modernization across BEMSD's application portfolio, enabling secure, scalable mission capabilities.
• Guide technical design decisions and ensure architecture standards remain aligned with CBP and DHS requirements.
• Oversee development and maintenance of architecture artifacts, including system interfaces, integration patterns, reference architectures, and technology roadmaps.
• Champion innovation across application development, modernization, and operations to improve mission agility and performance.
• Provide technical leadership to engineering teams across application, cloud, data, and integration domains.
• Partner with BEMSD stakeholders and development teams to translate mission needs into secure, compliant solutions.
• Evaluate and integrate AI, automation, and emerging technologies—including sensor, edge, and field data integration—to enhance mission capabilities.
• Brief BEMSD and GDIT leadership on architectural strategy, risks, tradeoffs, and recommendations.

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical discipline.
• 15+ years leading enterprise architecture for large-scale federal IT programs.
• Experience leading modernization across complex application portfolios.
• Expertise in legacy modernization, cloud and hybrid architectures.
• Experience with Agile, Dev Sec Ops , CI/CD, and modern software delivery practices.
• Strong executive communication, stakeholder engagement, and leadership skills.
• U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain a CBP Background Investigation.

• Master's degree in a technical or management discipline.
• Prior DHS, preferably CBP OIT, program experience.
• Experience with Salesforce, Service Now, or enterprise BI platforms.
• Experience delivering AI/ML and automation capabilities in federal environments.
• Experience integrating operational data from sensor, edge, or field systems.
• Relevant cloud architecture certifications (e.g., AWS or Azure).

The likely salary range for this position is $170,000 - $230,000. This is not, however, a guarantee of compensation or salary. Rather, salary will be set based on experience, geographic location and possibly contractual requirements and could fall outside of this range.

40

Less than 10%

Remote

Any Location / Remote

Our benefits package for all US-based employees includes a variety of…