COTS System Engineer

Overview

COTS System Engineer will support enterprise Time and Attendance (T&A) and payroll reporting systems, with a primary focus on GovTA. This role will provide expert-level support, strategic oversight, and hands-on program management in close collaboration with Human Resources (HR) and other key stakeholders.

This position aligns with Cayuse's core values of Innovation, Excellence, Collaboration, Adaptability, and Integrity by fostering technical solutions that meet customer needs, promoting teamwork, and prioritizing quality in deliverables.

Responsibilities

• Lead the engineering, implementation, and maintenance of enterprise applications hosted in AWS
• Serve as the primary SME and central liaison for all technical and functional matters related to the GovTA system.
• Interface directly with the GovTA software vendor to address product-related issues, enhancements, roadmap items, and incident resolution.
• Provide authoritative guidance on system capabilities, limitations, and configuration options to support mission and business needs.
• In conjunction with government Program Managers (PMs) or equivalent leadership, collaborate with other organizational and interagency groups to support and optimize the T&A system.
• Coordinate with internal stakeholders-including HR, payroll, finance, IT, and operations-to resolve system issues, address business needs, and implement best practices.
• Facilitate working groups, tiger teams, and governance forums to ensure coordinated decision-making and prioritization.
• Assist in providing strategic direction, planning, and program management for GovTA to ensure alignment with federal regulations, organizational policies, and enterprise priorities.
• Support the development and execution of multi-year roadmaps for GovTA and related T&A and payroll capabilities, including modernization and integration initiatives.
• Track and report on program performance, risks, issues, and dependencies; recommend mitigation strategies and corrective actions.
• Oversee and coordinate testing, implementation, and deployment activities for new system features, patches, and upgrades.
• Work closely with technical teams and vendors to plan and execute release cycles, including regression testing, user acceptance testing (UAT), and production cutovers.
• Ensure changes are documented, communicated, and implemented in accordance with change management and configuration management procedures.
• Assist in developing and maintaining process documentation, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), user guides, and knowledge articles for GovTA-related workflows.
• Identify opportunities for process optimization, automation, and standardization to improve accuracy, timeliness, and user satisfaction.
• Contribute to the development of business cases and recommendations for system enhancements, integrations, and capability improvements.
• Provide advanced troubleshooting and problem-resolution support for complex system and process issues impacting timekeeping and payroll operations.
• Analyze incident trends and root causes, recommend and drive implementation of corrective and preventive measures.
• Serve as an escalation point for critical and high-impact issues, working closely with technical, functional, and vendor teams to restore normal operations.
• Train, mentor, and provide structured knowledge transfer to government staff and other team members on GovTA functionality, processes, and best practices.
• Develop and deliver briefings, workshops, and training sessions for end users, HR/payroll practitioners, and management.
• Support change management activities, including communication plans, stakeholder engagement, and adoption strategies for new features and processes.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• 4-year degree in Information Technology or related field, or equivalent experience.
• Broad technical experience across networking, servers, virtualization, identity management, and system integration.
• 7 years of experience understanding of ports, protocols, firewalls, and network connectivity troubleshooting.
• 7 years of experience with Windows and/or Linux server environments and virtual machine platforms (e.g., VMware, Hyper?V).
• Solid understanding of relational database concepts and 5 years of hands?on experience with Microsoft SQL Server.
• 5 years of experience supporting COTS product deployments in government environments
• 7 years of scripting experience (Power Shell, Python, or similar) for automation or integration tasks.
• 7 years of experience working knowledge of authentication and identity services, including Microsoft Entra .
• Solid understanding of system accreditation, compliance frameworks, or security assessment processes.
• Strong ability to interpret technical requirements, identify gaps, and coordinate with specialized teams to resolve them.
• Experience with Agile and Scrum and Kanban frameworks/methodologies.
• Experience with Atlassian tools to include Jira and Confluence.
• Active Top Secret Security Clearance is required.
• Must be able to pass a background…