software engineer

system engineer

cybersecurity engineer

senior system engineer

senior software engineer

SAIC

Typical Day at Work:
A typical day at SAIC as a software safety engineer involves coordinating with a team of engineers to ensure the safety and reliability of software systems for a military weapons program. My daily tasks include overseeing software analysis, testing, validation, verification, and implementation processes. Effective communication with both my team and senior management is crucial to synchronize our safety efforts with broader program objectives.

Skills and Knowledge Gained:
This role has significantly enhanced my expertise in software engineering and safety analysis. I've developed a deeper understanding of risk assessment calculations and how they apply to real-world defense applications. The position has also sharpened my leadership skills, particularly in managing a specialized engineering team and handling budget responsibilities effectively.

Management:
Management at SAIC is highly structured, which supports clear goal setting and accountability. There is a strong emphasis on meeting safety standards and project timelines, which requires efficient coordination from top management down to individual team members. Feedback and support from management have been pivotal in quick adaptation and progression to my role as a safety engineer. 

Workplace Culture:
The workplace culture at SAIC is collaborative and driven, with a strong emphasis on innovation and safety. The culture promotes continuous learning and adaptation, which is essential in the evolving field of system safety engineering. Teamwork is highly valued, which enhances the overall efficiency and effectiveness of our safety programs.

Hardest Part of the Job:
The most challenging aspect of the job is maintaining an uncompromised level of software safety under strict timelines, especially when integrating new technologies. Balancing innovation with proven safety standards requires meticulous planning and risk assessment to ensure no detail is overlooked.

Most Enjoyable Part of the Job:
The most rewarding part of the job is seeing the direct impact of our work on the safety and success of the military weapon systems. Witnessing our combined efforts materialize into reliable, safe software solutions is highly fulfilling. Additionally, the responsibility of managing budget analysis and estimates provides a significant and satisfying challenge.

Summary:
Working as a Software System Safety Engineer at SAIC has been an enriching experience, especially in the high-stakes environment of tactical defense systems. The role demands a high level of expertise and dedication but offers immense satisfaction through contributions to national defense and safety.

This company exists to collect money from US government sources providing system engineering consulting and program management services.  The executive team, and the company culture is great, with a healthy amount of resources and events to communicate the high level status of the company. Excellent here, however one level below this executive team is where the company has problems. Middle management is based on a volunteer type basis to capture contracts. The ones I have encountered so far are not capable as business managers, with poor people skills.  

No complaint on the generous bonuses and benefits given, but I do not see how these can be justified in contracting Government budgets moving forward. Since a good fraction of the employees are retired government already collecting a pension to pad their retirement, and there are pressures to bid low on contracts, raises are scarce.

The bar for services is low, a lot of box checking on ill defined requirements passed off to technically challenged Government customers. Rewards for excellent and mediocre deliverables are the same. A lot of great works falls on the floor so to speak as well due to poor program management. To be fair, this is a comment on issues that may go beyond this company... more on the effectiveness of the current Government contracting system. Something to consider if coming from commercial/academic spaces.

The majority of employees here are on the far side of right. Ironically, with nearly all of the revenue coming from government tax dollars which they adamantly want to see reduced, these philosophies disappear when it comes to their own salaries. These salaries are significantly above what a commercial company which generates real tax revenue would give them. The management practices at a program level are stagnated to government/military protocols. That said, there is some room to work on smaller tasks with more progressive project execution methods. 

In the time that I have been here, the middle management folks do try to control whatever power they have, which lies in their relationships with the Government customers. It is common to not be told of important meetings, or be put in a position of vulnerability because a middle manager wants to protect power. I witnessed a couple of people let go because of the obstacles put up by middle managers between the customer and the technical performer. Not good on morale.

Overall, I would steer clear if you are coming from commercial industry or academia especially if you are technical. Much better options with better career opportunities can be found elsewhere. If you want something to pay the bills for a couple of years whilst you regroup, this may be an option for you.

Promoted and fulfilled a broad range of HR functions, including recruiting and training employees, overseeing disciplinary action and managing HR records, resolved conflicts and performed exit interviews.
	Conducts ongoing research, analysis, and reporting of leading edge, best practices, and benchmarking relating to initiatives. Serve as an expert and a resource to managers and employees. Establish and maintain on-going relationships with peers and partners in key organizations and companies
	Served as a liaison for continuing education, professional development, and career planning advisement. 
	Assisted HR Manager with preliminary investigation of conflicts or difficulties encountered by departments and/or personnel affecting employer-employee relationships. 
	Recommended solutions or refers employee problems and complaints to Chief HR Officer or other appropriate personnel; may facilitate and identify counseling referral assistance. 
	Interpreted policies, procedures, and laws pertaining to employee relationships. 
	Responded to inquiries about HR policies and procedures; recommend and implement changes to the meet needs of the firm. 
	Reviewed with attorneys and directors employee issues and recommends corrective action as appropriate. 
	Assisted contracted law firms with development of emergency response guidance for municipalities 
	Prepared ad-hoc reports for members of the management team as it relates to employee data. 
	Administered annual review program. Sets up the evaluations and evaluate-to-evaluator relationships. Coordinates the communication and overall schedule for the annual performance evaluation and salary review cycle. 
	Responded to evaluator questions about using the performance management application. 
	Assisted managers on the value and importance of evaluations and how to best leverage evaluations and assess employees that are not meeting expectations. 
	Ensured that performance evaluations have been completed and administered for every staff employee. 
	Identified and recruiter primary and secondary instructors to meet the Performance Work Statement for the Center for Domestic Preparedness. 
	Researches, develops and implements innovative tools and methods, identifies trends, and analyzes macro efficiency and effectiveness of executive communication and leadership development tools.
	Created flexible short- and long-term plans that optimize and align organization development, leadership development and executive communications processes to support changing organizational priorities.

Logistic Technician III - For M-ATV MRAP Variant of vehicles, equipment/projects. Coordinate w/ILSC, PSID, PEO, IPT, GVIC team members/associates for strategic planning/functional support. Supporting the current operations in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan in support of MRAP missions. Support integration, coordination, and synchronization of current operations in support of the MRAP Sustainment Facility (MSF) missions to include coordination required to support the MRAP capability integration and refurbishment actions. Develop integrated logistics support plans addressing principal ILS elements of total life cycle planning, to include supply/maintenance plans, system design, research, diagnostics, test equipment, manpower/personnel, training devices, support equipment. 

Assure availability of logistics support information required to coordinate/develop materiel-fielding plans/releases. Participate in special studies/projects to assist in resolving supply, maintenance, logistics, contingency planning or system sustainment problems as well as configuration management, publication and provisioning issues that arise. Determine and recommend the sequence and timing of key program events and milestones, decision methods, and alternative approaches to achieve established mission goals. 

Support requirements based on emerging DOD logistics concepts.  provides input to acquisition milestone documentation, assesses user requirements to include preventive maintenance planning, processes, analyses, conducts field problem analysis, designs distribution plans, develops/monitors logistics budgets, performs contingency planning and global resource identification for logistics sources/inventories/processes. Analyze, evaluate, review and consider overall operations, plans and logistics programs of a substantive nature in providing a full range of operations, plans and logistical support to the JPO Program. 

Accepting and resolving requests for information, resolving issues, and participating in the planning process in support of the capability integration and refurbishment mission Serves as the focal point for CONUS-OCONUS transportation of key MRAP items to include parts supplies, and other material required to sustain the MRAP fleet. Communicate at all levels to include senior leadership, preparing, coordinating and providing technical accuracy in written and oral communications.

There are two segregated work areas, Classified side for those with a security clearance, and Unclassified side for those without. These two sides work together on projects and mingle daily. The problem with this dynamic is that I believe it creates a bubble of unchecked/unchallenged gossip and sometimes unfair characterization of new employees because they know they can speak freely about the people who aren't cleared to access their side, and share opinions that will go unchallenged, and narratives form that cannot be corrected by the subject. I have been the target of this. I came on in a time where there was a ton of work they were behind on, and I took on every single project they allowed me to. I stressed for months but was super happy and felt like I was helping the team tremendously. I was pulled aside one day by two of my managers for taking too long of a lunch more than once (absolutely fair of them to do so on this point, I was working too much) but then was shocked to learn that both of them agreed that I was an 'egotistical monster' and that I needed to understand that this wasn't going to be a 'one-man studio'... I had no idea that anybody felt this way - I am a person of few words, and all I did was tell them 'yes' every time they asked if something could be done. I slowly started noticing how everybody looked at me from the Classified side, like I was a jerk or something, but everybody from the unclassified side that I work with was fine with me. I was the only unclassified new-hire that didn't get a pass to help the team set-up for the big event they were crunching for, everybody else that I work with and got hired on the same day did. I wanted to go so bad, I saw it as an opportunity to meet some people and let them see I'm not a monster. I don't think they act the way they do towards me intentionally, they actually believe that I'm a jerk, and who doesn't want a jerk to feel alienated? The problem is, I'm not a jerk, I do not think highly at all of myself, and I wish they knew that because I have never felt more alone than I do at this job.  This result is the combination of the Classified/Unclassified dynamic and the primitive want that some people have to create a villain where there is none.

Acted as lead subject matter expert with three direct reports. On all Huntsville/Redstone MDA PBX telephone systems implanted DOD Information Assurance Certification & Accreditation Process (DIACAP package) per DOD Directive 8500.1 and 5025.1-M, Assessed and Implemented Defense Switch Network DISA STIG, 
DIACAP Implementation Plan (DIP), System Identification Profile (SIP), Plan of Action & Milestones (PO&M), Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) approval documents and other supporting Artifacts Per DOD Directive 8500.1, 5025.1-M, also implemented MDA Directive 5200.02 Information Security, MDA Directive 5200.01 Security, and MDA 5210.01-M Physical Security. Written Policies, Procedures and Guidelines that fall within the DOD and MDA directives. Managed systems access accounts local and remote.  Installed system vulnerability patches OS VXworks/Linux. Provided IT support to SAP on a continuous basis. Managed three direct reports. Managed projects and Maintained and preformed system design and implantation on Nortel 81c, 11c, 1000b, 1000E and 1000M VOIP systems, Avaya G3 System. Installation of circuits ISDN, T1 PRI, POTS, analog and digital telephone lines. System design of Nortel SRG50, and 1000E VOIP systems. Installed and maintained cabling infrastructure, Cat 5E, and Multi mode fiber. Maintained ISDN circuits for secure and unsecured VTC, STE, and Sectra communications. Provided the SMDC with maintenance of multi-media interface floor boxes. Maintenance of voice mail and conference bridge services. Troubleshoot report and track circuit, phones. cell/wireless (Blackberry devices with data) and internet related issues. Provide end user support for mobile (wireless) and stationary telecommunications equipment. Provide end user support for mobile (wireless) and stationary. Provide support for COMSEC requirements. Configuration of KIV and TACLANE encryption devices telecommunications equipment. Cisco networks primarily switch management, working on CCNA Certification. Familiar with switching and routing protocols. I am willing to discuss my knowledge on this subject.

While SAIC (and the newly formed LEIDOS) outwardly insist on ethical behavior, fundamentally the management system is so flawed that ethics take a back seat to office politics. Many times I had no idea whom to speak to about a problem, because there are excessive layers of management. Problems with other employees, lack of adherence to Standard Operating Procedures, and poor job performance were consistently "swept under the rug", due primarily to intra-office politics and relationships. 

Although they profess the opposite, SAIC (and LEIDOS) are still a "good old boys" network. When layoffs occurred recently at the office I was working in, the only people kept, save one, were in couples. There were 4 couples in total, and 2 of the women had a reporting relationship to the men that they were involved with. Please do not pass this off as speculation.....all 4 couples have now moved out of company housing and in with each other in separate units. It felt like I was in an incestuous middle school, with the class clown running the office. When I asked my "manager" why I was chosen for layoff, I was told that he didn't know me very well. Seems logical.

Additionally, there are virtually no avenues for advancement or movement, be it laterally or vertically. Once you are hired on under a title, you are put into a box, and given few opportunities to work on anything else. I had over 10 years of experience in the environmental field, and when I asked my supervisor if I could work on a project that was more than applicable with my experience, he said that he had already hired it out, and hadn't looked at any of the current employees resumes. 

If you are young and inexperienced, and do not have a strong sense of morality and ethical advancement and treatment of others, this company is for you.

Typical Engineering 9-6 w/flexible hours (+ on-call or extra hours as needed). I learned Systems, Data Center, & Networking Layers 1-7+ Strategy/Politics top to bottom over 20+ years initially on Project HealthCare VA military side, then as 1 of 2 most Sr IT Network Engineers growing team from early after thought to critical 7/24 Enterprise standard for 350+ WAN/LAN sites, large Campus with multiple redundant DataCenters, expanding fiber/POP entrances, set Building/Campus closet/DataCenter wiring/network standards, as well as engineer advance Load-Balancing, Router/VPN, Firewall & troubleshoot worst Network/System/Application problems day or on-call.

Hardest part was coordinating or troubleshooting major Campus or core DataCenter, sometimes on Holiday or often late low usage periods, but also could be most rewarding as typically huge accomplishments as well a rare major system/application problems networking often helped solve.  Adding major redundancies & DataCenter isolation from campus lessen network problems while challenging problems also provide great learning opportunity and keeps things interesting. 

Management varied in 20 years from great as well as not so great, with more Bureaucratic process standards as SAIC grew or w/ Government work (earlier often had personal relationships w/ very Sr. Mgmt).  After SAIC went public or new outside CIO's & top management less familiar with older SAIC legacy entrepreneurial spirit & dynamic processes as well as employee's as well as often more challenging familiarization & new direction periods.

Served as program manager for two major Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) engagements.

1.  Program Manager, DLA Aviation Help Desk	Feb 2008 – May 2012
Managed ~$3.5M program budget and 40-member team from four subcontractors providing Tier 1-3 help desk operations and asset and warehouse inventory, SIPRNet, Web development, printer/peripheral, wireless device, classroom training PC, and ADP security account management support services.
–	Oversaw selection and training of Microsoft Office 2007 instructors teaching ~3500 staff in a four-month period; delivered on time and under budget with high customer satisfaction.
–	Achieved program fee profitability of ~13.5% against 8% goal.

2.  Program Manager, Enterprise Data Center (EDC)	May 2006 – Aug 2010
Oversaw $52.56M, five-year program with ~100 cross-functional resources supporting EDC prime vendor (HP) in analysis, migration, and testing to consolidate applications and systems from multiple locations to two HP-operated regional data centers, including Information Assurance (IA) Certification & Accreditation (C&A). Directed PMO operations to ensure high-quality contract execution and delivery to diverse client areas, including contracts, subcontracts, finance, accounting, project control, accounts payable & receivable, legal, and reporting.
–	Effectively managed phased staffing reduction from ~100 to 15-member steady state level while maintaining overall quality of program deliverables.
–	Increased fee profitability by 4.10% (from 11.98% to 16.08%) vs. 8% goal over a three-year period through strategic growth and staff extensions; increased program value by $1.6M+.

United States Postal Service (USPS) Merrifield, VA - Software Assurance Analyst/Assistant Team Lead - As a Lead my responsibilities included reviewing, verifying, and validating SDLC documentation such as Software Requirement Specifications, Software Master Test Plans, and Software Version Descriptions; examined documents prepared during the software development process to ensure technical accuracy, readability, and completeness.  I also wrote Technical Analysis Reports for all SDLC document deliverables for review; proposed changes necessary for satisfying documentation requirements, project objectives, and proposed updates to documentation.  I was responsible for ensuring requirements’ traceability throughout all SDLC documentation was accurate in accordance to the agreed upon statement of work, including test cases and test results.  I ensured that software requirements completely identified the functionality for systems, and all requirements had been tested and successfully passed. Responsibilities also included coordinating, conducting, and observing testing, understanding how testing is conducted, and how to report results. I was also responsible providing peer review support for validation of six team members writing technically accurate and detailed Software Test Reports, technical Analyst Report documents for all SLDC deliverables documentation. Provided training to all new team members working within the SDLC process and IV&V validation procedures on USPS protocol.  I also served as an assistant team-lead, managing workflow and workload distribution of team members utilizing strong oral and written communication skills and a full understanding of IEEE standards, templates and CMMI requirements.  

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