Unified Communications Engineer

About Us:

VT-ARC, a technical services and applied research company, has built an organizational culture marked by four primary values: Teamwork, Integrity, Excellence, and Service. Integral to our success is our staff’s enthusiasm for solving tough problems by working together in teams to get the job done. We foster a culture where every employee’s contribution is valued and performed with integrity while maintaining a fun work environment. VT-ARC strives for excellence in all that is done for our clients, and such achievement is recognized through service/merit awards. Moreover, we promote a sense of community larger than VT-ARC alone, where staff and institutional resources can be applied in service to our country.

We are proud to be the recipient of the Best Workplace in Defense Award by Emergent Magazine, an honor that recognizes companies with positive cultures that not only impact their people but also make a meaningful difference in the community.

About You:

You are a Senior to Staff level Unified Communications Engineer with experience implementing, integrating, and modernizing secure voice, video, collaboration, conferencing, call control, and mission communications capabilities in classified or high-assurance environments. You thrive in small, highly capable engineering teams where ownership, accountability, and technical depth matter. You are comfortable taking a system from design through implementation and into operational sustainment, and you enjoy working directly with architects, engineers, technicians, and mission stakeholders to solve complex communications challenges.

You understand how UC services depend on WAN, LAN, QoS, routing, segmentation, encryption, identity, certificates, endpoint management, session border control, directory services, and operational monitoring. You can translate communications requirements into deployable, supportable UC solutions.

You are adaptable and comfortable working hands-on with UC platforms and coordinating closely across technical teams and individual contributors. You have a mission focus and take pride in building systems the right way and supporting them end-to-end.

Position Overview:

VT-ARC is seeking a Senior to Staff level Unified Communications Engineer to support secure UC engineering, mission communications integration, implementation, and modernization for mission-critical programs within TS/SCI environments.

This role is focused on senior-level UC engineering across the full lifecycle, from requirements interpretation and architecture input through detailed design, implementation planning, integration, validation, documentation, and transition to operations. The role supports voice, video, collaboration, call routing, conferencing, endpoint, gateway, and transport integration across classified, multi-enclave, and air-gapped environments.

The Unified Communications Engineer will partner with the programmatic and technical team to ensure UC capabilities are secure, available, interoperable, and operationally supportable. You have a mission focus and take pride in building systems the right way and supporting them end-to-end.

Active Top Secret/SCI clearance is required.

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Support end-to-end UC engineering activities, including architecture input, detailed design, implementation planning, integration, validation, and operational transition.
• Design, implement, integrate, and modernize secure voice, video, collaboration, conferencing, call control, and mission communications capabilities across classified and high-assurance environments.
• Develop and validate UC designs that account for network transport, QoS, routing, segmentation, encryption, identity, certificates, endpoint management, high availability, and sustainment.
• Implement and troubleshoot UC components such as call managers, voice gateways, session border controllers, SIP trunks, dial plans, conferencing bridges, VTC systems, and collaboration endpoints.
• Coordinate UC transport requirements with WAN, LAN, crypto, identity, cybersecurity, infrastructure, and operations teams.
• Develop UC implementation plans, call flow diagrams, dial plans, test procedures, configuration standards, and operational support documentation.
• Support lab validation, proof-of-concept demonstrations, technical pilots, cutovers, integration events, and operational acceptance testing.
• Support RMF, ATO, STIG, vulnerability remediation, and cybersecurity compliance activities for UC infrastructure.
• Mentor junior UC engineers and promote engineering standards, troubleshooting discipline, and documentation quality.

Required Education, Certification, Skills, Capabilities:

• Demonstrated senior-level experience implementing and supporting enterprise UC, voice, video, collaboration, conferencing, or mission communications environments.
• Hands-on experience with UC platforms and technologies such as Cisco Unified Communications Manager, voice gateways, SIP, SBC/CUBE, VTC, collaboration endpoints, or equivalent systems.
• Strong practical knowledge of SIP, RTP/SRTP, QoS, dial plans, call routing, certificates, directory integration, high availability, and UC troubleshooting.
• Experience supporting classified, TS/SCI, multi-enclave, internet-connected, or air-gapped communications environments.
• Ability to coordinate technical dependencies across WAN, LAN, identity, encryption, cybersecurity, endpoint, and operations teams.
• Experience supporting RMF processes, ATO documentation, STIG compliance, security controls, or equivalent cybersecurity compliance activities for communications infrastructure.
• Ability to produce clear technical documentation, diagrams, implementation guides, test procedures, and operational support materials.

Desired Education, Certification, Skills, Capabilities:

• Professional certifications such as CCNP Collaboration, CCNP Enterprise, Security , CISSP, Microsoft, or equivalent technical credentials.
• Experience integrating UC services with Type 1 encryption, classified networks, video teleconferencing, cross-domain dependencies, or mission communications systems.
• Experience with Microsoft Teams, Exchange, identity federation, certificate management, or hybrid communications environments where applicable.
• Experience with UC monitoring, call quality analytics, packet capture, voice/video troubleshooting, and performance engineering tools.
• Familiarity with DoD UC security requirements, STIGs, E911 dependencies, endpoint hardening, and operational continuity planning.
• Experience developing migration plans, cutover plans, user transition plans, and operational runbooks.

Primary Work Location: Work is expected to be fully onsite in Arlington, VA.

Special Work Conditions: Occasional travel may be required; up to 10%

Security:

• Must be a U.S. Citizen
• Active Top Secret/SCI clearance is required

Competitive Salary: VT-ARC offers a competitive salary and benefits package designed to attract and retain senior technical talent supporting mission-critical programs.

Salary: $180,000-$210,000/yr., based on skills, experience, clearance, technical depth, and mission alignment.

Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation: VT-ARC is a 501(c)(3), non-profit R&D organization affiliated with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech or VT). Our mission is to provide superior analytic and technology solutions across multiple domains by leveraging Virginia Tech’s multidisciplinary research and innovation ecosystem. With unique access to the broad and rich research enterprise found at Virginia Tech, VT-ARC forms multi-disciplinary teams to apply innovative solutions to the real-world problems that strain our social, political, industrial, and economic foundations.

To learn more about VT-ARC’s Benefits, Perks, Culture & more visit our Careers page: https://vt-arc.org/careers/

Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by law. As a federal contractor, we are committed to providing equal employment opportunity and affirmative action for qualified individuals with disabilities under Section?503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. If you need a reasonable accommodation to complete the application or interview process, please contact Human Resources at hr@vt-arc.org

Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.E-Verify.gov.

Salary : $180,000 - $210,000