ECS is seeking an Automation Engineer to support a Department of Defense (DoD) program onsite in Fairfax, VA office.
ECS is seeking an experienced, mission-focused Automation Engineer to join an engineering team responsible for a hybrid environment spanning Amazon Web Services (AWS) GovCloud, Microsoft Azure Government, and on-premises data center infrastructure. The Automation Engineer will design, build, and maintain the program's automation capabilities, including infrastructure as code, configuration management, compliance workflow automation, and GitHub-based delivery pipelines. This role will reduce manual effort, improve consistency, and ensure that infrastructure and compliance changes are reviewed, versioned, tested, repeatable, and auditable in accordance with Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIG) and Risk Management Framework (RMF) guidelines.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Automate patch orchestration, DISA STIG hardening, configuration validation, and drift remediation for Windows and Linux systems.
- Develop Python tools that automate operational and cybersecurity compliance workflows, including parsing and generating STIG Checklist (CKL) files; consuming ACAS and Nessus exports; tracking IAVM and POA&M status; and producing scheduled reports and dashboards.
- Design, develop, and maintain reusable Terraform modules for AWS GovCloud and Azure Government compute, networking, identity and access management, storage, and monitoring resources.
- Bring existing manually provisioned infrastructure under version control and infrastructure-as-code management without disrupting production operations.
- Use JSON, YAML, CSV, and REST application programming interfaces (API) to exchange data and integrate platforms in the environment, including Jira, Splunk, NetBox, Infoblox, NetApp ONTAP, Active Directory, and cloud-provider services.
- Replace manual runbook steps with idempotent, logged, testable, and auditable automation that supports CCB review and cybersecurity evidence requirements.
- Develop and maintain GitHub workflows and continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines that enforce branching, pull-request, code-review, testing, and release controls.
- Incorporate infrastructure-as-code, configuration, and application security scanning into automated delivery workflows and address identified findings.
- Work from the team backlog in Jira under an Agile/Scrum delivery cadence; participate in asynchronous standups, sprint planning, backlog refinement, reviews, and demonstrations.
- Coordinate with engineering, cybersecurity, operations, and program stakeholders to prioritize automation opportunities and ensure solutions meet mission, security, and operational requirements.
- Other duties, as assigned.
Salary Range: $120,000 - $170,000
General Description of Benefits
Preferred QualificationsRequired Skills:
- U.S. citizen.
- Active Department of Defense (DoD) Secret or higher security clearance.
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field of study, or an equivalent combination of education and hands-on experience.
- 5+ years of professional experience in systems engineering, DevOps, site reliability engineering, or automation engineering roles.
- Strong hands-on Python development experience for automation and integration, including JSON, YAML, and CSV data processing; REST API integration; error handling; logging; and unit testing.
- Production experience with Terraform, including reusable modules, remote state, workspaces, and AWS and/or Azure providers.
- Proficiency with Git and GitHub workflows.
- Working knowledge of Windows Server and Linux administration, Active Directory, and enterprise networking fundamentals.
- Working knowledge of DoD cybersecurity compliance requirements and processes
- Ability to work onsite as required by the program.
Skills Required
- U.S. citizenship
- Active Department of Defense Secret or higher security clearance
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent education and hands-on experience
- 5+ years of professional experience in systems engineering, DevOps, site reliability engineering, or automation engineering
- Strong hands-on Python development experience for automation and integration, including JSON, YAML, CSV processing, REST API integration, error handling, logging, and unit testing
- Production experience with Terraform, including reusable modules, remote state, workspaces, and AWS and/or Azure providers
- Proficiency with Git and GitHub workflows
- Working knowledge of Windows Server and Linux administration, Active Directory, and enterprise networking fundamentals
- Working knowledge of Department of Defense cybersecurity compliance requirements and processes
- Ability to work onsite as required by the program
ECS Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about ECS and has not been reviewed or approved by ECS.
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Healthcare Strength — ECS advertises multiple national-network medical plan options with HSA eligibility alongside dental and vision coverage. Coverage generally begins quickly and is paired with company-paid short- and long-term disability, adding stability to the health package.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with Safe Harbor and immediate vesting on employer contributions is emphasized, with an employer match available. Access to an employee stock purchase plan via the parent company provides an additional savings avenue.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave up to 30 days, adoption assistance, and other family-oriented leaves are highlighted. Feedback suggests these offerings add meaningful value beyond base pay for many roles.
ECS Insights
What We Do
ECS, a segment of ASGN (NYSE: ASGN), delivers advanced solutions and services in cloud, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), application and IT modernization, and science and engineering. The company solves critical, complex challenges for customers across the U.S. public sector, defense, intelligence and commercial industries. ECS maintains partnerships with leading cloud, cybersecurity, and AI/ML providers and holds specialized certifications in their technologies. Headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, ECS has more than 3,400 employees throughout the U.S. and has been recognized as a Top Workplace by The Washington Post for the last five years.
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