Systems Administrator (SME)

Location: Chantilly, VA
Security Clearance: Active TS or higher [Required] w/ ability to obtain a CI Polygraph
Job Type: Full-Time
Target Salary Range*: $120,000 - $170,000

*This represents the potential salary range for this position depending on education level, years of experience and/or certifications in addition to other position specific requirements which may impact salary

The Systems Administrator (SME) serves as the principal authority for enterprise systems architecture, infrastructure modernization, and zero-trust security implementation. This role leads the design, automation, optimization, and governance of highly available infrastructure across complex, cross-enclave systems.

The Systems Administrator (SME) provides strategic and technical leadership for Infrastructure as Code, configuration management, disaster recovery, compliance automation, and enterprise infrastructure operations to ensure resilient, scalable, and secure environments.

• Serve as the principal authority for enterprise systems architecture and infrastructure modernization.
• Lead the design of highly available infrastructure environments.
• Optimize infrastructure scalability, performance, reliability, and security across complex enterprise environments.
• Support modernization across cloud, hybrid-cloud, on-premises, and multi-enclave ecosystems.

• Lead infrastructure automation and optimization initiatives.
• Drive Infrastructure as Code and configuration management initiatives across the enterprise.
• Implement and maintain automation using Terraform, Ansible, and related technologies.
• Support advanced GitLab CI/CD pipelines and DevSecOps practices.
• Standardize infrastructure deployment, configuration, and operational processes.

• Implement zero-trust security principles and secure infrastructure architectures.
• Lead cross-enclave interoperability solutions.
• Provide strategic technical leadership for enterprise security and operational resilience initiatives.
• Support cloud-native security implementation and security accreditation processes.
• Support high-assurance cross-domain and encryption solutions including TACLANE and NCAP.

• Establish and enforce governance frameworks for infrastructure operations.
• Lead disaster recovery, backup, and business continuity initiatives.
• Support compliance automation and enterprise security controls.
• Establish standards for infrastructure monitoring, performance optimization, and operational resilience.

• Support air-gapped hybrid-cloud and on-premises operational environments, including complex multi-enclave ecosystems.
• Support AWS GovCloud, SC2S, C2S, and GCP cloud platforms.
• Configure and manage Nutanix hosts and clusters using Prism Central.
• Support Nutanix NDFS configuration and management.
• Support locally hosted GPU servers.
• Apply cloud cost-optimization techniques.
• Support Linux operating systems including Rocky Linux, Red Hat, Amazon Linux, and Ubuntu, as well as Windows and macOS.

• Support Cisco switching, routing, firewalling, and site-to-site connectivity, including IPsec, DMVPN, and SD-WAN.
• Support multi-tenant Cross-Domain Solutions.
• Configure and support cloud networking and VPC environments.
• Support secure communications across complex enterprise and cross-enclave environments.

• Support containerization and orchestration using Docker, Kubernetes, and OpenShift.
• Integrate infrastructure automation with containerized and cloud-native platforms.
• Support scalable, resilient, and secure distributed infrastructure environments.

• Support identity and access services including Microsoft Active Directory, LDAP/OpenLDAP, Entra ID, and Keycloak.
• Support enterprise database services including RDS, RDS Aurora, and DynamoDB.
• Support monitoring, logging, and data platforms including Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, and Splunk.
• Support enterprise system monitoring, backup, disaster recovery, and performance optimization.

• Support serverless architectures using AWS Lambda.
• Support microservices architectures and API Gateway implementations.
• Apply development experience with Python, .NET/C#, and related languages to infrastructure automation and systems integration.

• Guide teams on best practices for system administration, automation, and infrastructure management.
• Lead enterprise infrastructure initiatives and technical teams.
• Provide technical direction for complex infrastructure, modernization, security, and operational challenges.
• Promote standardization and continuous improvement across enterprise systems operations.

• Bachelor’s degree. [Required]

• Minimum 10 years of relevant experience. [Required]
• Extensive experience supporting Windows, Linux, and hybrid-cloud environments. [Required]
• Experience with cloud platforms including AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud. [Required]

• Expertise with Infrastructure as Code and configuration management tools such as Terraform, Ansible, Puppet, or Chef. [Required]
• Strong knowledge of system monitoring, disaster recovery, backup solutions, and performance optimization. [Required]
• Deep understanding of enterprise security controls, compliance requirements, and infrastructure governance. [Required]
• Proven ability to lead enterprise infrastructure initiatives and technical teams. [Required]

• Master’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or a related field.
• Experience supporting federal, defense, intelligence, or highly regulated environments.
• Expertise in zero-trust architecture and secure infrastructure design.
• Experience with containerized platforms such as Docker and Kubernetes.
• Relevant certifications such as AWS Solutions Architect, Azure Administrator/Architect, RHCE, VMware, CISSP, or similar.
• Experience with DevSecOps, CI/CD pipelines, and enterprise automation frameworks.