Senior Systems Administrator

The Senior System Administrator will support the software engineering environment (SE2) in a position that encompasses a blend of traditional system administration responsibilities along with a strong emphasis on DevSecOps practices and Agile methodologies. This is a pivotal role in ensuring the stability, security, and efficiency of our systems while actively contributing to the development and deployment of our software products. There is an expectation not just to have impeccable communication skills, but to readily collaborate with technical colleagues on the same team and on cross-team interactions. There is also a requirement to be able to breakdown verbally communicated needs into actionable and documented technical requirements. It can be expected that the Senior Systems Administrator will be asked to analyze current technologies and recommend cutting edge solutions to fulfill current and future requirements. In this position the candidate will also participate in, and contribute to the success of the analysis, planning, deployment, test, and integration of existing and novel technologies into the SE2 infrastructure such that the SEC mission and goals will remain attainable in a rapidly growing technological environment. Supporting personnel MUST have IAT Level 2 credentials, including baseline cyber certificate(s) and applicable platform certifications, which include common operating environment training (Windows, Linux RedHat/Ubuntu).

• Active security clearance.
• Security+ and IAT Level II.
• Computing environment certification/ certificate of training.
• 1+ year experience developing and configuring pipeline automations (such as Azure DevOps Server, GitLab, or Jenkins).
• Proficiency in scripting languages like Python, Bash and PowerShell to automate routine tasks and processes within a pipeline.
• 2+ years experience in automated infrastructure provisioning, configuration management and deployment processes (Configuration as Code) using tools like Ansible, Terraform or similar (Desired State Configuration (DSD)).
• Proficient in virtualized storage solution design, planning, configuration, and troubleshooting; particularly using VMware environments.
• Expertise in system administration to include managing and maintaining IT infrastructure such as servers, networks, and storage systems.
• Understanding of Microsoft server infrastructure, virtualization, and networking principles.
• Proficient in GitLab runners, including expertise in runner installation, registration, and configuring executors on various operating systems (Windows and Linux), as well as pipeline configuration.
• Proven experience with Git, including using commands, branching, and merging, working with local and remote repositories, and effectively collaborating on version control, especially for Continuous Integration.
• Expertise in creating, deploying, and managing Group Policy Objects (GPOs) in an Active Directory environment, a solid understanding of DNS and its interaction with Active Directory, and comprehensive knowledge of Active Directory domains, forests, trust relationships, organizational units (OUs), group policies, schema, and replication.
• Demonstrated ability to learn and integrate new technologies quickly.
• Strong communication skills for effective knowledge transfer and collaboration with sustainment teams.
• Experience provisioning, monitoring, scaling, and optimizing cloud environments (Azure, AWS).
• Exceptional technical troubleshooting skill (applications, services, servers, networking, etc).
• Excellent verbal communications skills.
• Proven ability to create documentation suitable for technicians or end users.

Additional Desired Skills:

• Experience using project planning software (such as Jira, Jira Service Desk and Confluence for planning and task tracking).
• Expertise in Azure Infrastructure Management to include virtual machines, networks, storage, and security solutions, ensuring optimal performance, scalability, and reliability.
• Expertise in hybrid cloud integrations to include creating strategies and implementing solutions that include integration on-premises infrastructure with both Azure cloud services and AWS cloud services (where applicable) to maintain seamless connectivity and data flow between environments.
• Proficiency in container orchestration which involves managing and automating the deployment, scaling, and operations of application containers across clusters of hosts (Kubernetes, Docker Swarm).
• Experience in data backup, replication, deduplication, and snapshot management using NetApp, knowledge of NetApp’s storage virtualization solutions, and a proven ability to diagnose and resolve NetApp storage-related issues.
• Azure DevOps Server Implementations to include build agent configurations.
• Proven integration of identity management and directory services, specifically ADFS integration (Active Directory Federated Services) and LDAP Integration (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol)
• Single Sign-on Integration (such as SAML, OpenID).
• Understanding cloud security best practices, compliance requirements, and implementing appropriate security measures to protect data and applications in the cloud.
• Execution with a developer mindset with having all in configuration as code but also use engineering v model for quality of work to be transition to sustainment.
• RedHat/Ubuntu experience.
• Understanding of DevSecOps and best practices.
• Continuously identify and execute process improvement where efficiencies can be identified.
• Experience with the SDLC, to include use of software source code control systems, artifact repositories and code assessment tools.
• Continuously seek opportunities to improve team productivity and collaboration through Agile frameworks.