Senior Systems Engineer

Senior Systems Engineer

The Senior Systems Engineer designs, implements, secures, and maintains complex systems and infrastructure supporting mission-critical federal solutions. The role leads technical execution, mentors junior engineers, and drives architectural, operational, and security excellence, including physical staging and imaging of server hardware.

Systems Design & Architecture

• Develop system architectures, technical designs, and integration plans.
• Evaluate new technologies; ensure solutions meet performance and compliance standards.

Implementation & Operations

• Build and maintain servers, cloud environments, networks, and infrastructure.
• Execute upgrades, patching, hardening, and lifecycle management.
• Implement automation and orchestration (scripting, IaC).

Troubleshooting & Support

• Resolve complex issues across hardware, software, network layers.
• Lead root-cause analysis and long-term corrective action planning.
• Provide Tier 3 support for mission-critical systems.

Security & Compliance

• Implement security controls and baselines; support audits and continuous monitoring.

Documentation & Governance

• Maintain diagrams, configuration docs, SOPs, runbooks.
• Support governance and change control processes.

Collaboration & Leadership

• Partner with PMs, architects, and operations teams.
• Mentor junior engineers; contribute to engineering best practices.
• Communicate with clients and stakeholders.

Rack Build and Staging

• Partner with PMs, architects, and operations teams.
• Support physical server and infrastructure rack builds in accordance with approved rack elevations, build standards, and deployment procedures.
• Validate and inventory server hardware and supporting infrastructure received for large-scale deployment, verifying configuration against BOM prior to installation and burn-in.
• Stage server hardware and load approved customer-provided system images in controlled lab and staging environments.
• Configure and validate server hardware, operating systems, firmware, and supporting infrastructure in accordance with approved build standards.
• Support development, testing, and customer approval of a standardized golden rack from a systems and server integration standpoint.
• Validate server hardware, operating system, and network connectivity, coordinating with network integration staff to ensure server and network builds align to the approved rack standard.
• Troubleshoot hardware, operating system, configuration, and integration issues identified during staging and pre-deployment testing.
• Support Python, PowerShell, Bash, and Ansible automation for repeatable server provisioning, configuration, and validation.
• Maintain build documentation, test results, configuration artifacts, and system readiness records.
• Apply DISA STIGs and DoD-approved hardening baselines to server operating systems and firmware during staging, prior to golden rack approval.
• Validate staged server builds against RMF control requirements and document compliance status as part of build acceptance.
• Support vulnerability scanning, patching, and remediation of staged systems prior to shipment.

Please Note: This position is contingent upon contract award with an expected start date of September/October 2026.

Requirements

• Extensive systems engineering experience.
• Expertise with Windows/Linux servers, cloud platforms, virtualization, storage, networking.
• Strong troubleshooting and analytical skills.
• Experience with automation tools (PowerShell, Bash, Python, Ansible).
• Understanding of security principles and compliance frameworks.
• Strong communication skills.
• Experience staging and imaging server hardware in a lab or integration environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certifications: AWS/Azure Architect, Linux+, CCNP, Security+, MCSE.
• Experience in enterprise or federal environments.
• Familiarity with DevOps pipelines and CI/CD.