Systems Integration Engineer - C5ISR Programs

Job Description

Job Description

Full Stack Systems Integrator

Dell AX670 Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) Cluster — Enterprise & Mission Systems

Job Level:  Senior / Lead (individual contributor with technical ownership of the full stack)

Employment Type:  Full-time

Security Clearance:  Active DoD Secret clearance required at time of hire; ability to obtain and maintain higher-level access as required by the program

Work Location:  On-site / program facility (customer-designated location); OCONUS travel required

Position Summary

The Full Stack Systems Integrator is responsible for the design, deployment, configuration, hardening, and sustainment of a Dell AX670 HCI clusters hosting a dense set of enterprise infrastructure and mission-specific application workloads. This individual owns the environment end to end — from the physical HCI nodes, storage, and networking fabric, through the Windows Server / Hyper-V virtualization layer, up to the guest operating systems, core infrastructure services, and program-specific application servers running on top. The role requires the ability to reason across the full stack simultaneously: recognizing when a symptom at the application layer (e.g., authentication failures, certificate errors, replication lag, patch failures) traces back to storage, networking, virtualization, or Active Directory, and vice versa.

This is a hands-on engineering role. The Integrator will build, document, troubleshoot, patch, and continuously improve the roles and workloads below, working closely with information system security officers (ISSOs), program application owners, and the government customer to keep the environment mission-ready, compliant, and highly available.

Platform: Dell AX670 HCI Cluster

• Deploy, configure, and sustain the Dell Integrated System on AX670 nodes, including cluster validation, Storage Spaces Direct (S2D), Software-Defined Networking (SDN) where applicable, and Hyper-V virtualization.
• Manage cluster health, storage pool capacity and resiliency, live migration, quorum/witness configuration, and firmware/driver lifecycle (Dell Update Catalogs, iDRAC/Lifecycle Controller) in coordination with maintenance windows.
• Right-size and place virtual machines across the cluster to balance compute, memory, and storage I/O across the full set of workloads listed below.
• Own cluster-level backup, disaster recovery, and failover/failback procedures, and validate them through periodic recovery testing.

Core Infrastructure Services Administered

The Integrator installs, configures, secures, patches, and troubleshoots the following virtualized server roles hosted on the cluster:

Identity, Naming, and Access

• Active Directory Domain Services, DNS, and Global Catalog — deployed redundantly across two (2) domain controllers; responsible for replication health, FSMO role placement, DNS zone integrity, GPO management, and directory-integrated security hardening (e.g., STIG compliance).
• DHCP Server — scope design, failover/split-scope configuration, reservation management, and integration with DNS dynamic updates.

Database and Messaging

• SQL Server Always On Availability Group node — configure and maintain availability group membership, listener configuration, synchronous/asynchronous replicas, backups, and failover testing for the databases supporting SCOM, SCVMM, and other application workloads.
• Exchange Server — mailbox and transport services, database availability, certificate bindings, and mail flow troubleshooting within the enclave.

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Smart Card Services

• Certificate Authority / Issuing CA and Subordinate PKI Certification Management Server — manage the internal PKI hierarchy, certificate templates, auto-enrollment, CRL/AIA publication, and issuance workflows.
• Offline Root CA — maintain the offline root in accordance with PKI security procedures, including scheduled bring-up for CRL renewal and subordinate re-signing under documented, audited procedures.
• Smart Card Enrollment Server — support CAC/PIV-based smart card issuance and enrollment station configuration, including middleware and certificate mapping to Active Directory accounts.

Monitoring and Virtualization Management

• System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) Management Server and SCOM SQL Database Server — management pack deployment, alerting/monitoring configuration, and health of the monitoring data warehouse.
• System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM/VMM) Server and SCVMM SQL Database Server — fabric management, VM template/library management, and integration with the underlying HCI cluster.

Patch Management, File Services, and Administration

• WSUS Server — update classification/approval, client targeting groups, and compliance reporting across the enclave.
• File / Profile / Application Share Server — file share and roaming/redirected profile hosting, NTFS/share permission structuring, and quota/capacity management.
• Management / Jump Server — hardened administrative access point (jump box) for privileged access to the environment, including privileged access workflow and session logging support.

Program-Specific Mission Application Servers

In addition to the core infrastructure roles above, the Integrator provides infrastructure-level engineering support (server build, OS hardening, storage/network provisioning, patching, backup, certificate and account support, and troubleshooting) for program-specific command and control (C2) application servers, coordinating with the respective application/software leads on application-layer configuration and functional requirements.

Note: Detailed functional configuration of the program-specific applications above is governed by customer-provided system documentation, runbooks, and Interface Control Documents (ICDs); the Integrator is expected to learn and follow these as part of onboarding.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary full-stack engineer for the HCI cluster and all hosted server roles, owning issues from initial triage through root-cause resolution across compute, storage, network, OS, and application layers.
• Build and maintain detailed system documentation: as-built diagrams, IP/VLAN schemes, service dependency maps, disaster recovery runbooks, and standard operating procedures.
• Plan and execute patch cycles (OS, SQL, firmware, and application) across the environment in coordination with WSUS, change management, and maintenance windows, minimizing impact to Always On availability groups and clustered workloads.
• Administer and maintain the PKI hierarchy end-to-end, including certificate lifecycle management, smart card enrollment support, and coordination of offline root CA ceremonies.
• Monitor system health and capacity via SCOM, respond to and remediate alerts, and continuously tune monitoring to reduce noise and catch real issues earlier.
• Support and enforce security compliance (e.g., DISA STIGs, ACAS/vulnerability scan remediation, account and access reviews) across all hosted roles in coordination with the ISSO.
• Participate in an on-call/incident response rotation and support scheduled maintenance windows, including after-hours work as required by the program.
• Coordinate with application owners for the program-specific mission systems (MSCT, ADSI, ASCOT, Sigma, C2 Core) to ensure the infrastructure layer meets their availability, performance, and security requirements.
• Contribute to capacity planning and technology refresh recommendations for the HCI cluster and hosted workloads.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a technical field and 8+ years of relevant systems engineering/integration experience, or equivalent combination of education, certification, and experience.
• Hands-on experience with Windows Server, Hyper-V, and hyperconverged.
• Demonstrated expertise administering Active Directory, DNS, Group Policy, and DHCP in an enterprise environment.
• Experience with Microsoft PKI (AD CS) including issuing CAs, subordinate CAs, offline root CA operations, certificate templates, and smart card/CAC enrollment.
• Experience administering SQL Server, including Always On Availability Groups.
• Experience with System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) and System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM/VMM).
• Experience with WSUS-based patch management in an enterprise or DoD environment.
• Working knowledge of Exchange Server administration.
• Strong troubleshooting methodology and the ability to work across interconnected systems without a single point of ownership handing off the problem.
• Active DoD Secret clearance at the time of application; willingness to undergo further investigation as required.
• DoD 8570/8140-compliant IT certification (e.g., Security+ CE) at time of hire, or ability to obtain within a defined onboarding period.

Preferred Qualifications

• Microsoft certifications such as Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate, or legacy MCSE: Cloud Platform and Infrastructure.
• Dell HCI / AX-series deployment and lifecycle management experience.
• Experience supporting classified or otherwise access-controlled program environments, including offline/air-gapped PKI operations.
• Familiarity with STIG hardening, ACAS scanning, and POA&M remediation processes.
• PowerShell scripting for automation of routine administration, patching, and reporting tasks.
• Prior experience supporting C2 or track/data-dissemination mission systems.

Work Environment / Physical Requirements

• Primarily performed in a secure facility / data center and office environment; may require access to server room/rack environments.
• Occasional lifting of IT equipment (up to ~50 lbs) during hardware installation or maintenance.
• May require after-hours or weekend work to support maintenance windows, patch cycles, or incident response.