Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Engineer

Location: Onsite – Southern Pennsylvania / Maryland Region
Clearance Requirement: Active TS/SCI Security Clearance Required
Contract To Hire Opportunity
Pay Rate: $85–$95/hour, depending on experience

Position Overview

Paladin / SNI Technology is seeking an experienced Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Engineer to support a secure, mission-critical federal environment. This individual will provide engineering, administration, and operational support for enterprise virtual desktop systems, ensuring secure, reliable, and high-performing services for a large end-user population.

The ideal candidate will have extensive experience with VMware virtualization technologies, enterprise VDI deployments, system optimization, and cybersecurity compliance within complex, multi-network environments.

This position will play an important role in the planning, deployment, maintenance, and continuous improvement of virtual desktop services while collaborating with infrastructure, networking, and cybersecurity teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Engineer, plan, deploy, test, and maintain VMware-based virtual desktop infrastructure and supporting technologies.

• Implement and support enterprise VDI solutions serving 500+ desktop and VPN users across multiple network environments.

• Support major infrastructure installations, system upgrades, and technology modernization initiatives.

• Coordinate with vendors and technical teams to investigate and resolve network disruptions and performance issues.

• Develop testing strategies, execute validation activities, and document technical findings.

• Troubleshoot escalated technical incidents and provide advanced support for complex VDI issues.

• Provide technical guidance, training, and knowledge transfer to Tier 2 support personnel, help desk teams, and end users.

• Manage incident and change requests through an enterprise IT service management platform, including troubleshooting, remediation, and approved system changes.

• Maintain current knowledge of relevant virtualization hardware, software, and emerging technologies.

• Develop and maintain technical procedures, disaster recovery documentation, and operational playbooks.

• Create and maintain a centralized VDI knowledge repository using SharePoint.

• Collaborate with government stakeholders, industry partners, and other technical organizations to identify and implement VDI best practices.

• Participate in special projects, capacity planning, performance optimization, and infrastructure lifecycle management.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or a related technical discipline.

• At least 5 years of experience implementing, administering, and supporting VDI environments.

• Demonstrated expertise designing, configuring, and maintaining enterprise virtualization technologies supporting desktop and VPN users.

• Active TS/SCI security clearance.

• Experience working with VMware Horizon and VMware vSphere in enterprise environments.

Preferred Certifications

• VMware Horizon 8.x Professional certification.

• VMware Certified Professional – Desktop Management (2023) or equivalent relevant VMware desktop virtualization certification.

Technical Skills & Expertise

Qualified candidates should demonstrate experience in the following areas:

• VDI & Virtualization: VMware Horizon, VMware vSphere, virtual desktop deployments, application pools, connection servers, and related virtualization components.

• Windows Environments: Windows desktop operating systems, user profile management, application delivery, and virtual desktop image administration.

• Networking: TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, load balancing, and network troubleshooting as they relate to virtual desktop operations.

• Security & Compliance: Cybersecurity controls, information assurance policies, and secure configuration practices for virtualized infrastructure.

• Systems Administration: VDI provisioning, configuration, patching, updates, image management, and virtual machine lifecycle maintenance.

• Monitoring & Troubleshooting: Performance monitoring, log analysis, root-cause investigation, and resolution of complex system issues.

• Documentation: Standard operating procedures, system configuration records, change documentation, technical playbooks, and disaster recovery plans.

• Collaboration & Support: Working across infrastructure, networking, and cybersecurity teams while communicating technical information to diverse stakeholders.

• Optimization: Capacity planning, infrastructure enhancements, performance tuning, and continuous improvement of enterprise VDI services.