Senior IT Systems Engineer with Security Clearance

Senior IT Systems Engineer Washington, District of Columbia $101,000 - $126,000 Secret Location: Joint Base Andrews Hours: 0600 - 1600 Note - This role support on call rotation. Client is hiring a Senior Virtualization Engineer to provide operational support for VMware/Nutanix clusters at Air Force District of Washington (AFDW). The work will include: Designing, deploying, configuring, and maintaining VMware/Nutanix clusters. Monitor system metrics to ensure high availability, scalability, and peak performance of the VMware/Nutanix infrastructure.

Perform troubleshooting and root cause analysis for complex technical issues. Provides SME level support for VMware; Nutanix infrastructures and trains other engineers on its use, maintenance, and cluster analysis. Maintain patches and upgrades to all hyper-converged software, applications, and the underlying hardware from Nutanix and VMware. Lead and support projects involving the migration of virtual machines and applications from legacy platforms (e.g., VMware) to the Nutanix platform.

Develop and maintain comprehensive virtualization documentation for system configurations, security plans, and operational procedures to support compliance audits and ensure system integrity. Participate in weekly Internal Design Review (IDR)/ Change Control Board (CCB). Collaborate with other engineers to monitor and maintain physical hosts, storage, network, and security infrastructure, reporting issues and outages as necessary to management. Utilize VMware Aria Operations (FKA vRealize Operations Manager (vROPS)) to monitor vCenter environment and determine future virtualization capacity.

Work closely with cybersecurity personnel, network engineers, and application owners to deliver secure, robust, and efficient solutions Ensure compliance with DoD mandates, including DISA STIGs and NIST SP 800-171. Support on call rotation.

Basic Requirements: Bachelor's degree with a minimum of 12+ years of related experience or a Master's degree and 10+ years of experience, additional years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of a degree. Must possess an active DoD Security Clearance (Secret or Top Secret). 10+ years of experience in infrastructure engineering with a strong focus on VMware and/or Nutanix environments.

Requires a current 8140 IAT Level II (Intermediate or Advanced) certificate (CompTIA Security+).Active VMware Certified Professional (6.0 or higher); Active Nutanix Certified Professional (NCP) or Nutanix Certified Systems Engineer (NCSE). Verifiable experience working within a DoD or defense contractor environment, with a strong understanding of its unique operational and security demands. Deep knowledge of virtualization technologies, including VMware and Nutanix. Strong expertise in Nutanix AOS, AHV, Prism, and Flow. Proficiency in managing Windows Server and Linux environments.

Hands-on experience implementing and managing systems compliant with DISA STIGs and NIST SP 800-171. Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.

Preferred Qualifications: Experience with infrastructure automation tools such as Ansible or Terraform, and scripting languages like Python or PowerShell. Strong understanding of networking fundamentals, including switching, VLANs, firewalls, and micro-segmentation. Experience working in air-gapped or classified network environments (e.g., SIPRNet) is highly desirable. Experience Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) with Omnissa. Knowledge of Air Force, Pentagon, and/or AFNCR and experience working at the Pentagon, Joint Base Andrews (JBA), and Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB).