Senior Systems Engineer

The successful candidate will serve as a senior technical resource for server infrastructure, virtualization, operating systems, storage, backup and recovery, identity services, automation, and infrastructure security. This position works closely with Platform Engineering, Cybersecurity, Network Operations, Solutions Architecture, and other IT teams to deliver reliable, secure, and scalable infrastructure services.

The role requires strong troubleshooting skills, independent technical judgment, and the ability to lead complex infrastructure initiatives from planning through implementation and operational sustainment.

• What You Will Do as a Senior Systems Engineer

• Design, implement, administer, and maintain enterprise Windows and Linux server infrastructure across physical, virtual, and cloud environments.
• Engineer and support virtualization and hyperconverged infrastructure platforms, including VMware vSphere and Nutanix.
• Install, configure, harden, patch, upgrade, and troubleshoot Windows Server and Ubuntu Linux systems.
• Manage core Microsoft infrastructure services, including Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, certificate services, and related identity and authentication technologies.
• Plan and maintain highly available infrastructure solutions with appropriate redundancy, fault tolerance, capacity, and disaster recovery capabilities.
• Administer enterprise backup, recovery, and data protection solutions and regularly validate recovery capabilities.
• Administer and support enterprise multi-factor authentication (MFA/2FA) services, including user enrollment, authentication policies, token lifecycle management, troubleshooting, and integration with enterprise applications and identity platforms.
• Develop and maintain automation for infrastructure provisioning, configuration, patching, and operational tasks using technologies such as PowerShell, Ansible, and Infrastructure-as-Code methodologies.
• Perform advanced troubleshooting and root cause analysis of complex server, virtualization, storage, operating system, authentication, and infrastructure performance issues.
• Monitor infrastructure health, availability, capacity, and performance and proactively identify opportunities to improve reliability and operational efficiency.
• Support vulnerability remediation, system hardening, configuration management, and security compliance activities in accordance with organizational and regulatory requirements.
• Implement and maintain technical controls supporting CMMC, NIST SP 800-171, CIS benchmarks, and other applicable cybersecurity requirements.
• Evaluate new infrastructure technologies and provide technical recommendations based on security, scalability, reliability, performance, supportability, and cost.
• Create and maintain system architecture diagrams, technical standards, operating procedures, build documentation, and disaster recovery documentation.
• Serve as a senior escalation point and technical mentor for other members of the Server Operations team.
• Lead or provide technical leadership for infrastructure projects and coordinate implementation activities across multiple IT teams.
• Perform after-hours support for critical infrastructure incidents and planned maintenance when required.

• Senior Systems Engineer Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Management Information Systems, or a related technical discipline and approximately 8 years of relevant experience; equivalent combinations of education, certifications, and professional experience may be considered.
• Significant experience administering enterprise Windows Server environments.
• Experience administering Linux server environments, preferably Ubuntu.
• Strong experience with enterprise virtualization technologies such as VMware vSphere/ESXi and/or Nutanix AHV.
• Advanced knowledge of Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, authentication, certificates, and related enterprise infrastructure services.
• Experience managing enterprise storage, backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity technologies.
• Experience with server hardware, virtual infrastructure, storage systems, networking fundamentals, and data center technologies.
• Experience automating infrastructure administration using PowerShell, Ansible, Python, or similar scripting and automation technologies.
• Strong understanding of TCP/IP networking, routing, VLANs, firewalls, load balancing, DNS, and infrastructure troubleshooting.
• Experience with enterprise monitoring, logging, vulnerability management, configuration management, and patch management solutions.
• Understanding of cybersecurity principles including least privilege, system hardening, vulnerability remediation, privileged access, segmentation, and secure configuration management.
• Demonstrated ability to independently troubleshoot complex infrastructure problems and perform root cause analysis.
• Ability to develop technical solutions, document architectural decisions, and communicate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and work effectively both independently and within cross-functional technical teams.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship.

• Senior Systems Engineer Preferences

• • Experience with Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure, including AHV, Prism, and related Nutanix technologies.
  • Advanced VMware vSphere experience, including ESXi, vCenter, clustering, high availability, distributed switching, and lifecycle management.
  • Experience administering enterprise multi-factor authentication solutions, particularly RSA SecurID, including token provisioning, authentication policies, user lifecycle management, troubleshooting, and application integrations.
  • Experience supporting Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Azure environments, particularly Government Community Cloud High (GCC High).
  • Experience with Ubuntu Linux and enterprise Linux management.
  • Experience with Veeam or similar enterprise backup and recovery platforms.
  • Experience with infrastructure automation and configuration management using PowerShell, Ansible, Terraform, or similar technologies.
  • Experience supporting Kubernetes infrastructure or containerized application platforms.
  • Experience with enterprise monitoring and observability platforms.
  • Experience with storage technologies, SAN/NAS platforms, and enterprise storage networking.
  • Experience supporting public cloud infrastructure in Microsoft Azure and/or AWS.
  • Experience working in regulated environments subject to CMMC, NIST SP 800-171, DFARS, FedRAMP, or similar cybersecurity frameworks.
  • Experience implementing CIS security benchmarks or other system-hardening standards.
  • Experience working with vulnerability management platforms and remediation processes.
  • Experience supporting infrastructure within U.S. Government or Department of Defense environments.
  • Relevant industry certifications such as Security+, Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate, Red Hat Certified System Administrator/Engineer (RHCSA/RHCE), VMware Certified Professional (VCP), Nutanix Certified Professional (NCP), or equivalent certifications.
  • Active or previously held U.S. Government security clearance.

Applied Research Associates, Inc. is an employee-owned international research and engineering company recognized for providing technically superior solutions to complex and challenging problems in the physical sciences. The company, founded in Albuquerque, NM, in 1979, currently employs over 2,200 professionals and continues to grow. ARA offices throughout the United States and Canada provide a broad range of technical expertise in defense technologies, civil technologies, computer software and simulation, systems analysis, environmental technologies, and testing and measurement. The corporation also provides sophisticated technical products for environmental site characterization, pavement analysis, and robotics.