System Administrator

System Administrator – Arlington, VA (Remote)

The System Administrator will play a critical role in supporting a large-scale federal IT modernization initiative, transforming legacy systems into modern, secure, and efficient technology platforms. This role requires a security-conscious professional who can operate effectively in a highly regulated federal environment while driving innovation and operational excellence.

The successful candidate will manage complex IT infrastructure supporting mission‑critical federal operations, ensuring 99.9% uptime and maintaining strict compliance with federal security standards including FedRAMP, FISMA, and agency‑specific requirements. The position offers the opportunity to work with cutting‑edge technologies while making a meaningful impact on government service delivery.

• Design, implement, and maintain hybrid cloud infrastructure supporting federal workloads across AWS Gov Cloud, Azure Government, and on‑premises environments.
• Execute migration strategies for legacy systems to modern cloud‑native architectures while ensuring zero data loss and minimal service disruption.
• Implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) practices using tools such as Terraform, Cloud Formation, and Ansible to ensure consistent, repeatable deployments.
• Manage and optimize virtualized environments including VMware vSphere, Hyper‑V, and containerized applications using Docker and Kubernetes.
• Implement and maintain security controls in accordance with NIST Cybersecurity Framework, FedRAMP requirements, and agency‑specific security policies.
• Conduct regular vulnerability assessments and coordinate remediation efforts to maintain Authority to Operate (ATO) certifications.
• Manage privileged access controls, multi‑factor authentication systems, and endpoint protection solutions.
• Ensure compliance with federal regulations including FISMA, FIPS 140‑2, and Common Criteria standards.
• Monitor system performance using enterprise tools such as Splunk, Nagios, or Solar Winds to proactively identify and resolve issues.
• Maintain comprehensive backup and disaster recovery procedures with regular testing to ensure RTO/RPO requirements are met.
• Perform capacity planning and resource optimization to support growing federal workloads while managing budget constraints.
• Coordinate planned maintenance windows and emergency response procedures with minimal impact to mission‑critical operations.
• Work closely with federal program managers, contractors, and technical teams to ensure alignment with modernization objectives and timelines.
• Maintain detailed system documentation, standard operating procedures, and configuration management databases.
• Participate in change management processes and technical review boards to ensure proposed modifications meet federal standards.
• Provide technical mentorship to junior team members and knowledge transfer to federal personnel.

Salary Range: $120,000 – $145,000

• U.S. Citizen.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related technical field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum 7 years of system administration experience in enterprise environments, with at least 2 years supporting federal government or highly regulated industries.
• Ability to obtain and maintain Public Trust suitability.

• Current certifications:
  CompTIA Security+ (mandatory for federal work) and one of the following: AWS Solutions Architect, Microsoft Azure Administrator, or VMware Certified Professional.
• Demonstrated experience with Windows Server 2016/2019/2022 and Linux distributions (RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu) in enterprise environments.
• Proficiency with federal cloud platforms including AWS Gov Cloud and Microsoft Azure Government, including services such as EC2, S3, RDS, Active Directory, and Azure Virtual Machines.
• Experience with configuration management tools (Ansible, Puppet, Chef) and Infrastructure as Code practices.
• Knowledge of networking protocols, firewalls, load balancers, and VPN technologies in secure government environments.
• Familiarity with containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes) and CI/CD pipeline tools…