Server Lead

Location: Huntsville, AL
Required Clearance: SECRET
Required

Education:

Bachelor's degree in information technology, computer science, systems administration, engineering, or a related field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
Required Experience: Senior systems administration experience supporting enterprise server, virtualization, storage, backup/recovery, and disaster-recovery operations, including technical leadership in a high-availability environment.

Ping Wind is seeking a Server Lead to direct system administration, virtualization, server maintenance, backup/recovery, and disaster-recovery operations for PAE Fires enterprise systems. The Server Lead will provide hands‑on technical leadership to maintain secure and highly available platforms, validate backup and restoration capabilities, and support continuity and COOP reconstitution requirements.

Typical Responsibilities/Tasks:

• Lead systems administration and maintenance for environments that include ESXi hosts, virtual machines/appliances, Red Hat Open Shift, VDI desktops, Windows Server, Linux/RHEL, file systems, and system-level applications.
• Direct hardware installation, troubleshooting, maintenance, system updates, patching, backups, and operational support while maintaining highly secure and available systems on a 24/7 basis.
• Perform or oversee system analysis and design, establish and sustain virtual infrastructure, and provide technical input for system administration SOPs and user/administrator documentation.
• Operate and maintain enterprise backup and recovery capabilities supporting Linux NFS, Windows SMB, Enterprise SAN, Cohesity, Dell Power Protect Data Manager, VMware Replication, and vSAN.
• Administer or support protection services and protocols such as vProxy, DD Boost, NDMP, REST APIs, S3-compatible object storage, VMware vCenter/vSphere integration, and application-aware backup agents for SQL Server and other enterprise applications.
• Regularly test and validate backup, recovery, replication, and restoration procedures; investigate backup failures; verify recoverability, system integrity, and achievement of defined RPO/RTO objectives.
• Support disaster-recovery and contingency planning by providing technical data on backup security, software, procedures, media/storage, schedules, audit records, trusted recovery, and restoration capabilities.
• Support COOP events and exercises, including reconstitution of IT infrastructure, recovery of systems/software/databases, and troubleshooting of restoration issues.
• Coordinate server, storage, backup, and recovery activities with the CIO, Government team leads, cybersecurity personnel, developers, network staff, and other designated stakeholders.

• Advanced systems administration experience with VMware ESXi, vCenter/vSphere, vSAN, virtual machines, and enterprise VDI technologies.
• Strong administration skills with Windows Server and Linux/RHEL environments; experience with Red Hat Open Shift is highly relevant.
• Experience with enterprise SAN/storage, backup, recovery, replication, and disaster-recovery technologies in mission-critical environments.
• Hands‑on experience with Cohesity and/or Dell Power Protect Data Manager or comparable enterprise backup platforms, including NFS/SMB and application-aware protection.
• Experience troubleshooting complex server, virtualization, storage, backup, and restoration issues and documenting repeatable technical procedures.
• Knowledge of high availability, redundancy, RPO/RTO, system recovery, patching, hardening, and operational monitoring practices.
• Ability to lead technical staff, coordinate maintenance windows, communicate risk, and support after-hours or on-call mission requirements when authorized.
• SECRET security clearance.

• VMware VCP/VCAP, Microsoft, Red Hat, Cohesity, Dell, or comparable infrastructure certifications.
• Experience with automation and configuration tools such as Power Shell, Red Hat Ansible, or equivalent.
• Experience supporting Army/DoD server infrastructure, STIG implementation, classified systems, and formal disaster-recovery/COOP exercises.
• Experi…