Senior Specialist, Systems Administration

L3Harris Technologies; Ottawa; On-site; CAD 80,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

L3Harris Technologies in Ottawa, ON, is seeking a Senior Specialist, Systems Administration to strengthen and scale core IT and cloud services for a global technical workforce.

You will design, implement, and secure AWS-based infrastructure, migrate on-prem workloads to AWS, and support Linux servers, containers, and CI/CD pipelines across regions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree with 6+ years of relevant experience.
• Graduate Degree with 4+ years of related experience.
• In lieu of a degree, 10+ years of related experience.

Responsibilities

• Design, provision, and maintain AWS cloud infrastructure and hybrid networks using IaC as the primary deployment method.
• Enhance cloud and infrastructure security through IAM policy refinement and network security groups.
• Monitor system health and cloud spend using AWS tools and Prometheus/Grafana.
• Participate in incident response and act as escalation point for complex issues.
• Align IT with global standards to ensure stable, reliable infrastructure.
• Collaborate with regions and share knowledge.
• Diagnose and resolve complex issues across AWS, networks, and OS.
• Plan and execute migrations from on-premises workloads to AWS.
• Deploy and maintain Linux servers and containerized workloads (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Support CI/CD pipelines for software engineering and research teams.

Skills

AWS

Terraform

Docker

Kubernetes

Linux

CI/CD

Networking

Security

Education

Bachelor’s Degree + 6 years of experience

Graduate Degree + 4 years of experience

10 years of related experience in lieu of degree

Tools

Prometheus

Grafana

CloudWatch

CloudTrail

SNMP

Job description

L3Harris is dedicated to recruiting and developing high-performing talent who are passionate about what they do. Our employees are unified in a shared dedication to our customers’ mission and quest for professional growth. L3Harris provides an inclusive, engaging environment designed to empower employees and promote work-life success. Fundamental to our culture is an unwavering focus on values, dedication to our communities, and commitment to excellence in everything we do.

L3Harris is the Trusted Disruptor in defense tech. With customers’ mission-critical needs always in mind, our employees deliver end-to-end technology solutions connecting the space, air, land, sea and cyber domains in the interest of national security.

Job Title: Senior Specialist, Systems Administration

Job Location: Ottawa, ON

Job Code: 44558

Job Schedule: Day Shift

Compensation Range: $79,500 - $129,500 CDN annually

As a key member of the Global IT Operations team, you will help strengthen, modernize, and scale the company’s core IT and cloud services across your region. You will work at the intersection of systems, hybrid networks, AWS cloud platforms, and automation tooling to ensure reliable, secure, and high-quality services for a highly technical workforce.

In this role, you will focus heavily on supporting AWS workloads, leveraging Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to design, build, and update networks, VPCs, and cloud services. Crucially, you will play a key role in assisting and supporting our ongoing migration of legacy and on-premises workloads, networks, and services to AWS. You will play an important role in improving operational maturity, enhancing service quality, and contributing to a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.

Joining at a pivotal moment, you will help enhance governance, build trust, and strengthen our cloud and operational foundation amidst substantial personnel and capital investments.

The IT organization supports a global workforce of approximately 150 people, primarily composed of software engineers and researchers. Depending on the needs of your region and the local team composition, you may operate as a primary technical point of contact for your site or work collaboratively alongside peers in a shared-responsibility model.

Essential Functions:

• Design, provision, and maintain AWS cloud infrastructure and hybrid global networks—including VPCs, subnets, routing tables, Transit Gateways, firewalls, VPNs, and site-to-site connectivity—using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) as the primary deployment method.
• Enhance cloud and infrastructure security through IAM policy refinement, network security groups, vulnerability remediation, patching, and system hardening.
• Monitor system health, performance, and cloud spend using AWS-native tools (CloudWatch, CloudTrail) alongside tools like Prometheus, Grafana, and SNMP.
• Participate in incident response and serve as an escalation point for complex cloud, network, and systems issues.
• Align IT and cloud services with global standards, ensuring stable, reliable, and highly available infrastructure.
• Collaborate effectively with colleagues across regions and share knowledge.
• Diagnose and resolve complex technical issues across AWS cloud services, local networks, and operating systems.

Technical Responsibilities:

• Plan, support and execute migration strategies (rehosting, replatforming, refactoring) to transition on-premises workloads into AWS.
• Deploy, configure, and maintain Linux servers and containerized workloads (Docker, Kubernetes) in both cloud and hybrid environments.
• Assist in the deployment and maintenance of developer tooling and CI/CD pipelines to support software engineering and research teams.
• Implement and maintain infrastructure monitoring and alerting to proactively identify performance bottlenecks and security anomalies.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree and minimum 6 years of prior relevant experience. Graduate Degree and a minimum of 4 years of prior related experience. In lieu of a degree, minimum of 10 years of prior related experience.

Preferred Additional Skills:

• Experience assisting with cloud migration projects, including moving workloads from on-premises environments to AWS.
• Production experience building, securing, and supporting AWS networks (VPCs, Transit Gateway, Route 53, Direct Connect, ELB/ALB).
• Advanced experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC), specifically using Terraform to manage multi-account AWS environments.
• Hands-on experience supporting Linux operating systems, containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and cloud-native application stacks.
• Excellent communication and organizational abilities.
• Flexibility for occasional travel.
• Duties require working with a global team and may periodically necessitate working outside of normal working hours (evenings, holidays, and weekends).

Eligibility Criteria:

• Must be eligible for registration with the Controlled Goods Program;
• Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a government of Canada Reliability status and Secret Level 2/NATO Secret security clearance;
• Must be eligible to meet the requirements for U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).

L3Harris is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to treating all of its employees and job applicants with respect and dignity and to maintaining a workplace free from discrimination. Anyone applying for a position will be considered without regard to the following: race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, nationality, ancestry, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, family status, genetic characteristics, disability, citizenship status, or conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted or in respect of which a record suspension has been ordered, or any other characteristic that is protected by applicable human rights legislation.

L3Harris maintains a drug-free workplace and conducts pre-employment drug and alcohol testing and background checks, in accordance with applicable law. Such results are only accessible and viewed by individuals at L3Harris who have direct responsibility in the hiring process. If you fail to report for a drug and alcohol test, refuse to undergo such test or test positive for the presence of drugs or alcohol, the hiring process may be concluded or your offer of employment may be rescinded, in L3Harris’ sole discretion.

This job is for an existing vacancy

At L3Harris, we foster an inclusive and equitable workplace. L3Harris is committed to treating all employees and applicants for employment with respect and dignity and maintaining a workplace that is free from unlawful discrimination. For applicants with disabilities, we will provide you with accommodation so that you have what you need in order to be at your best.

L3Harris performs background checks prior to employment as all applicants must be eligible for registration with the Controlled Goods Program and obtain and maintain a positive security assessment. Some positions may require a government of Canada “Reliability” status and/or Level 2 (Secret) security clearance. In addition, L3Harris performs pre-employment substance abuse testing where required.