Cloud Systems Administrator - Senior Linux / AWS Application Sustainment

Peraton; Herndon (VA); On-site; USD 135,000 - 216,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Subsidized employee benefits coverage

25 days of PTO annually

Participation in attractive bonus plan

Job summary

Peraton is seeking a Senior Cloud Systems Administrator in Herndon, VA, responsible for supporting mission-critical applications for the U.S. Intelligence Community. This hands-on role requires extensive experience in Linux systems administration and AWS cloud management.

Qualified candidates must have a Bachelor's degree and significant relevant experience, along with the ability to work in a secure SCIF environment. Enhanced benefits include subsidized coverage, 25 days of PTO, and access to a bonus plan.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of relevant experience in cloud system administration.
• Experience with security hardening and vulnerability remediation.
• Ability to work full time in a SCIF environment.

Responsibilities

• Administer and troubleshoot multi-user Linux systems.
• Provision and monitor servers within an AWS environment.
• Perform backups, disaster recovery, and security audits.

Skills

Linux systems administration

AWS cloud administration

Security compliance

Troubleshooting

Application sustainment

Education

Bachelor’s degree in relevant field with 8+ years experience

Master’s degree with 6+ years experience

Ph.D. with 3+ years experience

Tools

CentOS

Red Hat Enterprise Linux

AWS

Job description

Responsibilities

We are seeking a Senior Cloud Systems Administrator in Herndon, VA to support the SITE III DO contract within our National Programs Business Intelligence Systems & Applications Operating Unit. This role supports mission-critical applications and services for a key directorate within the U.S. Intelligence Community.

This is a hands-on technical role requiring strong Linux systems administration, practical AWS cloud administration, security hardening, troubleshooting, and application sustainment experience. The selected candidate will help ensure reliable operation, performance, security, and availability of systems that support intelligence collection, dissemination, and mission operations.

This position is best suited for a senior administrator who has supported secure, classified, mission-focused environments and is comfortable working across Linux, AWS, security compliance, and operational application support.

The Cloud Systems Administrator will be responsible for the following:

• Administer, maintain, and troubleshoot multi-user Linux systems supporting mission-critical applications.
• Support Linux environments including CentOS, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and/or Oracle Linux.
• Provision, maintain, monitor, and support servers within an AWS environment.
• Use AWS console access to manage cloud-based infrastructure, including compute, storage, backups, snapshots, monitoring, and recovery activities.
• Perform system backups, snapshots, disaster recovery activities, and performance tuning.
• Install, configure, patch, and upgrade operating systems, applications, and supporting tools.
• Apply security configurations, perform STIG hardening, and remediate identified vulnerabilities.
• Review audit logs, troubleshoot system issues, and support root cause analysis.
• Support Tier 1 troubleshooting and Tier 2 problem resolution for operational systems.
• Work closely with network engineers, software developers, security teams, and application stakeholders to maintain system availability and performance.
• Manage system resources to optimize CPU, disk, storage, and overall system responsiveness.
• Administer user accounts, profiles, permissions, service accounts, and security settings.
• Support security audits, testing events, vulnerability scans, and compliance activities.
• Create and maintain technical documentation, including SOPs, system administration guides, user guides, and operational procedures.
• Evaluate system performance, identify improvement opportunities, and recommend hardware, software, or process enhancements.
• Support mission-critical applications that may require occasional after-hours or weekend availability.
• Work full time in a SCIF environment with flexible hours and availability during core business hours.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

Candidates must meet the following requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in an area relevant to the position with 8 or more years of relevant experience; or Master’s degree in an area relevant to the position with 6 or more years of relevant experience; or a Ph.D. in an area relevant to the position with 3 or more years of relevant experience. An additional 4 years of experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• ActiveTS/SCI or SCI eligibility and active polygraph or ability to obtain a polygraph.
• Ability to work full time in a SCIF.
• Active Security+ certification or another current IAT II/III-level certification.
• Strong current or very recent hands‑on Linux systems administration experience with CentOS, RHEL, and/or Oracle Linux.
• Practical experience working in an AWS environment.
• Experience using AWS console access to provision, maintain, and monitor servers.
• Experience performing snapshots, backups, disaster recovery, and performance tuning.
• Experience with installation, patching, vulnerability remediation, and STIG hardening.
• Strong troubleshooting skills, including scripting and audit log review.
• Ability to support both technical troubleshooting and customer-facing Tier 1 communication.
• Experience supporting operational systems, application sustainment, or mission-critical environments.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with technical teams, security personnel, developers, and mission stakeholders.

Desired Qualifications

The strongest candidates may also bring experience with:

• Current polygraph.
• Experience developing and maintaining technical documentation such as:
• SIPs
• SAGs
• SUMs
• SOPs
• Getting started guides
• Experience with ElasticSearch.
• Experience with AWS services and related technologies, includingEC2,S3, andElastiCache
• Experience with Kafka, OpenShift, Docker, Keycloak, and WildFly.
• Experience with PKI certificates, SSL, and service accounts.
• Experience maintaining multiple environment types, including physical, virtual, and cloud environments.
• Experience supporting security audits, testing events, and compliance reviews.
• Experience upgrading from CentOS to RHEL 8.
• Experience supporting secure government, defense, intelligence, or classified environments.

Peraton offers enhanced benefits to employees working on this critical National Security program, which include heavily subsidized employee benefits coverage for you and your dependents, 25 days of PTO accrued annually up to a generous PTO cap and participation in an attractive bonus plan.

Target Salary Range

$135,000 - $216,000. This represents the typical salary range for this position. Salary is determined by various factors, including but not limited to, the scope and responsibilities of the position, the individual’s experience, education, knowledge, skills, and competencies, as well as geographic location and business and contract considerations. Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay.

EEO

EEO: Equal opportunity employer, including disability and protected veterans, or other characteristics protected by law.