External Job Posting Title Lab Systems Engineer / Top Secret with SCI eligibility

Peraton; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 112,000 - 179,000; Full time

Job summary

Peraton is seeking an experienced Lab Systems Engineer to design, deploy, and maintain the infrastructure supporting isolated malware analysis and reverse-engineering environments in Arlington, VA.

You will focus on foundational architecture—managing enterprise compute, virtualization, storage, and networking. Collaboration with analysts will ensure secure topologies, rapid environment resets, and rigorous containment across VMware, HyperFlex, NetApp, network devices, and logging platforms.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher with 6–8 years of relevant experience; or MA/MS with 6+ years.
• Architectural design experience with secure, air-gapped testbeds or boundaries.
• VMware ESXi & vCenter administration experience.
• Hands-on Cisco HyperFlex and NetApp storage provisioning.
• Networking and firewall configuration with Cisco devices and Palo Alto firewalls.
• Windows/Linux server and desktop provisioning, patching, and hardening.
• Ubuntu Landscape for Linux management and Splunk for log collection.

Responsibilities

• Design and build infrastructure to support virtualization, emulation, and interconnection of network devices and analysis systems.
• Manage virtualization stack with VMware ESXi and vCenter; operate hyperconverged compute with Cisco HyperFlex.
• Provision and scale storage on NetApp platforms; enforce VLANs and isolation between analysis cells.
• Configure firewalls and security rules with Palo Alto devices; ensure strict containment.

Skills

Architectural Design

Network Device Support

Virtualization

Networking & Firewalls

Systems Administration

Orchestration & Data Collection

Log Aggregation & Monitoring

Education

Bachelor's degree or MA/MS

Tools

VMware ESXi

vCenter

Cisco HyperFlex

NetApp Storage

Ubuntu Landscape

Splunk

Palo Alto Firewalls

Job description

Responsibilities

Peraton is currently seeking an experienced Lab Systems Engineer to design, deploy, and maintain the infrastructure supporting our highly isolated malware analysis and reverse-engineering environments.

Location: Arlington, VA.

In this role, you will:

• Focus entirely on the foundational architecture: managing enterprise compute, virtualization, storage, and networking systems.
• Collaborate directly with malware analysts and reverse engineers to implement the specific topologies, device networks, and virtual sandboxes they require, ensuring total network containment and rapid environment resets.

Additional areas of responsibility:

• Infrastructure Design & Solutioning: Design and build underlying infrastructure solutions to support the virtualization, emulation, and interconnection of various network device types and analysis systems as requested by the reverse-engineering team.
• Virtualization Stack Management: Administer and optimize the enterprise virtualization layer using VMware ESXi and vCenter server management.
• Hyperconverged Infrastructure: Deploy, maintain, and scale underlying compute nodes across Cisco Hyperflex system.
• Storage Administration: Provision and manage high-performance data lifecycles and datastores on NetApp storage platforms.
• Network Segmentation & Isolation: Configure and maintain Cisco network switches, enforcing rigorous VLAN configurations to ensure absolute containment between analysis cells.
• Firewall Infrastructure Engineering: Implement, audit, and manage strict security rule sets, access control lists, and custom routing tables on Palo Alto firewalls.
• Operating System Provisioning: Build, patch, and harden baseline enterprise Windows servers, Linux servers, and Linux desktops ready for analytical deployment.
• Centralized Systems Management: Manage compliance, patching, and deployment pipelines across the Linux infrastructure fleet using Ubuntu Landscape.
• Log Aggregation & Monitoring: Maintain infrastructure visibility, performance metrics, and environment logging by configuring and managing dashboards and alerts in Splunk.

#CISA

Qualifications

Minimum Requirements are:

• Bachelors degree and 8 years of relevant experience; or, an MA/MS degree with 6 years experience; 3 years with PhD. An additional 4 years of experience may be considered in lieu of the bachelors degree.
• Demonstrated Experience in:
  • Architectural Design: Proven experience designing and configuring underlying enterprise infrastructure architectures, with an emphasis on strict security boundaries or air-gapped testbeds.
  • Network Device Support: Familiarity with configuring hypervisors, virtual switches, or bare-metal setups to successfully host virtual appliances, virtual network functions (VNFs), or network emulation platforms.
  • Virtualization: Deep technical expertise with VMware ESXi architectures and enterprise management through vCenter.
  • Hardware & Storage: Hands-on experience managing Cisco Hyperflex environment and provisioning NetApp storage solutions.
  • Networking & Firewalls: Strong routing, switching, and VLAN configuration skills utilizing Cisco hardware alongside firewall administration experience on Palo Alto platforms.
  • Systems Administration: Advanced proficiency in configuring, maintaining, and deploying enterprise Windows servers, Linux servers, and Linux desktops.
  • Orchestration & Data Collection: Practical experience utilizing Ubuntu Landscape for Linux management and Splunk for infrastructure log collection.
• U.S. citizenship required.
• An active Top Secret security clearance.
  • Ability to obtain and maintain DHS EOD/SCI.

Peraton Overview

Peraton is a next-generation national security company that drives missions of consequence spanning the globe and extending to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. As the world’s leading mission capability integrator and transformative enterprise IT provider, we deliver trusted, highly differentiated solutions and technologies to protect our nation and allies. Peraton operates at the critical nexus between traditional and nontraditional threats across all domains: land, sea, space, air, and cyberspace. The company serves as a valued partner to essential government agencies and supports every branch of the U.S. armed forces. Each day, our employees do the can’t be done by solving the most daunting challenges facing our customers. Visit peraton.com to learn how we’re keeping people around the world safe and secure.

Target Salary Range

$112,000 - $179,000. 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.