Junior Software Engineer / Devops

Vigilant Cyber Systems, Inc; North Carolina; Remote; USD 70,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

A cybersecurity solutions firm is seeking a Jr Software Engineer with an emphasis on DevOps to develop and manage virtualized environments. The role involves using tools like Packer and Ansible to automate configurations and build testing infrastructures. Candidates should have a relevant STEM degree or equivalent experience, and familiarity with scripting and virtualization technologies is preferred. This position offers a remote or on-site option in North Carolina.

Qualifications

• Ability to obtain a DoD security clearance.
• Ability to work independently and in a fast-paced R&D team.

Responsibilities

• Develop software and systems for large-scale virtualized environments.
• Configure and maintain a virtual testbed of target systems.
• Automate application installation and configuration management.

Skills

Software scripting (Scala, Python, Rust, Bash, PowerShell)

VM image management with Packer

Configuration management using Ansible

Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

VM networking and performance troubleshooting

Education

Related STEM degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Virtualization technologies (QEMU/KVM, VMware, VirtualBox)

Distributed VM orchestration (minimega)

Job description

Position: Jr Software Engineer / with emphasis on DevOps

Position Summary

Location: Remote or Mount Airy, NC Employment Type: Full-Time

Vigilant Cyber Systems, Inc. (VCS) is seeking a Virtual Machine Configuration Engineer to support the development of our SBIR programs. In this role, you will develop software, systems, and infrastructure as code (IaC) to design and manage large-scale virtualized environments using tools such as Packer, Ansible, and minimega. You will be responsible for building, configuring, and maintaining a virtual testbed of target systems to enable advanced simulation and testing.

Experience / Degree

A related STEM degree or equivalent experience as a Jr Software Engineer or DevOps Engineer.

The ideal candidate will have experience in many of the following skills

• Ability to write software or scripts in any or all of the following languages (Scala / Python / Rust / Bash / Powershell)
• Build and maintain VM images using Packer for multiple operating systems.
• Automate configuration management and application installation using Ansible.
• Apply IaC practices to design consistent, reproducible environments for testing and deployment.
• Use minimega to launch, manage, and scale distributed virtual environments across clusters.
• Develop repeatable workflows for creating and tearing down complex VM-based test environments.
• Troubleshoot VM networking, performance, and configuration issues.
• Maintain documentation for image building, configuration scripts, and deployment processes.

Ideal Qualifications

• Proficiency with virtualization technologies (QEMU/KVM, VMware, VirtualBox, or similar).
• Experience in Functional Programming such as Scala.
• Experience in IaC deployed environments.
• Familiarity with distributed VM orchestration tools, minimega preferred.
• Familiarity with infrastructure as code (IaC) tools, especially Packer and Ansible.
• Experience with scripting languages (Python, Bash, or PowerShell).
• Understanding of networking fundamentals (VLANs, routing, firewalls, etc.).

Required

• Ability to obtain a DoD security clearance.
• Ability to work independently and in a small, fast-paced R&D team.

Preferred

• Experience with cluster-based virtualization environments.
• Background in testbed development or systems simulation.
• Familiarity with DoD or critical infrastructure systems.