Lab Systems Engineer / Top Secret with SCI eligibility

Peraton; United States; 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. The role focuses on enterprise compute, virtualization (VMware ESXi/vCenter), hyperconverged hardware, storage (NetApp), and network containment.

You'll collaborate with malware analysts to implement topologies, device networks, and sandboxes, enforce strict security controls, and manage Windows/Linux

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with 8+ years of relevant experience, or MA/MS with 6+ years; PhD with 3+ years.
• US citizenship required.
• Active Top Secret security clearance, able to obtain DHS EOD/SCI.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement enterprise infrastructure for virtualization, storage, and networks to support secure analysis labs.
• Configure and manage VMware ESXi/vCenter in air-gapped, contained environments.
• Deploy Cisco Hyperflex compute nodes and NetApp storage for high-performance workloads.
• Implement network segmentation with VLANs and Palo Alto firewall rules.
• Provision and harden Windows and Linux servers and desktops for analytical deployment.
• Use Ubuntu Landscape and Splunk to manage systems and monitor logs.
• Ensure rapid environment resets and strict containment.

Skills

Architectural Design

Network Device Support

Virtualization

Hardware & Storage

Networking & Firewalls

Systems Administration

Orchestration & Data Collection

Education

Bachelor's degree

MA/MS degree

PhD

Tools

VMware ESXi

vCenter

Cisco Hyperflex

NetApp

Ubuntu Landscape

Splunk

Palo Alto

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.