Lead System Engineer (Government)

att; Chantilly (VA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

AT&T National Security in the Washington DC metro area seeks an experienced Lead System Engineer to design, implement, operate, and maintain mission communications systems for a U.S. Government customer.

The role requires cross‑platform expertise (Linux/Windows), multi-vendor environments, and collaboration with voice, network, and systems engineers to deliver mission‑critical solutions. The candidate must hold TS/SCI with polygraph, have 5–10 years of enterprise system engineering experience,

Qualifications

• BS in Computer Science, Information Technology, Telecommunications or similar.
• Minimum 5–10 years of working experience designing, configuring, implementing, and maintaining enterprise-class system solutions.
• Full-stack system engineering across Linux and Windows environments.
• Familiar with CIS/STIG security baselines on Windows and Linux.
• Ability to create technical documentation, diagrams, and test plans.
• Experience with monitoring, logs, and automation for system tasks.
• Willingness to travel within the Washington Metro Area and beyond.
• Active TS/SCI with polygraph clearance.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with a team of system engineers to deploy and operate mission application systems hosted on physical and virtual environments.
• Maintain and operate mission systems (RHEL, Rocky, Debian, Windows) in mixed environments and coordinate with vendors.
• Manage system life-cycle phases from planning to migration.
• Install patches, upgrades, and hardware components.
• Troubleshoot hardware and software issues, document resolutions.
• Monitor logs for performance and security anomalies; audit accordingly.
• Create scripts and automation tools for routine tasks and data collection.
• Maintain backups and develop disaster recovery and failover procedures.
• Produce and maintain system documentation for installation and operation.
• Implement system security hardening per customer standards.

Skills

Problem solving

Analytical thinking

Interpersonal skills

Documentation skills

Communication skills

Team collaboration

On-call readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Linux (RHEL/ Rocky/ Debian)

Windows

Scripting (Shell, Python)

VMware

Backup/DR tooling

Job description

This position requires office presence of a minimum of 5 days per week and is only located at customer's site.

AT&T Global Public Sector is a trusted provider of secure, IP enabled, cloud-based, network solutions and professional services to the Federal Government. We are dedicated to recruiting, developing and empowering a diverse, high-performing workforce that is passionate about what they do, committed to our shared values and dedicated to our customers’ mission.

Our AT&T National Security organization supports our Nation’s Intelligence Community, operating and assuring critical data, voice, video, and collaboration services for the full spectrum of intelligence operations.

AT&T is seeking an experienced Lead System Engineer to support a professional services effort for a U.S. Government customer in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. This role will focus on the design, development, operation, and maintenance of mission communications systems, services, and supporting infrastructure. Key responsibilities include designing, installing, configuring, implementing, and maintaining customer mission solutions. The role requires technical expertise across multi-platform and multi-vendor applications, virtual environments, and SIP-based real‑time communications applications. The Lead System Engineer will collaborate with a matrixed team of voice, network, and systems engineers to deliver complex solutions that support the customer’s mission objectives. We are seeking a highly motivated individual with strong critical thinking skills, attention to detail, and effective communication skills. The candidate must be comfortable working collaboratively to develop and deliver customer‑focused solutions. This is a full‑time position located on the customer’s premises.

Job Duties/Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with a team of system engineers to deploy, configure, maintain and operate mission application systems hosted in both physical and virtual environments. This role involves regular engagement with the customer, engineering resources, and third‑party vendors to implement and maintain products and services supported for the customer.
• Maintain, configure, and operate mission systems (Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Rocky, Debian, and Windows) in both physical and virtual environments. This also involves regular engagement with multiple third‑party vendors to implement and maintain products and services supported by the customer.
• Manage various aspects of Sponsor’s mission system through all system life‑cycles phases, including planning, designing, evaluating, selecting, implementing, maintaining and future migrations.
• Install and configure software patches and upgrades (OS, database, and applications) as well as hardware components (servers, SANs, hard disks etc.).
• Troubleshoot hardware and software errors by running diagnostics, documenting problems and resolutions, prioritizing problems, and assessing impact of issues.
• Monitor and review system and application logs to audit for performance and security related activity and anomalies.
• Create and implement scripts and automation tools to support routine system/application tasks, gather data/metrics for system dashboards, and generate reports.
• Create and maintain application and system backups as well develop and perform disaster recovery plans and failover procedures.
• Create and maintain technical documentation that supports system administration procedures and tasks for installing, operating, and maintaining the systems and applications.
• Implement, maintain, and document system security hardening and compliance with customer’s standards/requirements.
• Manage capacity, storage planning, and database performance.
• Serve as Tier 3/4 escalation resource for O&M trouble and incident response.
• Willingness to be on‑call and work outside normal business hours to perform system maintenance activities.
• Occasional travel to various locations within the Washington Metro Area.

Required Clearance:

TSSCI with poly (#tssci) (#polygraph)

Required Qualifications:

• B.S. in Computer Science, Information Technology, Telecommunications or similar.
• Education requirements are flexible depending on experience.
• Minimum 5-10 years of working experience designing, configuring, implementing, and maintaining enterprise‑class system solutions.
• Full‑stack system engineering of complex systems and networks to include design, implementation, and configuration & maintenance during the life cycle of the system. Experienced with analyzing requirements and collaborating with multiple engineering resources (i.e. developers, database, application SMEs) to deliver overall solutions.
• System network and/or database administration experience on enterprise‑class environments with a focus in Linux as well as Windows platforms. Familiar with user account and group policy management, application/service management and application patching and upgrades.
• Proficiency with both operating systems and networking software, hardware, and networking protocols. Strong understanding of TCP/IP networks, networking troubleshooting, and network protocols (SSH, SFTP, SCP, HTTPS, DNS, SNMP, etc.).
• Proficiency with database systems and basic database administration (Oracle, MySQL, PostGres).
• Knowledgeable of system cybersecurity concepts, best practices and enforcing system security baselines configurations (i.e. CIS, STIG) in both Windows and Linux environments.
• Experienced with creating technical documentation such as system design diagram, user guides as well as test plans and installation and troubleshooting guides.
• Experienced with monitoring and review systems, databases and application logs to audit and address anomalies.
• Experienced with creating and implementing scripts and/or automation tools to support routine system/application tasks, gather data/metrics and generate reports.
• Experienced with creating and maintaining system continuity such as application and system backups as well disaster recovery plans and failover procedures.
• Strong and efficient problem‑solving and inter‑personnel communication skills, written and verbal.
• Commitment to continuous learning/education both on and off the job to further enhance and develop skills and expertise for progression in role.
• Strong time management skills, comfortable managing multiple priorities, strong analytical and critical thinking skills, and a collaborative approach to colleague engagement and work responsibilities.
• Candidate must be strong in analytical thinking and problem solving to investigate and troubleshoot problems, inefficiencies, and performance issues. Familiar with tools and methods for analyzing, monitoring, and troubleshooting network issues or outages when they arise and demonstrated ability to diagnose and resolve network and application problems using rigorous logic.
• Candidate should also have strong interpersonal communication skills to collaborate effectively with engineering team and the Sponsor daily.
• Effectively provide training to Tier‑1 to 3 staff on process and procedures relating to implementation, configuration, and support of voice solutions.
• Occasional travel to other Sponsor locations within the Washington Metro Area and domestic required.
• Candidate should demonstrate a commitment to continuous learning/education both on and off the job to further enhance and develop skills and expertise.

Desired Qualifications:

• CompTIA Server+, Security+
• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
• Red Hat Certified System Administrator
• Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE)
• VMWare Certified Professional
• Experience with database administration (Oracle, MySQL, PostGres)
• Experience with implementing CIS/STIG benchmarks for cybersecurity baselines configurations of Windows and RHEL
• Experience with bash scripting (Bash, Python, Perl) and automation tools (Ansible, Puppet)
• Experience with data and event management and analytics tools such as Splunk
• Experience with network management applications
• Experience with virtualization environments, VMWare/vSphere or equivalent

Weekly Hours:

40

Time Type:

Regular

Location:

Chantilly, Virginia

It is the policy of AT&T to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, AT&T will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.

AT&T is a fair chance employer and does not initiate a background check until an offer is made.