Linux and Ansible Automation Engineer

DAn Solutions; Reston (VA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

DAn Solutions in Reston, VA seeks a Linux and Ansible Automation Engineer to implement scalable automation in a mission-critical, on-site environment.

You will build automation frameworks, enforce configuration management, and drive security hardening while partnering with mission stakeholders to cut manual effort and risk.

Qualifications

• 10+ years Linux administration in enterprise or DoD environments.
• Experience managing configuration at scale with Ansible and drift detection.
• IaC experience with Ansible, Terraform, Salt, Puppet or Chef.
• Scripting in Bash, Python, or PowerShell.
• DoD environment experience with security frameworks (STIG/NIST/RMF).
• Education aligned with IT project support; DoD certifications achievable within 30 days.
• Ability to obtain DoD 8570 CSSP-IS and IAT III certifications within 30 days of start.

Responsibilities

• Develop automation frameworks and best practices for scalable Linux infrastructure.
• Automate monitoring, hardening, configuration management, and performance tuning.
• Collaborate with mission partners to translate needs into repeatable automation.
• Ensure security compliance and reduce operational risk through automation.

Skills

Linux administration

Ansible automation

Infrastructure as Code

Scripting (Bash/Python/PowerShell)

DoD/government IT experience

Security compliance (STIG/NIST/RMF)

DoD 8570 IAT III

DoD CSSP-IS

Education

Associate's degree

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

Tools

VMware vSphere

Kubernetes

AWS

Azure

GCP

Job description

REQUIRES AN EXISTING/ACTIVE TS/SCI WITH CI POLYGRAPH - NO REMOTE WORK, MUST WORK ON SITE

Job Description

As a Linux and Ansible Automation Engineer on our project, you'll be on the ground floor of building something meaningful by developing automation frameworks, establishing best practices, and laying the foundation for scalable infrastructure in a mission-critical environment. You'll provide the customer with insight into their Linux environments through automated monitoring, system hardening, configuration management, and performance optimization. You'll work closely with mission partners and various stakeholders to understand their current pain points and translate them into automation solutions that reduce manual effort and operational risk. Your technical expertise will be vital as you identify where automation can make the biggest immediate impact while keeping an eye on long-term architecture. You'll help your team better understand what's possible by turning early wins into repeatable methodologies and communicating their value to leadership.

Basic Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience administering Linux-based environments such as RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
• Experience managing configuration at scale using Ansible, including enforcing consistent system state across large inventories, detecting and correcting configuration drift, and writing idempotent playbooks
• Experience using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) technologies such as Ansible, Terraform, Salt, Puppet, or Chef
• Experience with Bash, Python, or PowerShell
• Experience managing systems within U.S. federal government or DoD enterprise IT environments, including security compliance and vulnerability management frameworks such as STIG, RMF, or NIST
• Associate's degree and 5+ years of experience supporting IT projects and activities, Bachelor's degree and 3+ years of experience supporting IT projects and activities, or Master's degree and 1+ years of experience supporting IT projects and activities
• Ability to obtain a DoD 8570 IAT Level III Certification such as SecurityX (formerly CASP+), CCNP Security, CISA, CISSP (or Associate), GCED, GCIH, CCSP certification within 30 days of start date
• Ability to obtain a DoD 8570 Cybersecurity Service Provider - Infrastructure Support Certification (CSSP-IS), including CEH, CySA+, GICSP, SSCP, CHFI, CFR, Cloud+, or CND Certification, within 30 days of start date

Additional Qualifications

• Experience with VMware vSphere administration and managing virtual machine
• Experience in Kubernetes, container platform operations, cluster lifecycle management, workload orchestration
• Experience working with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Experience with NetApp storage solutions and designing or maintaining enterprise backup and recovery solutions
• Knowledge of version control concepts and Git