PENDING CONTRACT AWARD: Linux Automation Engineer - Junior Level and Above (Applicants must already hold a Secret Level Clearance or Higher)

Cipher Tech Solutions; Baltimore (MD); On-site; USD 66,000 - 149,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision

Paid Vacation

Paid Holidays

401k matching

Relocation assistance

PTO

Job summary

Cipher Tech Solutions in Baltimore, MD, is seeking a Linux Automation Engineer at junior level or higher to join a mission-critical federal contracting team. You will maintain Linux fleets (RHEL 8/9, Ubuntu), implement Ansible playbooks, and support deployments across connected and disconnected networks with strict security controls.

The position requires a Secret clearance or higher, DoD 8570/IAT II, and experience with Terraform, Kubernetes, GitLab pipelines, and monitoring tools like Splunk

Qualifications

• U.S. Citizenship with active Secret clearance or higher
• Bachelor's degree in CS/EE/CE/Math/IT/Cybersecurity and 3 years' experience OR Master's degree and 1 year experience
• Strong oral and written communications
• CaC tooling experience (Ansible preferred)
• RHEL and Ubuntu administration in disconnected environments
• DoD 8570/8140 IAT II compliant certification (e.g., Security+)
• IaC tooling experience (Terraform preferred)
• Kubernetes administration experience
• DISA STIGs and NIST 800-53 controls familiarity
• Monitoring tools like Splunk, Grafana, SolarWinds familiarity
• Root cause analysis reporting after outages or incidents
• HSA contributions, 401k matching, PTO/holidays, relocation assistance

Responsibilities

• Provision and manage RHEL and Ubuntu servers across connected and disconnected networks
• Develop and maintain Ansible Playbooks and GitLab CI pipelines
• Manage Kubernetes clusters and workloads
• Configure network, storage, and firewall services
• Deploy and support monitoring to detect incidents and outages
• Conduct root-cause analysis and implement preventive steps
• Support deployment of new hardware and software appliances

Skills

CaC tooling

Kubernetes

RHEL

Ubuntu

Ansible

GitLab

GitHub

IaC tooling

Disaster root cause analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Master's degree in related domain

Tools

Terraform

Splunk

Grafana

SolarWinds

Job description

PENDING CONTRACT AWARD: Linux Automation Engineer - Junior Level and Above (Applicants must already hold a Secret Level Clearance or Higher)

• 08-Oct-2026 to 30-Nov-2026 (EST)
• Pre-Contract Award
• Baltimore, MD, USA
• 48.08-108.17 per hour
• Hourly
• Full Time
• Medical, Dental, Vision, Paid Vacation, Paid Holidays, 401k matching, and the list goes on!

Description :

This candidate and its peers report to the Operations Task Lead and maintains a fleet of Linux Systems (mostly RHEL 8 and RHEL 9) across on-premises and cloud networks, both with, and without internet connectivity. Responsible for configuring and securing systems utilizing Configuration as Code (Ansible Playbooks) that are deployed via GitLab Pipelines.

Telework Status : No Telework Allowed

Clearance Level Required : Secret level clearance or higher

Responsibilities :

What you will do:

• Provision, manage, and support Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Ubuntu servers across several internet-connected and internet-disconnected networks.
• Develop, utilize, and maintain Ansible Playbooks to secure, patch, and configure Linux servers.
• Manage Kubernetes clusters as well as the workloads deployed on the clusters.
• Manage and configure connected services such as network adapters, storage, and firewalls.
• Deploy, configure, and support monitoring capabilities to detect anomalous conditions or service disruptions.
• Investigate service disruptions and provide root cause analysis reports and implement additional steps to prevent subsequent issues.
• Support deployments of new hardware and software applications and appliances.

Schedule :

• Core hours are 0930-1430 Monday-Friday to ensure overlap with the team, attendance is expected outside of this window as needed to support meetings, deployments, and team activities. The system administration team is expected to have on-site coverage 0600-1800 Monday-Friday and schedules will be coordinated with other members of the team to ensure this coverage.

R equired Skills/Credentials :

• Must be a U.S. Citizen and have an active Secret clearance or higher
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Math, Information Technology, or CybersecurityAND 3 years' experience OR a master's degree in one of these domainsAND 1 year of experience
• Strong oral and written communications skills
• Expertise with Configuration as Code (CaC) tooling (Ansible preferred)
• Expertise managing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Ubuntu systems on disconnected environments.
• Certification compliant with DoD 8570/8140 IAT II (e.g., Security+ or similar)
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code ( IaC ) tooling (Terraform preferred).
• Experience administering Kubernetes clusters and services.
• Experience managing secure comput ing environments to adhere with DISA STIGs and NIST 800-53 controls.
• Experience monitoring system uptime and performance with tools such as Splunk, Grafana, and SolarWinds.
• Experience providing detailed technical after-action reports with root cause analysis after outage or security incidents.
• Familiarity with host-level networking such as instance firewalls.
• Familiarity with storage provider management such as Network File Systems (NFS).
• Familiarity with source code management tooling such as GitHub or GitLab.
• Mission focused work environment
• HSA contributions
• 401k matching
• Holiday and Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Monthly WAN parties & quarterly events
• Flexible hours

Remote work is not an option. We do offer relocation assistance . Please see our careers page or inquire with your recruiter about the terms and conditions.

Salary and other Compensation:

The hourly wage range is: $48.08 - $108.17

The salary range for this position is subject not only to the hire's skills, education, expertise, and years of experience, but also to features of the final position offered to the hire: including, but not limited to the location of the position, clearance required for the position, and the contract associated with the position. See our Perks & Benefits page for a general description of benefits and other potential compensation benefits: https://www.ciphertechsolutions.com/careers/perks-benefits/

About Us:

At Cipher Tech Solutions, Inc. (Cipher Tech), we take great pride in supporting some of the most mission critical work in the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community. The majority of our company is comprised of extremely talented software developers who write production tools which directly support one of two missions: digital forensics and malware reverse engineering.

Digital forensics is the practice of extracting and processing evidence from computers, phones, tablets, cameras, flash-drives, and just about any other form of digital media. The results of our work are then used to support federal and military law enforcement, counterintelligence, and counter terrorist activities.

Malware reverse engineering is the practice of analyzing malicious code. The goal of a reverse engineer is to understand how the malicious code works and determine facts such as:

* How did it infect the victim's computer

* What kind of information it is seeking to steal

* How is it communicating with the author (actor)

* Who that actor might be.

Please be aware that you are applying for a position to work as a federal contractor. As such, Cipher Tech will require , and your employment will be subject to, such vaccinations as are required by federal, state, and local law requirements.

Important Security Clearance Information :

Be aware that you are applying for a job that requires you already hold a U.S. government security clearance at time of application.

The U.S. government will not issue security clearances to recent users of illegal drugs. On your application to us, you must acknowledge that you have not engaged in any illegal drug use within the past twelve months (illegal drug use includes, but is not limited to, the use of illegal substances, the misuse of prescriptions, the misuse of over-the-counter substances, and the use of medical or recreational marijuana (or its derivatives) that may be deemed legal at the state level but is still considered illegal by the federal government). NOTE: CIPHER TECH WILL NOT DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ANY QUALIFIED APPLICANTS WITH A DISABILITY OR A RECORD OF A DISABILITY, INCLUDING ILLEGAL DRUG USERS WHO HAVE RECENTLY SOUGHT PROFESSIONAL TREATMENT FOR A DRUG PROBLEM.

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Cipher Tech is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All hiring and employment decisions are made on the basis of business requirements, performance, and merit with no regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national origin, or other protected status.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.