Senior DevOps Engineer

Appian; McLean (VA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan with company match

Paid parental leave

Medical, dental, and vision plans

Life insurance

Job summary

Appian in McLean, VA is seeking a Senior DevOps Engineer to join our Federal Customer Success team. You will lead enterprise cloud scaling, architect infrastructure, and automate security and operations for high‑visibility public sector environments.

This role requires an active Top Secret clearance and on‑site work 4–5 days a week. Responsibilities include managing hybrid installations across AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure, administering relational databases, and advising executive stakeholders

Qualifications

• Must be a U.S. Citizen with an active Top Secret clearance.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, IT, Mathematics or related technical discipline.
• 3–5 years of professional experience as an IT systems administrator building, maintaining, scripting, patching, and managing enterprise hosts, databases, and cloud networks.
• Active CompTIA Security+ certification or willingness to obtain.

Responsibilities

• Lead Enterprise Cloud Scaling: oversee installation, operation, and global scaling of the Appian platform across federal environments.
• Architect Infrastructure & Systems: deploy and scale across Linux/Windows and major IaaS (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure).
• Automate Security & Operations: automate patching, host maintenance, and configuration management with scripting (BASH, Java, JavaScript, Python, or Ruby).
• Govern Relational Data Tiering: optimize PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server databases for high transaction volumes.
• Advise Executive Stakeholders: act as trusted advisor to federal clients and align capabilities with mission goals.
• Manage Hybrid Installations: guide complex on‑premise and secure cloud installations.

Skills

Active Top Secret clearance

Education

Bachelor of Science or BA in Computer Science/Engineering/IT/Mathematics or related discipline

Tools

Linux

Windows

AWS

Google Cloud

Azure

PostgreSQL

MySQL

Oracle

SQL Server

Job description

Here at Appian, our values of Intensity and Excellence define who we are. We set high standards and live up to them, ensuring that everything we do is done with care and quality. We approach every challenge with ambition and commitment, holding ourselves and each other accountable to achieve the best results. When you join Appian, you’ll be part of a passionate team dedicated to accomplishing hard things, together.

Senior DevOps Engineer Are you an elite technical leader with an active Top Secret clearance who excels at scaling complex cloud infrastructure, engineering robust automated systems, and serving as a trusted advisor to federal agencies? Protect and optimize mission-critical public sector systems. Location: McLean/Tysons, VA | Work Model: On-site (4-5 days per week)

About the Team

Appian Customer Success is obsessed with supporting our federal customers’ missions by delivering transformative, high-availability cloud automation solutions. Our Federal DevOps Engineering team works hand-in-hand with government agencies, ensuring their automated workflows are resilient, securely scaled, and continuously optimized. Grounded in a culture of in-person collaboration at our McLean HQ, we tackle complex technical challenges to keep public infrastructure running smoothly.

The Opportunity

As a Senior DevOps Engineer within our Federal Customer Success division, you will operate as a premier technical leader and strategic advisor to high-profile public sector clients. This role is vital right now because federal agencies are rapidly shifting toward complex, secured cloud environments and automated system architectures. You will combine your technical mastery, product expertise, and business intelligence to lead large-scale environment installations, manage automated cloud deployments, and empower agencies to achieve true Enterprise-Grade Orchestration.

What You’ll Do

• Lead Enterprise Cloud Scaling: Act as the technical authority overseeing the installation, operation, management, and global scaling of the Appian platform across federal customer environments.
• Architect Infrastructure & Systems: Leverage senior-level systems administration expertise (Linux, Windows) to deploy and scale solutions across major IaaS Solutions such as AWS, Google Compute Engine, or Microsoft Azure.
• Automate Security & Operations: Champion technical efficiency by utilizing advanced programming and scripting skills (BASH, Java, JavaScript, Python, or Ruby) to automate patching, host maintenance, and configuration management.
• Govern Relational Data Tiering: Administer, tune, and optimize critical relational database platforms (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server) to support heavy enterprise transaction volumes.
• Advise Executive Stakeholders: Serve as a trusted advisor to federal clients, delivering exceptional customer interaction (verbal, written, and face-to-face) to align platform capabilities with agency mission goals.
• Manage Hybrid Installations: Guide agencies through complex engineering requirements for both highly secure cloud ecosystems and sophisticated, custom on-premise installations.

Required Qualifications

• Clearance & Citizenship: Must be a U.S. Citizen holding an active Top Secret government security clearance (or higher) with the absolute ability to maintain this level of clearance.
• Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, Mathematics, or a related technical discipline.
• Systems Administration Expertise: 3-5 years of professional experience as an expert IT systems administrator building, maintaining, scripting, patching, and managing enterprise hosts, databases, and interconnected cloud networks.
• Compliance Certification: Must possess an active CompTIA Security+ certification or be willing to successfully complete the certification directly following onboarding.

Preferred Qualifications

• Proven, hands-on experience administering, managing, and troubleshooting an on-premise installation of an Appian environment or similar enterprise process engine.
• Advanced, practical exposure to container orchestration and modern microservice deployments using Kubernetes.
• We value experience with enterprise platforms such as Salesforce or ServiceNow, as these skills translate well into our Enterprise-Grade Orchestration environment.

#DevOps #FederalIT #TopSecret #AWS #SysAdmin

The base salary range provided represents a good faith and reasonable estimate of the range at the time of posting.

In addition to the base salary, this position is eligible for a government clearance differential. Actual compensation will be dependent on a number of factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s relevant work experience, qualifications, internal peer equity, and market and business conditions that exist when extending an offer.

A discretionary bonus may be awarded in recognition of individual and company performance.

In addition, Appian provides generous benefits offerings that include a 401(k) plan with company match, flexible time off, paid parental leave, medical, dental, and vision plans, life insurance, disability insurance, wellness programs, flexible spending accounts, health savings account contributions, an employee referral bonus program, and learning and development resources.

Certain positions may be eligible for equity awards.

Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation, commission, bonus, or benefit plans.

Base Salary Range $100,000-$200,000 USD

Tools and Resources Training and Development: During onboarding, we focus on equipping new hires with the skills and knowledge for success through department-specific training.

Continuous learning is a central focus at Appian, with dedicated mentorship and the First-Friend program being widely utilized resources for new hires.

Growth Opportunities: Appian provides a diverse array of growth and development opportunities, including our leadership program tailored for new and aspiring managers, a comprehensive library of specialized department training through Appian University, skills based training, and tuition reimbursement for those aiming to advance their education. This commitment ensures that employees have access to a holistic range of development opportunities.

Community: We’ll immerse you into our community rooted in respect starting on day one. Appian fosters inclusivity through our 8 employee-led affinity groups. These groups help employees build stronger internal and external networks by planning social, educational, and outreach activities to connect Appianites and larger initiatives throughout the company.

Benefits Appian offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your health, wellbeing, and financial future. Benefits may include health coverage, Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with free mental health support, life and disability insurance, an Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP), a retirement/pension plan, wellness dollars, tuition reimbursement, family-forming benefits and more.

Benefits vary by country—please ask your Talent Acquisition contact for details specific to the location you are applying to.

About Appian Appian provides AI automation for the most important business processes at the world’s largest organizations. Our platform is known for its unique power, reliability, and scale. We’ve been automating processes for more than 25 years and understand enterprise operations like no one else.

For more information, visit appian.com.

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