Senior Linux Systems Engineer – Scalable Automation

Cornerstone Defense LLC; Fairfax (VA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Cornerstone Defense LLC is seeking a Principal Systems Engineer (Linux) in McLean, VA. The role focuses on architecting and managing large Linux environments, implementing security controls, automating operations, and supporting data center infrastructure.

The engineer will work with Puppet/Ansible for centralized management, configure NFS/SAN storage, and lead incident response and performance optimization efforts. On-site work with a skilled cross-disciplinary IT team is required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in CS/IS/Engineering/Math
• 4+ years relevant experience; 5+ IC sysadmin; 7+ years total sysadmin

Responsibilities

• Install, configure, maintain, and recover Linux-based data center systems.
• Perform monitoring, failure analysis and performance tuning.
• Configure and manage NFS, SAMBA, and SAN storage.
• Automate tasks with scripts; implement configuration management (Puppet/Ansible).
• Document system configurations, changes, and backup histories.
• Ensure security policies and patch management are up to date.

Skills

Linux administration

Scripting (Shell, Python, PowerShell)

System hardening

NFS/SAMBA/SAN

Puppet/Ansible

Performance monitoring

Incident response

Documentation

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/IS/Engineering/Math or equivalent

5+ years IC sysadmin experience; 7+ years total sysadmin

Tools

Kubernetes

Job description

Cornerstone Defense LLC is seeking a Principal Systems Engineer (Linux) in McLean, VA. The role focuses on architecting and managing large Linux environments, implementing security controls, automating operations, and supporting data center infrastructure.

The engineer will work with Puppet/Ansible for centralized management, configure NFS/SAN storage, and lead incident response and performance optimization efforts. On-site work with a skilled cross-disciplinary IT team is required.