Senior Systems Engineer – Research Lab Platforms

Socket.dev; McLean (VA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Socket.dev is seeking a Systems Engineer to build and maintain research infrastructure and lab platforms in McLean, VA (on-site). This role bridges bare-metal systems, hypervisors, and containers to provide researchers rapid, secure access to compute environments.

You’ll automate deployments, enforce security baselines, and support Linux and Windows ecosystems. The ideal candidate brings 8+ years in enterprise or engineering-lab settings, strong scripting skills, and experience with

Qualifications

• 8+ years of hands-on experience in Systems Engineering, Systems Administration, or DevOps in enterprise or engineering lab environments.
• Dual-OS proficiency: Linux and Windows administration, security, and troubleshooting.
• Virtualization & containers: experience with hypervisors and container workloads (Docker/Podman/LXC).
• Scripting & automation: Bash, Python, or PowerShell for routine tasks.
• Directory services & networking: Active Directory/LDAP, DNS, subnetting, VLANs, virtual switches.

Responsibilities

• Design, deploy, and support hybrid Linux and Windows compute environments across bare metal, hypervisors, and containers.
• Manage enterprise hypervisors and build micro-environments using Docker, Podman, and LXC.
• Develop Bash, Python, and PowerShell scripts to automate configurations and deployments.
• Administer directory services (AD/LDAP), DNS, DHCP, and network integrations.
• Implement configuration baselines, backup/DR pipelines, system hardening, and monitoring for uptime.
• Collaborate with researchers to translate requirements into tailored lab compute environments.

Skills

Linux & Windows administration

Automation scripting

Troubleshooting & root-cause analysis

Collaboration with researchers

Tools

Proxmox

VMware ESXi

KVM

Hyper-V

Docker

Podman

LXC

Job description

Socket.dev is seeking a Systems Engineer to build and maintain research infrastructure and lab platforms in McLean, VA (on-site). This role bridges bare-metal systems, hypervisors, and containers to provide researchers rapid, secure access to compute environments.

You’ll automate deployments, enforce security baselines, and support Linux and Windows ecosystems. The ideal candidate brings 8+ years in enterprise or engineering-lab settings, strong scripting skills, and experience with