Senior Systems Engineer with Security Clearance

CyKor; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

CyKor Senior Systems Engineer role in Washington, DC area designs, implements, secures, and maintains complex federal solutions. You lead technical execution, mentor junior engineers, and drive architectural, operational, and security excellence across the stack.

Responsibilities include building servers and cloud environments, performing upgrades and hardening, and developing automation with PowerShell, Bash, Python, and Ansible to ensure DoD compliance.

Qualifications

• Extensive systems engineering experience across Windows/Linux, cloud, storage, and networks.
• Strong troubleshooting and analytical abilities in enterprise or federal environments.
• Automation experience using PowerShell, Bash, Python, and Ansible.
• Familiarity with DevOps pipelines, CI/CD, and security/compliance frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement system architectures and integration plans.
• Build and maintain servers, cloud resources, networks, and storage.
• Lead upgrades, patching, hardening, and lifecycle management.
• Develop automation and IaC to provision infrastructure.
• Provide Tier 3 support for mission-critical systems.
• Implement security controls and assist audits and monitoring.
• Document runbooks, diagrams, SOPs, and governance activities.
• Lead collaboration with PMs, architects, and operations teams.
• Validate rack builds and staging per approved standards.

Skills

Systems engineering

Troubleshooting

Communication

DevOps pipelines

Staging & imaging

Education

AWS/Azure Architect

Linux+

CCNP

Security+

MCSE

Tools

PowerShell

Bash

Python

Ansible

Job description

Senior Systems Engineer

Washington, DC / Annapolis, MD

Role & Responsibilities

The Senior Systems Engineer designs, implements, secures, and maintains complex systems and infrastructure supporting mission-critical federal solutions. The role leads technical execution, mentors junior engineers, and drives architectural, operational, and security excellence, including physical staging and imaging of server hardware.

Systems Design & Architecture

• Develop system architectures, technical designs, and integration plans.
• Evaluate new technologies; ensure solutions meet performance and compliance standards.

Implementation & Operations

• Build and maintain servers, cloud environments, networks, and infrastructure.
• Execute upgrades, patching, hardening, and lifecycle management.
• Implement automation and orchestration (scripting, IaC).

Troubleshooting & Support

• Resolve complex issues across hardware, software, network layers.
• Lead root-cause analysis and long-term corrective action planning.
• Provide Tier 3 support for mission-critical systems.

Security & Compliance

• Implement security controls and baselines; support audits and continuous monitoring.

Documentation & Governance

• Maintain diagrams, configuration docs, SOPs, runbooks.
• Support governance and change control processes.

Collaboration & Leadership

• Partner with PMs, architects, and operations teams.
• Mentor junior engineers; contribute to engineering best practices.
• Communicate with clients and stakeholders.

Rack Build and Staging

• Partner with PMs, architects, and operations teams.
• Support physical server and infrastructure rack builds in accordance with approved rack elevations, build standards, and deployment procedures.
• Validate and inventory server hardware and supporting infrastructure received for large-scale deployment, verifying configuration against BOM prior to installation and burn-in.
• Stage server hardware and load approved customer-provided system images in controlled lab and staging environments.
• Configure and validate server hardware, operating systems, firmware, and supporting infrastructure in accordance with approved build standards.
• Support development, testing, and customer approval of a standardized golden rack from a systems and server integration standpoint.
• Validate server hardware, operating system, and network connectivity, coordinating with network integration staff to ensure server and network builds align to the approved rack standard.
• Troubleshoot hardware, operating system, configuration, and integration issues identified during staging and pre-deployment testing.
• Support Python, PowerShell, Bash, and Ansible automation for repeatable server provisioning, configuration, and validation.
• Maintain build documentation, test results, configuration artifacts, and system readiness records.
• Apply DISA STIGs and DoD-approved hardening baselines to server operating systems and firmware during staging, prior to golden rack approval.
• Validate staged server builds against RMF control requirements and document compliance status as part of build acceptance.
• Support vulnerability scanning, patching, and remediation of staged systems prior to shipment.

Requirements

• Extensive systems engineering experience.
• Expertise with Windows/Linux servers, cloud platforms, virtualization, storage, networking.
• Strong troubleshooting and analytical skills.
• Experience with automation tools (PowerShell, Bash, Python, Ansible).
• Understanding of security principles and compliance frameworks.
• Strong communication skills.
• Experience staging and imaging server hardware in a lab or integration environment.
• Preferred Qualifications Certifications: AWS/Azure Architect, Linux+, CCNP, Security+, MCSE.
• Experience in enterprise or federal environments.
• Familiarity with DevOps pipelines and CI/CD.

Please Note: This position is contingent upon contract award with an expected start date of September 1, 2026.