Senior Virtualization Engineer

Socket.dev; Westphalia (MD); On-site; USD 131,000 - 237,000; Full time

Job summary

Leidos Defense Group seeks a Senior Virtualization Engineer to support AFNCR IT Services at Joint Base Andrews. You will design, deploy, and maintain VMware/Nutanix clusters, monitor performance, and lead migrations from legacy platforms to Nutanix while ensuring DISA STIG and NIST 800-171 compliance.

You will collaborate with cybersecurity, network, and application teams and participate in IDR/CCB reviews in a fast-paced defense environment. On-call support is part of the role.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 12+ years of related infrastructure experience, or Master’s with 10+ years.
• Active DoD Security Clearance (Secret or Top Secret).
• 10+ years in infrastructure engineering focusing on VMware/Nutanix environments.
• Current 8140 IAT Level II certificate (CompTIA Security+).
• Active VMware Certified Professional (VCP) and Nutanix certifications.
• Experience in DoD/defense contractor environments and DISA STIGs/NIST SP 800-171.
• Strong virtualization expertise across VMware/Nutanix platforms.

Responsibilities

• Provide operational support for VMware/Nutanix clusters including design, deployment, and maintenance.
• Monitor performance, ensure high availability and scalability, and perform root-cause analysis.
• Serve as SME and train others on VMware/Nutanix usage and clustering.
• Maintain patches and upgrades for hyper-converged infrastructure.
• Lead migrations from legacy VMware to Nutanix.
• Develop virtualization documentation for audits and procedures.
• Participate in IDR/CCB reviews and collaborate with cybersecurity, network, and application teams.
• Utilize vROPS to monitor vCenter and plan capacity.

Skills

VMware

Nutanix

Windows Server

Linux

DISA STIGs

NIST SP 800-171

Communication

Team Collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree with 12+ years experience OR Master’s degree with 10+ years experience

Tools

vROPS (VMware Aria Operations)

VMware vCenter

Nutanix Prism

Ansible

Terraform

Python

PowerShell

Job description

Unleash Your Potential

At Leidos, we deliver innovative solutions through the efforts of our diverse and talented people who are dedicated to our customer’s success. We empower our teams, contribute to our communities, and operate sustainably. Everything we do is built on a commitment to do the right thing for our customers, our people, and our community. Our Mission, Vision, and Values guide the way we do business.

If this sounds like an environment where you can thrive, keep reading!

Looking for an exciting career opportunity in the information technology field? Look no further than the Leidos Defense Group! We are seeking a talented Senior Virtualization Engineer to join our team on the AFNCR IT Services program at Joint Base Andrews.

As a Senior Virtualization Engineer, you will be responsible for providing support services for information systems for Headquarters Air Force (HAF), Air Force District of Washington (AFDW), Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other Air Force activities within the AFNCR. With missions that include the Pentagon, Joint Base Andrews, Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, and other locations, leased spaces, and alternate sites, you'll be working in a fast-paced, challenging, and rewarding environment where AFNCR operations must never fail. Your primary support areas will include IT Operations and Maintenance, Plans, Projects, and Engineering.

Your greatest work is ahead!

The Mission The Leidos Defense Group provides a diverse portfolio of systems, solutions, and services covering land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace for customers worldwide. Solutions for Defense include enterprise and mission IT, large-scale intelligence systems, command and control, geospatial and data analytics, cybersecurity, logistics, training, and intelligence analysis and operations support. Our team is solving the world’s toughest security challenges for customers with “can’t fail” missions. From scanning for illicit material at ports and borders to predicting future events and instability up to five years in advance, our products help customers make the world safer.

Are you ready to join a team dedicated to a mission? Begin your journey of a flourishing and meaningful career.

Primary duties

• Provide opertional support for VMware/Nutanix clusters Air Force District of Washington (AFDW). This include designing, deploying, configuring, and maintaining VMware/Nutanix clusters.
• Monitor system metrics to ensure high availability, scalability, and peak performance of the. Vmware/Nutanix infrastructure. Perform troubleshooting and root cause analysis for complex technical issues.
• Provides SME level support for VMware & Nutanix infrastructures and trains other engineers on its use, maintenance, and cluster analysis.
• Maintain patches and upgrades to all hyper-converged software, applications, and the underlying hardware from Nutanix and VMware.
• Lead and support projects involving the migration of virtual machines and applications from legacy platforms (e.g., VMware) to the Nutanix platform.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive virtualization documentation for system configurations, security plans, and operational procedures to support compliance audits and ensure system integrity.
• Participate in weekly Internal Design Review (IDR)/ Change Control Board (CCB).
• Collaborate with other engineers to monitor and maintain physical hosts, storage, network, and security infrastructure, reporting issues and outages as necessary to management.
• utilize VMware Aria Operations (FKA vRealize Operations Manager (vROPS)) to monitor vCenter environment and determine future virtualization capacity.
• Work closely with cybersecurity personnel, network engineers, and application owners to deliver secure, robust, and efficient solutions ; Ensure compliance with DoD mandates, including DISA STIGs and NIST SP 800-171.
• Support oncall rotational.

Basic Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 12+ years of related experience or a Master's degree and 10+ years of experience, additional years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of a degree.
• Must possess an active DoD Security Clearance (Secret or Top Secret).
• 10+ years of experience in infrastructure engineering with a strong focus on VMware and/or Nutanix environments.
• Requires a current 8140 IAT Level II (Intermediate or Advanced) certificate (CompTIA Security+).
• Active Vmware Certified Professional (6.0 or higher) & Active Nutanix Certified Professional (NCP) or Nutanix Certified Systems Engineer (NCSE).
• Verifiable experience working within a DoD or defense contractor environment, with a strong understanding of its unique operational and security demands.
• Deep knowledge of virtualization technologies, including VMware and Nutanix.
• Strong expertise in Nutanix AOS, AHV, Prism, and Flow.
• Proficiency in managing Windows Server and Linux environments.
• Hands‑on experience implementing and managing systems compliant with DISA STIGs and NIST SP 800-171.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with infrastructure automation tools such as Ansible or Terraform, and scripting languages like Python or PowerShell.
• Strong understanding of networking fundamentals, including switching, VLANs, firewalls, and micro‑segmentation.
• Experience working in air‑gapped or classified network environments (e.g., SIPRNet) is highly desirable.
• Experience Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) with Omnissa.
• Knowledge of Air Force, Pentagon, and/or AFNCR.
• Experience working at the Pentagon, Joint Base Andrews (JBA), and Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB).

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Pay Range $131,300.00 - $237,350.00