Sr Windows Server DevOps Engineer

a3 architecture; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 50,000 - 175,000; Full time

Job summary

A3 Technology, Inc. in Washington, DC is seeking a senior Windows Server DevOps Engineer to own production operations and lead incident response for a predominantly Windows environment.

The role requires hands-on Kubernetes expertise (EKS) and strong cloud/DevSecOps capabilities in government cloud settings. Candidate must have 10+ years of IT/engineering experience, Security clearance is preferred, and the team collaborates across DevOps practices with mentorship responsibilities.

Qualifications

• 10+ years IT/engineering experience, including senior Windows Server operations.
• Hands-on Kubernetes admin and production support experience.
• Experience with government cloud environments and security requirements.
• Ability to work independently in secure, complex environments.

Responsibilities

• Own Windows Server production operations and provide hands-on support for missions-critical apps.
• Administer, patch, harden, and recover Windows Server systems.
• Lead incident response and root-cause analyses across Windows, cloud, and containers.
• Design secure, scalable cloud architectures and automate with Terraform/Ansible.

Skills

Windows Server operations

Kubernetes (EKS)

AWS GovCloud experience

Production incident response

Infrastructure as Code Terraform Ansys

CI/CD DevSecOps

Security/compliance awareness

Strong communication

On-call readiness

Leadership mentoring

Education

BA/BS in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field

Tools

Terraform

Ansible

Kubernetes

AWS GovCloud

Job description

A3 Technology, Inc. is seeking a senior level Windows Server DevOps Engineer to join our team in Washington, DC.

Essential Job Functions

• Own Windows Server production operations (day one). Serve as the senior technical owner for a predominantly Windows Server environment (~95% Windows), providing hands‑on production support for mission‑critical applications hosted in government cloud (AWS GovCloud).
• Administer and sustain Windows Server. Maintain, troubleshoot, patch, harden, and recover Windows Server systems in production—sustaining availability during business hours and through a shared on‑call rotation, independently resolving after‑hours incidents.
• Take ownership of Kubernetes. Independently operate and troubleshoot the Kubernetes environment (EKS), resolving complex cluster, workload, and platform issues and supporting existing production applications and workloads.
• Lead incident response. Drive production incident response and deep‑dive root‑cause analysis across Windows Server, cloud, and container platforms.
• Engineer secure cloud infrastructure. Design, implement, and maintain secure, scalable cloud architectures across Windows and Linux systems; work independently or lead small teams.
• Automate with IaC (secondary). Develop and manage Infrastructure as Code using Terraform and Ansible to provision and configure environments—secondary to Windows operations and Kubernetes troubleshooting.
• Build CI/CD and DevSecOps. Develop and maintain CI/CD pipelines and DevSecOps automation aligned with government and industry best practices.
• Monitor and ensure availability. Design and implement monitoring, logging, and alerting solutions; establish performance baselines and ensure system availability.
• Harden federal environments. Enforce security best practices, including identity and access management and system hardening for federal environments.
• Document and mentor. Develop and maintain technical documentation, runbooks, and SOPs; mentor junior and mid‑level engineers and provide technical leadership across DevOps practices.

Required Skills

• Windows Server operations—highest priority. Strong, current, hands‑on Windows Server administration/engineering: production support, troubleshooting, maintenance, recovery, and patching. The environment is approximately 95% Windows.
• Current Kubernetes expertise. Able to independently operate, troubleshoot, and take ownership of a production Kubernetes environment and answer senior‑level Kubernetes questions.
• Day‑one senior contributor. Demonstrated ability to perform at a senior level immediately with minimal or no ramp‑up; practical production operations experience rather than primarily cloud‑native development.
• On‑call readiness. Willing and able to participate in a production on‑call rotation and independently resolve after‑hours incidents.
• Minimum 10 years of relevant IT/engineering experience, including senior‑level Windows Server operations and 3+ years supporting cloud engineering environments.
• Government cloud. Strong hands‑on experience with AWS GovCloud.
• Bachelor's degree (BA/BS) in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field; a Master's degree may substitute for additional years of experience per contract guidance.
• Core skills. Ability to work independently with minimal supervision in complex, secure environments; strong analytical and advanced troubleshooting skills; excellent written, verbal, and stakeholder communication; demonstrated technical leadership and mentoring.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Federal Public Trust (or higher); candidates with an active clearance strongly preferred.

Preferred Skills

• Windows automation & certs. PowerShell scripting; Microsoft / Windows Server Administrator certifications.
• IaC depth. Deep Terraform (Infrastructure as Code) and Ansible (configuration management/automation) expertise.
• Kubernetes at scale. Service mesh, API gateways, and Kubernetes security tooling.
• Federal compliance. Experience with FISMA, NIST, and FedRAMP frameworks.
• Cloud certifications. AWS Certified DevOps Engineer.
• Security adjacencies. Familiarity with PKI, identity services, or credential management systems.
• Enterprise scale & scripting. Experience supporting large‑scale, multi‑environment enterprise systems; scripting in Python and Bash.

Education

• BA/BS in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business, or equivalent field and 10 years of related experience with 3+ years in cloud engineering support.

Additionally, US Citizenship or documented proof of eligibility to work in the US is a must. Upon receiving a conditional offer of employment, candidates will undergo a Government investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for Government clearance. Verification of past employment, education and references is also required. It is imperative that candidates be either a US citizen or a current green card holder with the last 3 consecutive years as a resident of the US.

The salary range for positions is $50,000 to $175,000. This range is provided as a general guideline and should not be interpreted as a guarantee of compensation. Actual salary offers will be determined based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to the specific responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s education, experience, location, knowledge, skills, and abilities. In addition, compensation may be influenced by applicable Federal Government contract labor categories and established contract wage rates.

At A3 Technology, Inc., we take pride in being an Equal Opportunity Employer (EEO) and affirmative action (AA) employer. We’re committed to considering all qualified candidates for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, protected veteran status, disability, national origin, genetic information or any other protected status.