System Administrator – Junior

asmexternalcareersite; United States; Remote; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

ASM Research seeks a Junior System Administrator to support daily operation and maintenance of enterprise IT systems in a mission-critical federal environment. The role focuses on hands-on administration of operating systems, user accounts, configurations, and core infrastructure services across remote client environments.

You will build foundational expertise in system admin, monitoring, patching, backup/recovery, and automation using scripting tools under supervision from more senior staff.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in IT, Cybersecurity, CS, IS, Data Science, SWE or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 0-3 years of IT or IT operations experience with foundational system administration and automation knowledge.
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft operating systems and products (Windows, Windows Server, Office 365, SharePoint, Teams).
• Ability to analyze, troubleshoot, and resolve routine system hardware, software, or networking issues with minimal supervision.
• Must meet DoD 8140 requirements for system administration roles and hold an active Secret clearance.
• U.S. citizenship required per federal contract requirements.

Responsibilities

• Administer operating systems, user accounts, permissions, and system configurations per security policies.
• Perform routine system monitoring, log analysis, and health checks for performance and capacity across enterprise environments.
• Apply patches, updates, and security configurations to maintain compliance with federal and enterprise cyber standards.
• Configure and manage backup and recovery solutions and support data restoration as needed.
• Troubleshoot server, application, and infrastructure issues and escalate complex incidents as needed.
• Use scripting tools (PowerShell, Bash) to automate routine tasks and improve consistency.
• Support virtualization and cloud environments, including basic VM and cloud resource administration.
• Maintain accurate system documentation, runbooks, and change records.
• Participate in on-call rotations and 24/7 monitoring to support mission-critical availability.

Skills

Microsoft Windows

Windows Server

Office 365

SharePoint

Teams

PowerShell

Bash

Automation

Troubleshooting

DoD 8140 compliance

Secret clearance

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

Tools

VMware

AWS

Azure

Job description

The Junior System Administrator supports the daily operation and maintenance of enterprise IT systems to ensure availability, performance, and security in a mission-critical environment. The role focuses on hands-on administration of operating systems, user accounts, configurations, and core infrastructure services across remote federal client environments. This junior position builds foundational expertise in system administration, monitoring, patching, backup and recovery, and automation using scripting tools under the guidance of more senior staff.

Key Responsibilities

• Administer operating systems, user accounts, permissions, and system configurations in line with established operational policies and security standards.
• Perform routine system monitoring, log analysis, and health checks to maintain performance, availability, and capacity across enterprise environments.
• Apply patches, updates, and security configurations to servers and applications to maintain compliance with federal and enterprise cyber standards.
• Configure and manage backup and recovery solutions, verify successful execution, and support data restoration activities as needed.
• Troubleshoot server, application, and infrastructure issues, escalating complex incidents while working collaboratively toward timely resolution.
• Use scripting tools (e.g., PowerShell, Bash) to automate routine administrative tasks, reduce manual effort, and improve consistency in system operations.
• Support virtualization and cloud-based environments as applicable, including basic administration of virtual machines and cloud resources.
• Maintain accurate system documentation and operational procedures, including configuration baselines, runbooks, and change records.
• Participate in on-call rotations and continuous monitoring activities to support 24/7 platform availability in a mission-critical environment.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in IT, Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Science, Software Engineering, or a closely related field; or equivalent relevant experience.
• Approximately 0-3 years of experience in information technology, systems administration, or IT operations, with foundational knowledge of enterprise system administration and automation.
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft operating systems and products (e.g., Windows, Windows Server, Office 365, SharePoint, Teams).
• Ability to analyze, troubleshoot, and resolve routine system hardware, software, or networking issues with minimal supervision.
• Must meet DoD 8140 requirements for system administration roles and hold an active Secret clearance.
• U.S. citizenship required per federal contract requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• CompTIA Security+ or equivalent baseline security certification.
• Familiarity with virtualization platforms (e.g., VMware) and exposure to cloud services (e.g., AWS, Azure).
• Experience with scripting to automate administrative tasks and interest in expanding automation skills.
• Prior experience in federal or mission-critical enterprise IT environments.

Compensation Ranges

Compensation ranges for ASM Research positions vary depending on multiple factors; including but not limited to, location, skill set, level of education, certifications, client requirements, contract-specific affordability, government clearance and investigation level, and years of experience. The compensation displayed for this role is a general guideline based on these factors and is unique to each role. Monetary compensation is one component of ASM's overall compensation and benefits package for employees.

EEO Requirements

It is the policy of ASM that an individual's race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation or national origin are not and will not be considered in any personnel or management decisions. We affirm our commitment to these fundamental policies.

All recruiting, hiring, training, and promoting for all job classifications is done without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, or age. All decisions on employment are made to abide by the principle of equal employment.

Physical Requirements

The physical requirements described in "Knowledge, Skills and Abilities" above are representative of those which must be met by an employee to successfully perform the primary functions of this job. (For example, "light office duties' or "lifting up to 50 pounds" or "some travel" required.) Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with qualifying disabilities, who are otherwise qualified, to perform the primary functions.

Disclaimer

The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.