Systems Administrator (Expert) - $179K

RCT Systems; Reston (VA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

RCT Systems is seeking a Senior/Expert System Administrator to support a technical development program in the IDAM/ICAM space. The role emphasizes AWS/cloud-native infrastructure, Linux administration, automation, security, and mission-critical operations.

You will design and maintain cloud-native AWS infrastructure, lead engineering efforts, administer Linux servers in AWS, and ensure 24/7/365 operational capability while coordinating with security, compliance, and QA teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree plus 11–15 years of relevant experience.
• Expert-level Linux administration.
• Strong Bash scripting.
• AWS/cloud experience and infrastructure-as-code knowledge.
• Security accreditation experience.
• Experience with Elastic Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana, Beats).
• DevOps/CI/CD experience with tools such as GitHub, Jenkins, Puppet, Docker, Rundeck.
• AWS Console and CLI experience.
• Enterprise cloud architecture/design understanding.
• Agile experience and strong communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain cloud-native AWS infrastructure.
• Provide technical leadership and engineering guidance to development/mission teams.
• Administer and support Linux servers in AWS.
• Perform security patching and privileged-access/system administration.
• Maintain a mission-critical service operating 24/7/365.
• Support an LDAP-based COTS service providing attribute data to hundreds of systems.
• Participate in an on-call rotation approximately 1 week every 2 months.
• Work across development, systems engineering, security, compliance, and QA teams.

Skills

Linux administration

Bash scripting

AWS cloud

Infrastructure as code

Security accreditation

Elastic Stack

GitHub

Jenkins

Puppet

Docker

Rundeck

AWS CLI

Cloud architecture

Agile

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree + 11–15 years relevant experience

Tools

GitHub

Jenkins

Puppet

Docker

Rundeck

Elastic Stack

AWS Console

AWS CLI

CloudFormation

Job description

Senior/Expert System Administrator supporting a technical development program in the IDAM/ICAM and Attribute Services space. The role focuses heavily on AWS/cloud-native infrastructure, Linux administration, automation, security, and mission-critical operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain cloud-native AWS infrastructure
• Provide technical leadership and engineering guidance to development/mission teams
• Administer and support Linux servers in AWS
• Perform security patching and privileged-access/system administration
• Maintain a mission-critical service operating 24/7/365
• Support an LDAP-based COTS service providing attribute data to hundreds of systems
• Participate in an on-call rotation approximately 1 week every 2 months
• Work across development, systems engineering, security, compliance, and QA teams

Required Qualifications

• TS/SCI with Polygraph
• Bachelor's degree + 11–15 years relevant experience
• Expert-level Linux administration
• Strong Bash scripting
• AWS/cloud experience and infrastructure-as-code knowledge
• Security accreditation experience
• Experience with Elastic Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana, Beats)
• DevOps/CI/CD experience with tools such as GitHub, Jenkins, Puppet, Docker, Rundeck
• AWS Console and CLI experience
• Enterprise cloud architecture/design understanding
• Agile experience and strong communication skills

Preferred Qualifications

• AWS Associate certification
• CKAD/Kubernetes or container certification
• LDAP experience
• CloudFormation
• IAM/IDAM/ICAM, authentication, authorization, or attribute services
• Highly sensitive data experience