Systems Engineer ? Research Infrastructure & Lab Platforms – Government Customer

Dell; Virginia; On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Dell is seeking a Systems Engineer for Research Infrastructure & Lab Platforms to support a government customer in Chantilly, VA. The role is on-site and requires a active TS/SCI clearance.

You will design, automate, and evolve high-density virtualization platforms and containerized research pipelines to empower researchers with secure compute environments. You will partner with researchers and engineering teams to disambiguate requirements, troubleshoot complex system interactions, and rapidly

Qualifications

• 8+ years of hands-on systems engineering, administration or DevOps in enterprise or lab settings.
• Proficiency administering Linux and Windows in mixed environments.
• Active TS/SCI clearance required for government work.

Responsibilities

• Design, deploy, and maintain hybrid Linux and Windows lab infrastructure across bare metal, hypervisors, and containers.
• Orchestrate virtualization and compute platforms using Proxmox, VMware ESXi, KVM, or Hyper-V; build micro-environments with Docker, Podman, LXC.
• Automate configurations with Bash, Python, and PowerShell to reduce manual work and speed deployments.
• Maintain identity and core services such as Active Directory and related auth systems.
• Collaborate with researchers to translate requirements into tailored lab compute environments.

Tools

Proxmox

VMware ESXi

KVM

Hyper-V

Docker

Podman

LXC

Active Directory

Job description

Systems Engineer ? Research Infrastructure & Lab Platforms – Government CustomerLocal candidates only – On-site Chantilly VA – 5 days per week – Required active TS/SCI Security Clearance.

Candidates without Active clearances will be declinedBuild the Engine Powering Next-Gen Engineering ResearchBehind every breakthrough in engineering research is a bulletproof infrastructure platform. In this role, you won’t just keep lights green; you will design, automate, and evolve high-density virtualization platforms, isolated test environments, and containerized research pipelines on modern enterprise hardware. You will act as the technical backbone for our research engineers, bridging bare-metal systems, hypervisors, and container orchestration to give researchers rapid, secure access to the compute environments they need. If you thrive on tearing down system bottlenecks, automating repetitive administration, and working hands-on across both Linux and Windows environments, we want to talk to you.

What You?ll Do

• Design & Maintain Lab Infrastructure: Architect, deploy, and support hybrid Linux (RHEL/Ubuntu/Debian) and Windows compute environments across bare metal, hypervisors, and containers.


• Orchestrate Virtualization & Compute Platforms: Manage enterprise hypervisors (Proxmox, VMware ESXi, KVM, or Hyper-V) and build lightweight micro-environments using Docker, Podman, and LXC.


• Automate & Modernize: Develop maintainable Bash, Python, and PowerShell scripts to eliminate manual configurations, patch systems, and accelerate deployment workflows.


• Maintain Identity & Core Services: Administer and troubleshoot directory services (Active Directory,


• Collaborate Directly with Researchers: Partner with cross-functional engineering teams to disambiguate requirements, troubleshoot complex system interactions, and rapidly deliver tailored lab compute environments.

Required Qualifications

8 years of hands-on experience in Systems Engineering, Systems Administration, or DevOps role supporting enterprise or engineering lab environments. Dual-OS Proficiency: Demonstrated expertise administering, securing, and troubles