Systems Engineer (TS/SCI with Poly Required)

GCI Incorporated; Tysons (VA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

GCI Incorporated seeks a hands-on Systems Engineer to own end‑to‑end modernization across cloud and on‑prem environments. You will analyze current architectures, design future-state solutions, and implement transformations while guiding cross‑functional teams to ensure reliability, performance, and security.

The ideal candidate has a decade of systems engineering experience, strong leadership, and deep expertise across infrastructure, platforms, and data ecosystems, with security-focused design

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related technical discipline, or equivalent mix of education and experience.
• Minimum ten (10) years of related systems engineering experience.
• Hands-on experience across infrastructure, platforms, and application ecosystems spanning cloud and on-premises environments.
• US Citizenship and active TS/SCI with Polygraph clearance is required.

Responsibilities

• Perform hands-on systems engineering across network, compute, storage, OS, middleware, databases, and applications.
• Analyze as-is infrastructure and document architectures; design to-be architectures.
• Lead cloud and on-prem system implementations, migrations, and upgrades.
• Ensure availability, scalability, performance, security, and compliance.
• Collaborate with Infrastructure, Platforms, Software, DevOps/DevSecOps and Data teams.
• Produce clear technical documentation, diagrams, runbooks, and standards.

Skills

Cross-functional collaboration

System architecture thinking

Technical leadership

Hands-on engineering

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related technical discipline

Tools

Kubernetes

Docker

Linux (Redhat/CentOS)

Terraform

Ansible

CloudFormation

Jenkins / GitLab CI/CD / GitHub Actions

Prometheus / Grafana / Splunk

Job description

• Software development lifecycle (SDLC) fundamentals

GCI embodies excellence, integrity and professionalism. The employees supporting our customers deliver unique, high-value mission solutions while effectively leverage the technological expertise of our valued workforce to meet critical mission requirements in the areas of Data Analytics and Software Development, Engineering, Targeting and Analysis, Operations, Training, and Cyber Operations. We maximize opportunities for success by building and maintaining trusted and reliable partnerships with our customers and industry.

At GCI, we solve the hard problems. As a Systems Engineer, a typical day will include the following duties:

Job Description

We are seeking a hands-on Systems Engineer (SME) with deep expertise across infrastructure, platforms, and application ecosystems spanning cloud and on-premises environments. This role requires a proven practitioner who can analyze existing (\"as is\") systems and applications, document current state architectures, design future-state solutions, and implement systems enhancements or technology transformations end-to-end. The ideal candidate is a technical leader and doer, not just an advisor - someone who can seamlessly collaborate across infrastructure, platform, application, DevSecOps, information systems security, and data teams while maintaining ownership of system reliability, performance, scalability, and security.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related technical discipline, or other related technical discipline, or equivalent combination of education, technical certifications, training, and work/military experience
• Minimum ten (10) years of related systems engineering experience

Required Knowledge/Skills

Candidates must demonstrate hands-on experience in all the following areas:

Infrastructure & Platforms

• Enterprise networking (e.g., routing, switching, firewalls, load balancers, DNS)
• Storage technologies (e.g., SAN, NAS, object storage)
• Container platforms (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker)
• Linux (Redhat, CentOS) operating systems (administration, hardening, automation)
• IdAM - Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) hands-on for AuthN and AuthZ

Cloud & On-Prem Technologies

• Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, and/or GCP)
• Hybrid and on-prem infrastructure design and integration
• Cloud networking, identity, security, and cost optimization

Data & Application Platforms

• Relational and NoSQL databases - relational (e.g., Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server) and NoSQL (e.g., MongoDB, Cassandra, DynamoDB, Redis) databases
• Web services, APIs, and middleware
• Software development lifecycle (SDLC) fundamentals
• Event-based messaging systems (e.g., SQS, SNS, RabbitMQ)

Engineering & Automation

• Infrastructure as Code - Scripting & Automation: Python, Bash, PowerShell, Terraform, Ansible, or CloudFormation
• Configuration management and scripting (e.g., PowerShell, Bash, Python, etc.)
• CI/CD integration with infrastructure and platforms (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, GitHub Actions, GitOps, ArgoCD)
• Security best practices and systems hardening
• Monitoring & Incident Response: Proficiency with tools like Prometheus, Grafana, Splunk, ELK Stack, CloudWatch

Architecture & Design

• Ability to create:
• As-is architecture documentation
• To-be architecture and detailed engineering designs
• Implementation and migration plans

Desired Skills

• Observability and monitoring tools (e.g., logging, metrics, tracing)
• Zero Trust and modern security architectures
• Data analytics, AI/ML platform exposure
• Experience supporting production or mission-critical environments
• Relevant certifications (e.g., cloud, systems, security, or architecture)
• Knowledge of machine learning platforms (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, SageMaker)
• Familiarity with big data ecosystems (e.g., Hadoop, Databricks, Snowflake, Google BigQuery)
• Strong background in ITIL processes and agile methodologies
• Certifications: AWS Solutions Architect / DevOps Engineer, Azure Administrator, Kubernetes CKA/CKAD ITIL Foundation

Key Responsibilities

• Perform hands-on systems engineering across network, compute, storage, operating systems, middleware, databases, and applications
• Analyze and document as-is infrastructure, platform, and application architectures
• Work with the System Architect and Cloud Architect to create the detail engineering designs for modernization, optimization, and transformation initiatives
• Lead and execute cloud and on-prem system implementations, migrations, and upgrades
• Ensure systems meet availability, scalability, performance, security, and compliance requirements
• Integrate infrastructure and platforms with DevOps and DevSecOps pipelines
• Troubleshoot complex, cross-stack issues spanning infrastructure, platforms, and applications
• Collaborate effectively with:
• Infrastructure & Platforms Engineers
• Software Engineers
• DevOps / DevSecOps Engineers
• Data Engineers (ETL)
• Data Modelers, Data Scientists, and Data Analysts
• Produce clear technical documentation, diagrams, standards, and runbooks
• Serve as a technical authority and escalation point for complex system issues
• Communication Skills:
• Ability to brief executives clearly and translate technical issues into business impact
• Ability to work across organizations (internal and IC) to implement complex solutions

IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE

• Recognized SME with deep, hands-on technical expertise
• Strong systems thinker with the ability to see and engineer across the full stack
• Comfortable operating at both strategic architecture and tactical implementation levels
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills across technical and non-technical teams
• Proven ability to own complex systems from design through production
• A candidate must be a US Citizen and requires an active/current TS/SCI with Polygraph clearance.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Individuals with Disabilities / Protected Veterans