Senior Systems Engineer (Linux)
Washington, DC

Job Description

ValidaTek, Inc. is an award-winning Small Business that provides high-security mission-critical IT services to the Federal Government. Our commitment to excellence in service delivery has resulted in dramatic growth and an expanding client base that includes several U.S. Federal Departments. The corporate infrastructure is robust and based on industry best practices as evidenced by our DCAA Approved accounting system, ISO 9001:2015, ISO 20000-1:2011, and ISO 27001:2013 certifications, and CMMI Level 5 for Services (CMMI-SVC Level 5) and CMMI Level 3 for Development (CMMI-DEV Level 3) appraisals. We pride ourselves in being the best and only attracting and retaining the best talent to fuel our rapid growth. We promote a strong employee-focused corporate culture that provides a diverse, prosperous and rewarding place to work. We provide our employees with competitive benefits, educational assistance, and career growth opportunities. Every employee is valued for their contributions and we all take pride in helping our customers achieve their goals, which in turn contributes to the overall success of the company.

http://www.validatek.com/

Position Description:

The Systems Engineer is primarily responsible for managing all aspects of configuring, monitoring, maintaining, and troubleshooting the production servers and handling requests and problem escalations from Service Desk, Software Engineering and other departments. The engineer determines the severity of issues (triage), prioritizes issues, performs diagnosis of system and software components to identify root cause, and takes action or recommends corrective action for resolution.

The engineer will work with other networks, database, software & quality engineering teams and technical project managers and vendors to clearly state problems, troubleshoot, diagnose and/or resolve complex technical issues and solutions.

* Responsible for installing, configuring, and maintaining operating system workstations and servers, including web servers, in support of business processing requirements.
* Deal with escalation issues from the Help Desk and Software Engineering involving servers.
* Performs software installations and upgrades to operating systems and layered software packages.
* Schedules installations and upgrades and maintains them in accordance with established IT policies and procedures.
* Monitors and tunes the system to achieve optimum performance levels.
* Develops and promotes standard operating procedures.
* Conducts routine hardware and software audits of systems to ensure compliance with established standards, policies, and configuration guidelines.
* Develops and maintains a comprehensive operating system hardware and software configuration database/library of all supporting documentation.
* Implement operating system enhancements that will improve the reliability and performance of systems.

Position Requirements/Qualifications:

Education and Certifications

* BS/BA in related field preferred
* ITIL v3 Foundations Certification Preferred
* Redhat Certified System Admin/Engineer (RHCSA/RHCE) or equivalent preferred.
* Minimum 8-10 years experience.
* Clearance (minimum Public Trust)

Knowledge and Experience

* Strong proficiency with mainstream Linux distributions, such as Redhat.
* Experience using Bash to automate repeatable work Experience with Security best practices and remediation.
* Sound knowledge on network protocols such as TCP/IP, DNS, SSH, HTTP, FTP.
* Familiarity with fundamental networking/distributed computing environment concepts.
* Experience on Linux Operating System Security hardening mechanisms. (STIG/OSCAP)
* Building, configuring, and managing Linux servers in enterprise environments.
* Experience working with virtual infrastructure (i.e. VMWare, HyperV,KVM) desired.
* Strong Experience utilizing scripting to manage systems and automate common functions.

NON-TECHNICAL COMPETENCY

* Should have very good verbal & written communication skills.
* Should be able to work independently with minimum supervision from onsite locations.
* Should be willing to work on extended and irregular hours if/when required.
* Strong self-starter, motivated to help TEAM in their deliverables.
* Should be able to carry out expected tasks without supervision.
* Ability to handle multiple concurrent tasks.
* Right attitude, a passion for customer service and good interpersonal skills.
* Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
* Ability to make sound decisions in critical situations.

Applicants who are selected for employment will be required to verify authorization to work in the United States.

ValidaTek is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, protected veteran status, or disability status.