Systems Architect
Greenbelt, MD

Job Description

Proven processes. Proven people. Proven performance by a trusted, award-winning solutions provider and partner.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Dumfries, Virginia, ALEX - Alternative Experts is an ISO 9001:2015-certified Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB) that's changing the way government does business by delivering a powerful, industry-leading array of core services to help its clients achieve mission-critical objectives.

Job Title: Systems Architect

Location: Greenbelt, MD

Duties and Responsibilities:

* Identify new and emerging technologies and products that have the potential to significantly improve the capabilities of one or more of the NCCS operated systems -- categories include storage, compute, network, virtualization/OpenStack, cloud, etc.
* Implement Proof of Concept as well as Test and Evaluation systems to examine the capabilities and limitations of new technologies and provide lessons learned and guidance for the ultimate design and implementation of operational systems.
* Orchestrate on-site vendor briefings and product demonstrations.
* Develop and support testing methodologies required to evaluate new vendor hardware and software offerings.
* Participate in the requirements development of new systems and capabilities in the NCCS.
* Provide architectural guidance in designing solutions against defined requirements.
* Participate in developing request for quote (RFQ) and request for proposal (RFP) documents needed to procure new systems and/or capabilities.
* Participate in the review and evaluation of vendor RFQ and RFP responses.
* Support/Lead diagnostic and remedial actions for tier 3 system issues as required.
* Lead technology cross pollination to other NASA organizations, for example the Goddard Private Cloud (GPC) based on OpenStack.
* Develop and provide briefings of NCCS systems and capabilities for code, center and conference sessions.
* Participate in and/or conduct tours of NCCS systems.
* Participate in appropriate team meetings.
* Develop monthly status reports.
* Mentor junior staff and cross train peers.

Education/Requirements: Bachelors of Science degree in relevant Engineering field, Management Information Systems or other technical discipline required, plus 10 years of related experience. Master's degree or equivalent experience.

* A minimum of 7 years of experience managing systems in heterogeneous, multi-platform environments
* A minimum of 7 years of Linux/UNIX user experience
* Experience with application and system benchmarking
* Familiarity in Python and shell scripting (e.g. Bash, Python, Perl)
* Familiarity with virtualization (libvirt/kvm, VMWare)
* Familiarity with system configuration management (e.g. Puppet, Chef, Ansible)
* Familiarity with system monitoring tools (e.g. Nagios, Zabbix)
* Familiarity with network boot tools (e.g. PXE, Kickstart, Preseed, AutoYAST)
* Familiarity with data sharing and transfer tools, (e.g. NFS, Globus, HPNssh)
* Familiarity with large parallel filesystems (e.g. GPFS, Lustre, Ceph, Gluster)
* Familiarity with collaboration software (e.g. Confluence, Jira)
* Familiarity with network design and configuration
* Familiarity with databases (e.g. Postgres, MySQL, NoSQL)
* Strong computer science background with in-depth systems-level knowledge in operating systems and networking
* Excellent attention to detail
* Excellent time management and organizational skills to balance and prioritize work, and ability to multitask
* Excellent communication skills to communicate with support personnel, customer, and managers

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability. Applicants must be able to perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations will be made to allow employees to meet the essential functions of the job, unless those accommodations cause undue hardships on the employer. To request a reasonable accommodation, contact the Human Resources Department at HumanResources@alexinc.com.

* Woman-Owned Small Business
* VEVRAA Federal Contractor
* Affirmative Action Employer
* Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities are highly encouraged to appl