Computational Systems Engineer

Saalex•Ridgecrest, CA

6d•Onsite

About The Position

Saalex is seeking a Computational Systems Engineer in China Lake, California. The position is responsible for architecting, designing, initially implementing, automating, and documenting customized Red Hat OpenShift environments that support virtual machines across multiple air-gapped, classified High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems. The goal is to develop a mature, automated platform that allows System Administrators to carry out routine operations, maintenance, and VM lifecycle activities without specialized OpenShift, disconnected-environment, or advanced-automation expertise. This onsite role supports secure, air-gapped, classified HPC environments. The engineer will develop and evolve OpenShift clusters, Ansible Automation Platform workflows, and Infrastructure-as-Code solutions; create VM templates and self-service workflows; and establish sustainable processes for offline updates and GPU device management. The role also involves collaboration with security, HPC, and operations teams and ensuring solutions meet applicable classification, security, performance, maintainability, and operational requirements.

Requirements

Deep technical expertise with Red Hat OpenShift, including extensive experience implementing and operating disconnected or air-gapped OpenShift environments.
Strong proficiency with Ansible and Ansible Automation Platform (AAP) for enterprise-scale automation.
Strong Linux systems administration experience.
Experience with virtualization technologies, including KubeVirt and/or OpenShift Virtualization, and virtual machine lifecycle management.
Experience developing or maintaining Infrastructure-as-Code and automated provisioning/configuration workflows.
Demonstrated ability to work in secure, offline, classified, or highly regulated computing environments.
Strong technical documentation skills, including the ability to develop operational procedures and runbooks for generalized System Administrators.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field, or Certified Senior System Administrator (SA) credential.
Active security clearance required; clearance requirements include U.S. citizenship and a security investigation.

Nice To Haves

Experience integrating and managing GPU/vGPU resources in virtualized or containerized environments.
Familiarity with HPC architectures and resource-scheduling concepts.
Experience designing VM templates and resource-allocation strategies involving CPU cores, memory, storage, and GPU/vGPU resources.
Experience developing self-service or automated VM provisioning workflows.
Familiarity with offline content mirroring, disconnected software repositories, and update management.
Experience collaborating with security, HPC, infrastructure, and operations teams in classified or DoD-style environments.

Responsibilities

Architect and design Red Hat OpenShift solutions for air-gapped HPC environments, including offline installation, update strategies, and GPU/vGPU integration for virtual machines.
Lead initial implementation and ongoing evolution of OpenShift clusters, Ansible Automation Platform (AAP) workflows, and Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) solutions.
Develop and refine Ansible playbooks and AAP workflows to automate VM provisioning, configuration, redeployment, and routine administrative activities.
Design automation that abstracts technical complexity so generalized System Administrators can reliably perform routine operational tasks.
Develop technical documentation, runbooks, and operational guides for long-term administration and sustainment.
Design VM templates, resource-allocation models, and self-service workflows to maximize use of available CPU cores, memory, storage, and vGPU resources.
Establish repeatable processes for content mirroring, offline updates, and GPU device management in disconnected environments.
Collaborate with security, HPC, and operations teams during architecture, design, implementation, and transition activities.
Ensure delivered solutions meet applicable classification, security, performance, maintainability, and operational requirements.
Perform other duties as assigned.