Computational Systems Engineer

Saalex•Ridgecrest, CA

2h•$135,000 - $155,000•Onsite

About The Position

Saalex is seeking a Computational Systems Engineer (CSE) in China Lake, California. The selected candidate will be responsible for the architecture, design, initial implementation, automation, and comprehensive documentation of customized Red Hat OpenShift environments supporting virtual machines across multiple air-gapped, classified High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems. The role will develop a mature, automated platform that enables System Administrators to perform routine operations, maintenance, and VM lifecycle activities without specialized expertise in OpenShift, disconnected environments, or advanced automation. This full-time, exempt position is onsite in China Lake, California, and supports secure, air-gapped, classified HPC environments. The salary range is $135,000–$155,000. A bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field, or a Certified Senior System Administrator credential, is required. An active security clearance is also required; obtaining a clearance requires U.S. citizenship and a security investigation, among other 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 developing 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; U.S. citizenship and a security investigation are among the stated clearance requirements.

Nice To Haves

Experience integrating and managing GPU/vGPU resources within 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 integration of GPU/vGPU resources for virtual machines.
Lead the 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 and enables generalized System Administrators to perform routine operational tasks reliably.
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 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 solutions meet applicable classification, security, performance, maintainability, and operational requirements.
Perform other duties as assigned.