Cyber Systems Administration, Advisor - Team Lead

Peraton•Germantown, MD

1d•$104,000 - $166,000•Onsite

About The Position

Peraton delivers mission-critical cybersecurity solutions in support of the Department of Energy (DOE), protecting the networks, systems, and infrastructure that underpin our nation's energy security and nuclear enterprise. As a Cyber Systems Administrator on the CBOSS 2.0 program, you will serve as a key defender of DOE's network perimeter, responsible for the administration, maintenance, and continuous improvement of enterprise firewall infrastructure. In this role, you will work directly alongside DOE security personnel to enforce boundary protection policies, ensure compliance with federal cybersecurity frameworks, and safeguard mission-critical systems from evolving cyber threats, making a direct and measurable impact on the security posture of one of the most critical agencies in the U.S. government.

Requirements

Must be a US Citizen
Must be able to obtain and maintain a Department of Energy (DOE) security clearance
Demonstrated hands-on experience administering and managing enterprise firewalls (e.g., Palo Alto, Cisco Secure Firewall, Fortinet FortiGate)
Working knowledge of TCP/IP networking, VPN management, network segmentation, and perimeter security architecture
Experience with SIEM platforms, IDS/IPS systems, and network traffic analysis tools
Strong documentation skills with the ability to produce clear technical procedures, configuration records, and compliance artifacts

Nice To Haves

CompTIA Security+ or higher
Vendor-specific firewall certifications (Palo Alto PCNSE, Cisco CCNP Security, Fortinet NSE 4+)
Experience supporting cybersecurity programs at DOE facilities

Responsibilities

Serve as the technical lead for a team of three firewall engineers, providing day-to-day direction, task prioritization, and workload management.
Mentor and develop team members by sharing technical expertise, facilitating knowledge transfer on DOE-specific firewall policies and compliance requirements.
Conduct regular team check-ins and technical reviews to assess progress on assigned tasks, identify blockers, and ensure alignment with DOE mission priorities.
Serve as the primary point of contact between the firewall engineering team and program managers, and senior government stakeholders, communicating status updates, technical findings, and risk advisories in a clear and concise manner.
Coordinate team efforts across firewall administration to ensure comprehensive coverage of all enterprise perimeter defense responsibilities.
Review and approve team-produced deliverables.
Identify staffing needs, skill gaps, and training requirements within the team.
Implement, configure, and maintain enterprise next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) in support of DOE network security requirements, ensuring continuous availability and integrity of perimeter defense systems.
Develop, review, and enforce firewall rule sets and Access Control Lists (ACLs) in accordance with the principle of least privilege, conducting periodic audits to identify and remediate unauthorized or anomalous access.
Design and maintain network segmentation, DMZ configurations, and traffic flow policies to enforce boundary protection controls.
Manage and tune Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS) integrated with firewall infrastructure to detect, alert, and respond to network-based threats at the enterprise perimeter.
Monitor firewall logs, SIEM alerts, and network traffic flows to identify indicators of compromise, policy violations, and anomalous activity; escalate and respond to incidents per established DOE incident response procedures.
Diagnose and resolve firewall-related connectivity, performance, and security issues across enterprise LAN/WAN environments, minimizing operational impact to mission-critical DOE systems.