Principal / Sr. Principal Cyber Systems Administrator

Northrop Grumman • Huntsville, AL

6d • $98,900 - $185,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Northrop Grumman is seeking a Principal/Sr. Principal Cyber Systems Administrator in Huntsville, Alabama, to support the Secure Transmission, Remote Asset & Network Data (STRAND) upgrade to the C-UAS Network Communication System (NCS). The role provides mid- to senior-level system and network administration for secure communications, cloud-based data pipelines, remote asset management, and observability services supporting C-UAS/BONES architectures in connected, intermittent, and disconnected environments. The administrator will act as a technical lead, collaborating with systems engineering, cyber, and software teams to deliver mission-ready infrastructure at operational sites and test ranges.

The position supports Linux and Windows servers and virtualized environments; core network services; secure communications and certificate-based authentication; automation and configuration management; monitoring and observability; patching and system hardening; secure data collection and transfer to Army-authorized cloud environments; integration events, lab tests, and field deployments; technical documentation and Tier 3–4 incident support; and RMF/ATO and FedRAMP-aligned activities. An active DoD Secret clearance and U.S. citizenship are required.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Cyber Security, Engineering, or a related STEM discipline and 8 or more years of relevant experience, or a master’s degree and 6 or more years of relevant experience.
• U.S. citizenship and an active DoD Secret clearance.
• Extensive hands-on experience administering Linux and Windows systems in production or mission-critical DoD or enterprise environments.
• Strong experience with virtualization platforms such as VMware, KVM, or Hyper-V, and/or administering workloads in major cloud environments such as AWS.
• Demonstrated expertise configuring and supporting network services, including DHCP, DNS, routing, VPNs, and firewall rules, in multi-site architectures.
• Experience implementing and managing PKI, TLS/mTLS, HTTPS, and certificate chains, including CA hierarchy and certificate lifecycle management.
• Experience with automation/configuration management tools such as Ansible and Git for version control, branching, merging, and change review.
• Experience operating and tuning monitoring and logging solutions such as Prometheus, Grafana, ELK/Loki/Splunk, or similar observability stacks.
• Working knowledge of NIST SP 800-53, RMF, and DoD STIGs as applied to systems and networks.
• Experience leading or executing patching and vulnerability remediation activities such as IAVA/IAVM and documenting results for compliance and accreditation.
• Experience supporting mission-critical or 24x7 systems and operating in connected, intermittent, and disconnected environments.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to act as a technical lead and collaborate across systems engineering, cyber, software, and operations teams.

Nice To Haves

• Prior experience with C-UAS, C-RAM, SHORAD, FS-LIDS, M-LIDS, BONES/B-NET, or similar sensor/effects networks in OCONUS or deployed settings.
• Experience supporting OCONUS deployments, test ranges, or contingency operations.
• Hands-on experience administering AWS systems, preferably GovCloud, including Amazon S3 storage and lifecycle management and AWS Lambda or similar serverless services for data pipelines.
• Experience with Kubernetes platforms such as RKE2 and service meshes such as Istio, including mTLS enforcement, traffic policies, and mesh observability.
• Experience integrating SSO, MFA, and RBAC into enterprise or tactical environments; familiarity with zero-trust-aligned segmentation and access control.
• Experience with GitOps/CI/CD tools such as ArgoCD, Jenkins, or GitLab CI for automated infrastructure and application deployment.
• Familiarity with OCI-compliant container registries and distributed container-image management across multiple sites.
• Experience with intent-based network configuration, hierarchical Git repositories for configuration state, and Secure Zero Touch Provisioning (SZTP).
• Depth in observability stacks, ideally Prometheus/Mimir for metrics and Loki for logs.
• Experience contributing to or maintaining FedRAMP-aligned and RMF/ATO environments, including security plans, boundary diagrams, data flow diagrams, and POA&Ms.

Responsibilities

• Administer Linux and Windows servers/systems and virtualized environments supporting STRAND and C-UAS NCS.
• Design, configure, and maintain network services including DHCP, DNS, NTP, VPN, routing, and firewall policies across multiple sites.
• Implement and sustain secure communications using HTTPS, TLS/mTLS, PKI, and certificate-based authentication.
• Lead automation and configuration management using Ansible and Git-based workflows, and promote intent-based configuration practices.
• Engineer and maintain monitoring and observability solutions, including metrics, log aggregation, and tracing, to provide insight into system and network health.
• Manage system patching and hardening, including OS and application security updates, STIGs, and IAVA/IAVM remediation, with clear documentation.
• Support secure data collection and transfer from V-BONE and other networked assets to Army-authorized cloud environments, including S3 storage, checksums, and integrity validation.
• Participate in and technically support integration events, lab testing, and field deployments at Government test ranges and operational locations.
• Develop and maintain runbooks, SOPs, configuration baselines, and troubleshooting guides; provide Tier 3–4 and subject-matter-expert support for complex incidents.
• Collaborate with cyber and systems engineering teams on RMF/ATO and FedRAMP-aligned activities, including security documentation and continuous monitoring.

Benefits

• Health insurance coverage
• Life insurance
• Disability insurance
• Savings plan
• Company-paid holidays
• Paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business
• Potential eligibility for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus, depending on the position
• Potential eligibility for Long Term Incentives for Vice President or Director positions

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior