Senior Sys Admin (SWIL/HWIL Operations)

Cortina Solutions•Panama City, FL

4d•$104,000 - $151,000•Onsite

About The Position

Cortina Solutions is seeking a high-impact Senior System Administrator (Lab Operations) to support the execution of a complex contract supporting the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD). You must be ready to own your technical domain, managing classified/unclassified labs and ensuring Software-in-the-Loop (SWIL) and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) environment readiness to shape the future of naval warfare technology. The ideal candidate will be expected to engineer with Excellence, serve with Integrity, and approach every problem with a drive to Get Things Done. The Senior System Administrator provides advanced infrastructure engineering, network design, and systems leadership for Department of the Navy modeling and simulation (M&S), training, and other information systems ensuring maximum uptime, scalability, and operational readiness. This role architects and oversees Software-in-the-Loop (SWIL) and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) environments, driving configuration control and mentoring junior technical staff. Responsibilities include installing, configuring, and maintaining servers, operating systems, network switches, and storage arrays; managing user access and virtualization environments; and overseeing configuration control for complex lab baselines. While system uptime and readiness are the primary focus, the role also ensures systems meet necessary DOD and Navy security baselines by applying operating system patches, implementing DISA STIGs, and maintaining required CSWF certifications.

Requirements

10+ years of relevant civilian or military system administration experience
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or other relevant field of study
Advanced Operating System / Computing Environment (CE) certification (e.g., Windows Server, RedHat/Linux, or Cisco CCNP/CCNA)
Expert-level experience architecting, configuring, and troubleshooting physical/virtual servers, enterprise network devices, and shared storage architectures (SAN/NAS)
Proven track record leading configuration management, disaster recovery, and hardware lifecycle planning across complex classified and unclassified lab environments
CompTIA Security+ certification
Active DOD Secret clearance

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree in a relevant field of study
Direct experience architecting or leading SWIL/HWIL environments, tactical systems, or Navy/DoD simulation and experimentation labs
Deep expertise in deploying and managing enterprise virtualization platforms (e.g., VMware vSphere/ESXi clustered environments)
Experience with infrastructure-as-code, automated deployment tools, or advanced scripting (PowerShell/Bash) to streamline lab operations
Experience with executing system patching/STIG compliance verification
Experience working within a DOD DevSecOps or Agile-based development environment

Responsibilities

Installing, configuring, and maintaining servers, operating systems, network switches, and storage arrays
Managing user access and virtualization environments
Overseeing configuration control for complex lab baselines
Ensuring systems meet necessary DOD and Navy security baselines by applying operating system patches, implementing DISA STIGs, and maintaining required CSWF certifications
Architecting and overseeing Software-in-the-Loop (SWIL) and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) environments
Driving configuration control
Mentoring junior technical staff