Senior Systems Engineer (Antarctic Support Contract)

Leidos

1d•$92,300 - $166,850

About The Position

Leidos is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to support the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) under the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Support Contract. As a senior member of the Information Technology & Communications Data Systems Team, the engineer designs, deploys, and maintains Linux-based infrastructure for core production systems. The role may include temporary deployments to Antarctica, depending on operational needs and management discretion. The position is currently funded, with approximately one year remaining on the Antarctic Support Contract. Candidates must complete the NSF-required physical and dental examinations for Antarctic deployment. U.S. citizenship is required, and a Public Trust security clearance must be obtained before starting; the clearance process may take up to four months. Leidos Antarctic Support Contract is the prime contractor to the National Science Foundation in support of the United States Antarctic Program. Leidos provides science and logistics support for approximately 150 science and technical events across McMurdo Station, Palmer Station, South Pole Station, and remote field sites. The program provides the operational and logistical platform for U.S. Antarctic research and presence. The engineer designs and implements infrastructure aligned with USAP mission requirements; administers RHEL systems and services, containerized workloads, and OpenShift clusters; and performs backup, recovery, monitoring, security, and automation work. The role collaborates with architecture, network operations, information security, and client services teams, maintains technical documentation, mentors junior staff, and provides escalation-level troubleshooting as part of a 24x7 support rotation.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field with at least 4 years of relevant experience; additional experience may substitute for the degree.
Proven Linux administration expertise, especially with RHEL.
Experience with VMware and Hyper-V, Red Hat OpenShift and container orchestration, bash/Python scripting, Git and CI/CD, Red Hat Satellite, Ansible playbooks, security and patch management, Elastic Stack or Splunk with Zabbix, and MariaDB/MySQL.
Engineering design, implementation, and subject-matter expert experience with complex enterprise applications.
Budget and time management skills for technical projects, plus project management experience.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills with a customer-service mindset.
Self-motivation and ability to prioritize independently.
U.S. citizenship.
Must obtain a Public Trust security clearance before the start date; the process could take up to four months.
Must complete physical and dental examinations required by the NSF for deployment to Antarctica.
Deployment eligibility is subject to background investigation and security screening. Candidates must not have been disciplined for, or separated from an employer prior to discipline for, incidents of stalking, sexual assault, or sexual harassment within the past three years.

Nice To Haves

Microsoft 365 or Azure experience.
Windows Server administration (2012/2016/2019) and PowerShell.
SAN and HP server hardware experience.
Experience with sensor or weather satellite data acquisition and processing systems.
IBM Maximo OpenShift deployment and management.

Responsibilities

Design, engineer, and implement infrastructure projects aligned with USAP mission requirements.
Analyze, specify, and document communications and systems requirements for distributed environments.
Lead installation, configuration, migration, and upgrades across Linux, Windows, Hyper-V, and VMware systems.
Administer and maintain Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems and services.
Manage containerized workloads and Red Hat OpenShift clusters.
Perform backup and recovery operations and monitor system performance using tools such as Veeam, Elastic Stack, and Zabbix.
Maintain secure configurations aligned with DISA STIGs and other cybersecurity best practices.
Develop and execute automation using Ansible, bash, and Python scripts.
Administer Red Hat Satellite and Git environments.
Manage BIND DNS servers and contribute to DNS/DHCP configurations.
Work cross-functionally with Architecture, Network Operations, Information Security, and Client Services teams.
Create and maintain technical documentation for infrastructure and operational procedures.
Provide mentorship and code reviews for junior technical staff.
Participate in a 24x7 support rotation and provide escalation-level troubleshooting.