Senior Windows Server / Cloud DevOps Engineer

Guidehouse•Dc, DC

12d•Onsite

About The Position

This role involves owning Windows Server production operations, serving as the senior technical owner for a predominantly Windows Server environment (~95% Windows). The position provides hands-on production support for mission-critical applications hosted in government cloud (AWS GovCloud). Responsibilities include administering and sustaining Windows Server, maintaining, troubleshooting, patching, hardening, and recovering Windows Server systems in production to ensure availability during business hours and through a shared on-call rotation, and independently resolving after-hours incidents. The role also requires taking ownership of Kubernetes, independently operating and troubleshooting the Kubernetes environment (EKS), resolving complex cluster, workload, and platform issues, and supporting existing production applications and workloads. Additionally, the engineer will lead incident response, drive production incident response and deep-dive root-cause analysis across Windows Server, cloud, and container platforms, engineer secure cloud infrastructure by designing, implementing, and maintaining secure, scalable cloud architectures across Windows and Linux systems, and work independently or lead small teams. Automation with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform and Ansible to provision and configure environments is a secondary responsibility. Building CI/CD and DevSecOps pipelines, developing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines and DevSecOps automation aligned with government and industry best practices, monitoring and ensuring availability by designing and implementing monitoring, logging, and alerting solutions, establishing performance baselines, and ensuring system availability are also key aspects. Hardening federal environments by enforcing security best practices, including identity and access management and system hardening, and documenting and mentoring junior and mid-level engineers by developing and maintaining technical documentation, runbooks, and SOPs, and providing technical leadership across DevOps practices are also required.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree (BA/BS) in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field; a Master's degree may substitute for additional years of experience per contract guidance.
Minimum Eight (8) to Ten (10 ) years of relevant IT/engineering experience, including senior-level Windows Server operations and 3+ years supporting cloud engineering environments.
U.S. citizenship or Green Card status is required.
Strong, current, hands-on Windows Server administration/engineering: production support, troubleshooting, maintenance, recovery, and patching.
Demonstrated ability to perform at a senior level immediately with minimal or no ramp-up; practical production operations experience rather than primarily cloud-native development.
Willing and able to participate in a production on-call rotation and independently resolve after-hours incidents.
Strong hands-on experience with AWS GovCloud.
Ability to work independently with minimal supervision in complex, secure environments; strong analytical and advanced troubleshooting skills; excellent written, verbal, and stakeholder communication; demonstrated technical leadership and mentoring.
Must be able to OBTAIN and MAINTAIN a Federal or DoD "PUBLIC TRUST"; candidates must obtain approved adjudication of their PUBLIC TRUST prior to onboarding with Guidehouse.
Candidates with an ACTIVE PUBLIC TRUST or SUITABILITY are preferred.

Nice To Haves

PowerShell scripting
Microsoft / Windows Server Administrator certifications
Deep Terraform (Infrastructure as Code) and Ansible (configuration management/automation) expertise.
Service mesh, API gateways, and Kubernetes security tooling.
Experience with FISMA, NIST, and FedRAMP frameworks.
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer.
Familiarity with PKI, identity services, or credential management systems.
Experience supporting large-scale, multi-environment enterprise systems; scripting in Python and Bash.

Responsibilities

Own Windows Server production operations.
Serve as the senior technical owner for a predominantly Windows Server environment (~95% Windows), providing hands-on production support for mission-critical applications hosted in government cloud (AWS GovCloud).
Administer and sustain Windows Server.
Maintain, troubleshoot, patch, harden, and recover Windows Server systems in production — sustaining availability during business hours and through a shared on-call rotation, independently resolving after-hours incidents.
Take ownership of Kubernetes.
Independently operate and troubleshoot the Kubernetes environment (EKS), resolving complex cluster, workload, and platform issues and supporting existing production applications and workloads.
Lead incident response.
Drive production incident response and deep-dive root-cause analysis across Windows Server, cloud, and container platforms.
Engineer secure cloud infrastructure.
Design, implement, and maintain secure, scalable cloud architectures across Windows and Linux systems; work independently or lead small teams.
Automate with IaC (secondary).
Develop and manage Infrastructure as Code using Terraform and Ansible to provision and configure environments — secondary to Windows operations and Kubernetes troubleshooting.
Build CI/CD and DevSecOps.
Develop and maintain CI/CD pipelines and DevSecOps automation aligned with government and industry best practices.
Monitor and ensure availability.
Design and implement monitoring, logging, and alerting solutions; establish performance baselines and ensure system availability.
Harden federal environments.
Enforce security best practices, including identity and access management and system hardening for federal environments.
Document and mentor.
Develop and maintain technical documentation, runbooks, and SOPs; mentor junior and mid-level engineers and provide technical leadership across DevOps practices.

Benefits

Medical, Rx, Dental & Vision Insurance
Personal and Family Sick Time & Company Paid Holidays
Parental Leave
401(k) Retirement Plan
Group Term Life and Travel Assistance
Voluntary Life and AD&D Insurance
Health Savings Account, Health Care & Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts
Transit and Parking Commuter Benefits
Short-Term & Long-Term Disability
Tuition Reimbursement, Personal Development, Certifications & Learning Opportunities
Employee Referral Program
Corporate Sponsored Events & Community Outreach
Care.com annual membership
Employee Assistance Program
Supplemental Benefits via Corestream (Critical Care, Hospital Indemnity, Accident Insurance, Legal Assistance and ID theft protection, etc.)
Position may be eligible for a discretionary variable incentive bonus