Staff Engineer Systems – Virtualization Architect (26-462)

Northrop Grumman•Colorado Springs, CO

8d•$161,000 - $241,400•Onsite

About The Position

Northrop Grumman Space Systems—Missile Defense Integration is hiring a Staff Engineer Systems – Virtualization Architect to support the Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications (C2BMC) program in Colorado Springs, Colorado. C2BMC supports missile defense operations by enabling strategic, regional, and operational planning, battle monitoring, and control of networked sensors and weapon systems. The program integrates and synchronizes sensor and weapon systems and supports ground and flight tests of missile defense capabilities. The architect will support the design, implementation, and operation of virtualized and software-defined networking environments for C2BMC. The role focuses on deploying and managing VMware vSphere and VMware NSX infrastructure to provide secure, scalable, and highly available compute and network services. The architect collaborates with infrastructure, storage, and security teams to troubleshoot issues, optimize performance, enforce micro-segmentation, and maintain connectivity across virtual and physical environments. Work is performed within an agile Scrum team and is planned in accordance with customer requirements and program contractual agreements. The position is onsite with no remote work option and does not provide relocation assistance. Travel is required, including to remote locations for installations and troubleshooting. Support outside standard business hours, including evenings and weekends, may be required to meet mission needs. A current active Secret clearance and active Government-issued 8140 certification at IAT Level II or higher are required to start, along with an active VCP–VCF Administrator and/or Architect certification or an accepted legacy VMware certification. The role requires a bachelor’s degree and 12 years of experience, a master’s degree and 10 years of relevant experience, or a Ph.D. and 8 years of relevant experience.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field such as Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Engineering, Information Technology, Mathematics, or Physics, and 12 years of experience; or a master’s degree in a STEM-related field and 10 years of relevant experience; or a Ph.D. in a related discipline and 8 years of relevant experience.
Current, active Government-issued 8140 certification at IAT Level II or higher at the time of application, maintained throughout the contract period. Examples include Security+, GSEC, SCNP, SSCP, CISSP, CISA, GSE, and SCNA.
Current, active, in-scope Government-issued Secret clearance at the time of application, with the ability to obtain Top Secret clearance.
Active VCP–VCF Administrator and/or Architect certification; active legacy VMware Certified Professional certifications in Data Center Virtualization (DCV) and/or Network Virtualization (NV) are also acceptable.
Hands-on experience deploying, managing, and troubleshooting VMware NSX and vSphere environments, including ESXi hosts, vCenter, NetApp NAS/SAN, Windows Server, and SQL Server.
Strong understanding of virtualization concepts, including vMotion, high availability, DRS, storage integration, and software containerization concepts.
In-depth understanding of networking, including the OSI model, TCP/IP, routing protocols, network traffic analysis, and troubleshooting.
Effective verbal and written communication and presentation skills, including proficiency with Microsoft PowerPoint and Visio.
Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment and independently on large field projects.
Experience with Agile frameworks and applying agile fundamentals in engineering work.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Systems Engineering.
Graduate Certificate in Model-Based Systems Engineering, such as from Stevens, Caltech, UCSD, USC, GWU, or an INCOSE cohort.
INCOSE Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP) certification.
Object Management Group Certified Systems Modeling Professional – Model Builder Intermediate (OCSMP–MBI) certification.
Current, active, in-scope Government-issued Top Secret clearance at the time of application.
Experience with VMware storage solutions such as vSAN, Site Recovery Manager (SRM), and Storage Area Networks.
Knowledge of VMware administration automation or scripting tools such as PowerCLI, Python, or Ansible.
Familiarity with hybrid cloud environments such as VMware Cloud on AWS or Azure VMware Solution.
Exposure to monitoring and reporting tools such as vRealize Operations (vROps) or similar.
Experience mentoring junior staff or leading virtualization projects or deployments.
Experience creating VM deployment templates and automated deployments.
Microsoft Windows Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux server experience with multi-user applications.
Understanding of standard DoD security practices, including STIG compliance and system accreditation.
Knowledge of authentication and encryption methods or capabilities, such as ACS, Active Directory, and GEM-X.
Experience with Photon OS.
Prior experience with C2BMC or similar command-and-control systems.

Responsibilities

Deploy, configure, and maintain VMware NSX environments, including transport zones, segments, edge nodes, Tier-0/Tier-1 gateways, NAT, and routing protocols such as BGP.
Design and enforce network security rules and policies using NSX distributed firewall, gateway firewall, and micro-segmentation techniques.
Design, deploy, and manage VMware vSphere infrastructure, including ESXi hosts, clusters, and vCenter, with appropriate high availability, Distributed Resource Scheduler, and storage integration configurations.
Monitor and troubleshoot connectivity, performance, capacity, and security issues using Traceflow, packet capture, NSX CLI, and VMware monitoring utilities.
Integrate VMware NSX and vSphere with physical network and storage infrastructure, including NetApp NAS/SAN, and collaborate with cross-functional teams on upgrades, deployments, and infrastructure projects.
Travel to remote locations to lead and perform network and virtualization installations, independently troubleshoot issues, and provide timely status updates to program and customer personnel.
Support critical work outside standard business hours, including evenings and weekends, as required to meet mission needs.
Apply agile principles within a Scrum team to plan, estimate, and execute work aligned with customer priorities and program commitments.
Develop and maintain technical documentation, including design artifacts, implementation procedures, and as-built configurations, using tools such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Visio.
Perform other tasks required by the program to support reliable and secure C2BMC operations.

Benefits

Health Plan
Savings Plan
Paid Time Off
Education Assistance
Training and Development
Flexible Work Arrangements
Health insurance coverage
Life and disability insurance
Company-paid holidays
Overtime, shift differential, and discretionary bonus may be available depending on the position