System Administrator II

KES•San Diego, CA

22h

About The Position

Koam Engineering Systems, Inc. (KES Inc.) is seeking a System Administrator II to support configuration, integration, sustainment, and troubleshooting of systems and infrastructure within the Missile Defense Analysis, Testing, and Engineering (MD ATE) Network Operations Center (NOC). The role primarily supports test events, requiring an end-to-end understanding of test architectures, system dependencies, data flows, and communications paths to identify, isolate, and resolve technical issues before and during test execution. The position administers and troubleshoots Windows Server environments, domain services, virtual machines, file services, high-availability resources, system security, and other infrastructure supporting test operations. The administrator also troubleshoots across system and network boundaries, including application services, TCP/UDP communications, firewall policies, and physical connectivity. This includes tracing communications through test architectures, using tools such as Wireshark and system logs to isolate failures, modifying firewall rules as required, identifying Layer 1 connectivity issues, and coordinating with network, cybersecurity, and other technical personnel to restore functionality. KES is an employee-owned small business headquartered in San Diego, California, with offices in Gig Harbor, Washington. It provides global systems engineering and technical assistance, requirements analysis, software design and development, systems integration and testing, independent verification and validation, and operational and logistical support.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a related discipline such as computer science, computer engineering, information systems, network engineering, systems engineering, or software engineering; alternatively, equivalent specialized knowledge acquired through military training, formal technical instruction, certifications, and substantial progressively responsible practical experience of comparable scope, complexity, and independent judgment.
Security+ (DoD IAT Level II), or ability to meet the requirement within three months of employment.
Existing U.S. Government DoD-granted security clearance or eligibility at the final Secret level, and ability to obtain a favorably adjudicated T5 background investigation; the necessary clearance requirements must be maintained for continued employment.
U.S. citizenship.
Three to five years of progressively responsible experience in system administration, systems operations, or systems integration in a DoD, enterprise, NOC, lab, test, or other complex technical environment.
Hands-on experience administering and troubleshooting Windows Server environments, including Active Directory, Domain Controllers, DNS, Group Policy, file services, system patching, and supporting enterprise services.
Hands-on experience creating, configuring, administering, and troubleshooting virtual machines and virtualized infrastructure using Microsoft Hyper-V or comparable enterprise virtualization technologies.
Demonstrated ability to learn complex system architectures and independently troubleshoot across multiple components and technologies.
Working knowledge of TCP/IP and TCP/UDP communications, with ability to troubleshoot end-to-end connectivity across systems, applications, firewalls, and physical infrastructure.
Experience using packet analysis, system logs, monitoring, and diagnostic tools such as Wireshark to isolate connectivity and system issues and perform root cause analysis.
Experience implementing system hardening requirements, applying DISA STIGs, performing vulnerability remediation, and maintaining secure system configurations.
Experience supporting configuration changes, integrations, troubleshooting, and sustainment while maintaining accurate configurations, procedures, and technical documentation.

Nice To Haves

CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate (AZ-802), Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA), CompTIA Linux+, or equivalent system administration, operating system, virtualization, or networking certification.
Experience administering or troubleshooting enterprise firewalls, including reviewing traffic flows, analyzing firewall logs, and modifying firewall rules or policies to support approved system communications.
Experience with ACAS vulnerability scanning and remediation, DISA STIGs, Risk Management Framework (RMF), patch management, and Authorization to Operate (ATO) requirements in classified or highly regulated DoD environments.
Experience administering high-availability file services, failover clustering, shared storage, or other highly available Windows Server resources.
Working knowledge of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), PowerShell, Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), Trellix, VMware/vSphere, or similar enterprise system administration technologies.
Working knowledge of enterprise networking concepts, including VLANs, routing, switching, firewalls, network segmentation, physical cabling and patching, and Layer 1 through Layer 4 troubleshooting.
Experience supporting DoD, Navy, NIWC Pacific, Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD), C4I/C5ISR, NOC, lab, test, integration, or operational evaluation environments.

Responsibilities

Learn and maintain a working understanding of end-to-end architectures supporting MD ATE test events, including systems, interfaces, dependencies, data flows, communications paths, and supporting infrastructure.
Provide hands-on technical support for pre-test, test, and post-test activities by identifying, isolating, troubleshooting, and resolving system and connectivity issues that could affect test execution.
Troubleshoot issues across physical connectivity, TCP/UDP transport, firewall policies, operating systems, virtualized infrastructure, server and application services, and other test-architecture dependencies.
Capture and analyze network traffic using Wireshark and other diagnostic tools to validate communications, identify TCP/UDP connectivity issues, and locate failures in end-to-end data paths.
Access, configure, and troubleshoot enterprise firewalls, including reviewing and modifying firewall rules and policies required for approved test-event communications.
Identify and resolve Layer 1 connectivity issues, including physical connections, cabling, patching, interfaces, and other infrastructure supporting test-event connectivity.
Configure, administer, maintain, and troubleshoot Windows Server environments, Domain Controllers, Active Directory, DNS, Group Policy, file services, and supporting infrastructure.
Configure, manage, and troubleshoot virtual machines and supporting infrastructure in Microsoft Hyper-V environments.
Administer file servers and associated high-availability resources to maintain services supporting test and lab operations.
Apply DISA STIGs, perform system hardening, remediate ACAS vulnerability findings, maintain system patches, and coordinate cybersecurity and compliance activities with the cyber team.
Maintain system configurations, technical documentation, test-event architecture information, troubleshooting procedures, and configuration changes needed for repeatable test operations.
Coordinate with network engineers, cybersecurity personnel, government engineers, external sites, and other technical teams to troubleshoot cross-functional issues and support test-event integration and execution.