Systems Engineer (TS/SCI with Poly Required)

GCI Incorporated•Tysons, VA

About The Position

We are seeking a hands-on Systems Engineer with deep expertise across infrastructure, platforms, and application ecosystem spanning cloud and on-premises environments. GCI embodies excellence, integrity and professionalism. The employees supporting our customers deliver unique, high-value mission solutions while effectively leverage the technological expertise of our valued workforce to meet critical mission requirements in the areas of Data Analytics and Software Development, Engineering, Targeting and Analysis, Operations, Training, and Cyber Operations. We maximize opportunities for success by building and maintaining trusted and reliable partnerships with our customers and industry. At GCI, we solve the hard problems. As a Systems Engineer, a typical day will include the following duties: JOB DESCRIPTION This role requires a proven practitioner who can analyze existing (“as-is”) systems and applications, document current state architectures, design future-state solutions, and implement system enhancements or technology transformations end-to-end. The ideal candidate is a technical leader and achiever who can seamlessly collaborate across infrastructure, platform, application, DevSecOps, information systems security, and data teams while maintaining ownership of system reliability, performance, scalability, and security.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, IT, or a related technical discipline, or the equivalent combination of education, technical training, or work/military experience
Minimum ten (10) years of related systems engineering experience
Enterprise networking (e.g. routing, switching, firewalls, load balancers, DNS)
Storage technologies (e.g. SAN, NAS, object storage)
Container platforms (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker)
Linux (Redhat, CentOS) operating systems (administration, hardening, automation)
idAM – Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) hands-on for AuthN and AuthZ
Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, and/or GCP)
Hybrid and on-prem infrastructure design and integration
Cloud networking, identity, security, and cost optimization
Relational and NoSQL databases – relational (e.g., Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server) and NoSQL (e.g., MongoDB, Cassandra, DynamoDB, Redis) databases
Web services, APIs, and middleware
Software development lifecycle (SDLC) fundamentals
Event-based messaging systems (e.g., SQS, SNS, RabbitMQ)
Infrastructure as Code – Scripting & Automation: Python, Bash, PowerShell, Terraform, Ansible, or CloudFormation
Configuration management and scripting (e.g., PowerShell, Bash, Python, etc.)
CI/CD integration with infrastructure and platforms (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, GitHub Actions, GitOps, ArgoCD)
Security best practices and system hardening
Monitoring & Incident Response: Proficiency with tools like Prometheus, Grafana, Splunk, ELK Stack, CloudWatch
Ability to create: As-is architecture documentation To-be architecture and detailed engineering designs Implementation and migration plans
A candidate must be a US Citizen and requires an active/current TS/SCI with Polygraph clearance.

Nice To Haves

Observability and monitoring tools (e.g., logging, metrics, tracing)
Zero Trust and modern security architectures
Data analytics, AI/ML platform exposure
Experience supporting production or mission-critical environments
Relevant certifications (e.g., cloud, systems, security, or architecture)
Knowledge of machine learning platforms (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, SageMaker)
Familiarity with big data ecosystems (e.g., Hadoop, Databricks, Snowflake, Google, BigQuery)
Strong background in ITIL processes and agile methodologies
Certifications: AWS Solutions Architect / DevOps Engineer, Azure Administrator, Kubernetes CKA/CKAD, ITIL Foundation
Recognized SME with deep, hands-on technical expertise
Strong systems thinker with the ability to see and engineer across the full stack
Comfortable operating at both strategic architecture and tactical implementation levels
Excellent communication and collaboration skills across technical and non-technical teams
Proven ability to own complex systems from design through production

Responsibilities

Perform hands-on systems engineering across network, compute, storage, operating systems, middleware, databases, and applications
Analyze and document as-is infrastructure, platform, and application architectures
Work with the System Architect and Cloud Architect to create the detail engineering designs for modernization, optimization, and transformation initiatives
Lead and execute cloud and on-prem system implementations, migrations, and upgrades
Ensure systems meet availability, scalability, performance, security, and compliance requirements
Integrate infrastructure and platforms with DevOps and DevSecOps pipelines
Troubleshoot complex, cross-stack issues spanning infrastructure, platforms, and applications
Collaborate effectively with: Infrastructure & Platform Engineers Software Engineers DevOps / DevSecOps Engineers Data Engineers (ETL) Data Modelers, Data Scientists, and Data Analysts
Produce clear technical documentation, diagrams, standards, and runbooks
Serve as a technical authority and escalation point for complex system issues
Communication Skills: Ability to brief executives clearly and translate technical issues into business impact Ability to work across organizations (internal and IC) to implement complex solutions