Test & Validation Integration Engineer - TS/SCI clearance - Chantilly, VA

PGTEK•Chantilly, VA

6h•$155,000 - $200,000•Onsite

About The Position

PGTEK is seeking a Test & Validation Integration Engineer to support a federal customer in Chantilly, Virginia. The role connects laboratory staging with field deployment by integrating, testing, and validating enterprise infrastructure so it is production-ready before delivery to operational sites. The work is performed hands-on in a controlled laboratory environment and includes enterprise compute, storage, networking, and Kubernetes platforms. The position requires an active TS/SCI clearance and onsite work five days per week. The engineer will install, provision, configure, troubleshoot, and validate infrastructure from multiple vendors, including Dell, Cisco, Arista, and Palo Alto. The role covers physical rack-and-stack and structured cabling, hardware and network configuration, Kubernetes platform validation, pre-deployment testing, fault diagnosis, and development of repeatable deployment documentation. The engineer will collaborate with systems and network architects, engineering teams, and field technicians to address integration issues and support the transition of validated equipment to field deployment. PGTEK describes a collaborative engineering culture with access to enterprise-class equipment and controlled laboratory environments, sponsored training, conference attendance and certification support, and opportunities to build skills in systems engineering, networking, automation, and deployment validation. Benefits for full-time salaried employees include medical, vision, and dental coverage; life, short- and long-term disability, and critical illness insurance; a matching 401(k); discounted pet insurance; an Employee Assistance Program; PTO and holidays; and education assistance after 12 months of employment.

Requirements

Active TS/SCI clearance and ability to maintain program access.
Ability to work onsite five days per week in Chantilly, Virginia.
Hands-on experience racking, stacking, cabling, configuring, and integrating enterprise infrastructure.
Experience with enterprise networking hardware, including Cisco, Arista, and/or Palo Alto platforms.
Understanding of network configuration, VLANs, routing, switching, and infrastructure connectivity.
Ability to troubleshoot physical and logical infrastructure issues in a laboratory or data center environment.
Practical experience provisioning and supporting enterprise server infrastructure; Dell PowerEdge is preferred.
Experience with enterprise storage technologies such as SAN, NAS, iSCSI, NVMe-oF, and/or NFS.
Understanding of RAID configuration, storage provisioning, and storage connectivity.
Experience configuring and troubleshooting out-of-band management interfaces, including iDRAC.
Ability to validate hardware functionality and resolve component-level issues.
Practical experience installing, configuring, and validating Kubernetes environments.
Familiarity with container runtimes, including containerd.
Understanding of Kubernetes networking, CNI plugins, and persistent storage integration.
Ability to troubleshoot infrastructure and platform issues affecting cluster functionality.
Experience diagnosing and isolating physical and logical infrastructure faults across Layers 1–4.
Experience using command-line tools, packet captures, network diagnostics, and optics validation tools.
Ability to perform pre-deployment testing, system validation, and infrastructure troubleshooting.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with an emphasis on identifying root causes.
Strong technical documentation skills, including developing SOPs, cabling diagrams, configuration guides, and deployment runbooks.
Ability to communicate technical procedures clearly to engineering and field deployment teams.
Strong attention to detail and commitment to repeatable, reliable deployment processes.
Ability to lift and carry up to 50 pounds.
Ability to perform hands-on physical work involving equipment installation, rack-and-stack operations, and infrastructure staging.
Strong communication, teamwork, and coordination skills.

Nice To Haves

Cisco CCNP or equivalent networking certification.
Arista ACE certification.
Palo Alto PCNSE certification.
Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA).
Relevant systems, networking, security, or infrastructure certifications.
Experience using Ansible, Terraform, Python, or Bash to automate infrastructure provisioning and configuration.
Familiarity with automated testing, configuration validation, and repeatable deployment workflows.
Ability to develop scripts that improve staging efficiency and reduce manual configuration errors.
Understanding of leaf-spine network architectures.
Experience with BGP, EVPN-VXLAN, and advanced routing and switching technologies.
Familiarity with stateful firewall inspection, security policies, and enterprise network segmentation.
Experience troubleshooting complex network interoperability issues.
Strong Linux systems administration and troubleshooting skills.
Familiarity with systemd services, kernel networking parameters, and system configuration.
Experience performing driver, firmware, and operating system upgrades.
Ability to troubleshoot Linux-based infrastructure and platform issues.
Experience supporting enterprise data centers, integration laboratories, or infrastructure staging environments.
Familiarity with power distribution units (ePDU), high-density optics, and data center cabling practices.
Experience with QSFP28, QSFP-DD, or other high-performance optical connectivity standards.
Familiarity with laboratory equipment inventory, asset tracking, and hardware management processes.

Responsibilities

Physically rack, stack, mount, and cable enterprise servers, storage arrays, and networking appliances in data center racks.
Install hardware and perform structured cabling according to data center, power, and thermal management practices.
Provision infrastructure with baseline firmware, initial configurations, and out-of-band management settings.
Configure and validate iDRAC, console access, and other hardware management interfaces.
Integrate and support multi-vendor infrastructure, including Cisco, Arista, Palo Alto, and Dell platforms.
Configure and validate switches, firewalls, routing, VLANs, and connectivity between integrated systems.
Validate network throughput, segmentation, routing, firewall policies, and end-to-end connectivity.
Troubleshoot hardware, configuration, and interoperability issues across infrastructure components in collaboration with systems and network architects.
Execute pre-deployment testing to verify hardware functionality, system readiness, and interoperability of compute, storage, and networking components.
Identify, isolate, and resolve physical and logical faults across network and infrastructure layers using diagnostic tools and techniques.
Validate storage availability, RAID configurations, network connectivity, and overall system functionality.
Document test results and configuration deficiencies, and ensure corrective actions are completed before deployment.
Identify recurring defects, integration challenges, and deployment bottlenecks to improve staging quality.
Install, configure, bootstrap, and validate baseline Kubernetes environments on bare-metal and virtualized infrastructure.
Verify container runtime functionality, including containerd, and test cluster readiness, container networking, CNI configuration, and persistent storage integration.
Troubleshoot platform issues involving infrastructure, networking, and container services, and ensure staged environments meet requirements before release.
Develop, maintain, and improve deployment runbooks, standard operating procedures, commissioning documentation, cabling diagrams, equipment configurations, and validation procedures.
Document staging, testing, troubleshooting, and site activation processes.
Identify workflow failure points and inefficiencies, and improve staging processes to reduce deployment delays and onsite troubleshooting and increase first-time installation success.
Collaborate with field technicians and support the transition of validated infrastructure from laboratory staging to field deployment.

Benefits

Comprehensive PPO medical coverage with a Health Savings Account (HSA) option.
Vision plan.
Dental insurance, with the base dental plan paid for by PGTEK.
Life insurance premiums covered.
Short- and long-term disability insurance premiums covered.
Critical illness insurance premiums covered.
Matching 401(k) plan.
Discount on pet insurance through ASPCA Pet Insurance.
Employee Assistance Program at no cost to employees.
PTO and holidays.
Education Assistance Program available after 12 months of employment.
Sponsored training, conference attendance, and certification support.
Access to enterprise-class hardware and controlled laboratory environments for technical growth.