Cloud Systems Administrator – Senior Linux / AWS Application Sustainment

We are seeking a Senior Cloud Systems Administrator in Herndon, VA to support the SITE III DO contract within our National Programs Business Intelligence Systems & Applications Operating Unit. This role supports mission-critical applications and services for a key directorate within the U.S. Intelligence Community.

This is a hands-on technical role requiring strong Linux systems administration, practical AWS cloud administration, security hardening, troubleshooting, and application sustainment experience. The selected candidate will help ensure reliable operation, performance, security, and availability of systems that support intelligence collection, dissemination, and mission operations.

This position is best suited for a senior administrator who has supported secure, classified, mission-focused environments and is comfortable working across Linux, AWS, security compliance, and operational application support.

Responsibilities

The Cloud Systems Administrator will be responsible for the following:

• Administer, maintain, and troubleshoot multi-user Linux systems supporting mission-critical applications.
• Support Linux environments including CentOS, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and/or Oracle Linux.
• Provision, maintain, monitor, and support servers within an AWS environment.
• Use AWS console access to manage cloud-based infrastructure, including compute, storage, backups, snapshots, monitoring, and recovery activities.
• Perform system backups, snapshots, disaster recovery activities, and performance tuning.
• Install, configure, patch, and upgrade operating systems, applications, and supporting tools.
• Apply security configurations, perform STIG hardening, and remediate identified vulnerabilities.
• Review audit logs, troubleshoot system issues, and support root cause analysis.
• Support Tier 1 troubleshooting and Tier 2 problem resolution for operational systems.
• Work closely with network engineers, software developers, security teams, and application stakeholders to maintain system availability and performance.
• Manage system resources to optimize CPU, disk, storage, and overall system responsiveness.
• Administer user accounts, profiles, permissions, service accounts, and security settings.
• Support security audits, testing events, vulnerability scans, and compliance activities.
• Create and maintain technical documentation, including SOPs, system administration guides, user guides, and operational procedures.
• Evaluate system performance, identify improvement opportunities, and recommend hardware, software, or process enhancements.
• Support mission-critical applications that may require occasional after-hours or weekend availability.
• Work full time in a SCIF environment with flexible hours and availability during core business hours.

Required Qualifications

Candidates must meet the following requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in an area relevant to the position with 8 or more years of relevant experience; or Master’s degree in an area relevant to the position with 6 or more years of relevant experience; or a Ph.D. in an area relevant to the position with 3 or more years of relevant experience. An additional 4 years of experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Active TS/SCI or SCI eligibility and active polygraph or ability to obtain a polygraph.
• Ability to work full time in a SCIF.
• Active Security+ certification or another current IAT II/III-level certification.
• Strong current or very recent hands-on Linux systems administration experience with CentOS, RHEL, and/or Oracle Linux.
• Practical experience working in an AWS environment.
• Experience using AWS console access to provision, maintain, and monitor servers.
• Experience performing snapshots, backups, disaster recovery, and performance tuning.
• Experience with installation, patching, vulnerability remediation, and STIG hardening.
• Strong troubleshooting skills, including scripting and audit log review.
• Ability to support both technical troubleshooting and customer-facing Tier 1 communication.
• Experience supporting operational systems, application sustainment, or mission-critical environments.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with technical teams, security personnel, developers, and mission stakeholders.

Desired Qualifications

The strongest candidates may also bring experience with:

• Current polygraph.
• Experience developing and maintaining technical documentation such as:
• SIPs
• SAGs
• SUMs
• SOPs
• Getting started guides
• Experience with ElasticSearch.
• Experience with AWS services and related technologies, including EC2, S3, and ElastiCache
• Experience with Kafka, OpenShift, Docker, Keycloak, and WildFly.
• Experience with PKI certificates, SSL, and service accounts.
• Experience maintaining multiple environment types, including physical, virtual, and cloud environments.
• Experience supporting security audits, testing events, and compliance reviews.
• Experience upgrading from CentOS to RHEL 8.
• Experience supporting secure government, defense, intelligence, or classified environments.

Peraton offers enhanced benefits to employees working on this critical National Security program, which include heavily subsidized employee benefits coverage for you and your dependents, 25 days of PTO accrued annually up to a generous PTO cap and participation in an attractive bonus plan.