Lead System Administrator

The position requires reliable on-site presence in our Gaithersburg, MD office, to support the FAA contracts development and test labs, which are comprised of a variety of computing equipment. Occasional on-call support and travel may be required.

Role Focus

• Hands-on system administration in development and test lab environments

• Performs system administration and hardware technician tasks

• Execute defined operational tasks with growing independence

• Escalates complex or systemic issues appropriately

• Builds technical depth across Linux, virtualization, cloud, dev/ops and lab infrastructure

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

• Perform day-to-day system administration tasks on RHEL systems in development and test lab environments, following established procedures. Provision, configure, and maintain servers, virtual machines, and lab workstations

• Execute and improve operational Ansible playbooks for resets, recovery, and maintenance

• Develop and maintain scripts (Bash, Python, or similar) to enhance automation.

• Install, cable, rack, and decommission servers, workstations, and lab hardware.

• Perform hardware diagnostics, component replacement, and console-level troubleshooting for lab systems.

• Monitor system health, logs, and alerts; perform initial triage and escalate issues when they exceed defined scope.

• Provision, configure, and maintain lab servers, workstations, and virtual machines under documented standards.

• Execute system patching, updates, and configuration changes in accordance with change guidance and maintenance windows.

• Perform routine backup verification, restores, and failure remediation with guidance as needed.

• Administer user accounts, permissions, and file systems in accordance with approved access controls and security policies.

• Assist in troubleshooting OS, virtualization, storage, and application-level issues affecting lab environments.

• Coordinate with network and security teams to implement approved connectivity, firewall, and access changes.

• Maintain accurate system documentation, asset records, and lab environment inventories.

• Provide operational support to engineering teams utilizing development and test lab infrastructure.

• Participate in on-call or after-hours support rotations as required for lab availability.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, or related field and 4+ years of systems administration experience
  (or equivalent professional experience in lieu of degree)

• Hands-on experience administering Linux systems (Red Hat–based).

• Hands-on experience with virtualization platforms.

• Working knowledge of:

  • Networking fundamentals (Cisco/Aruba)

  • Storage systems (NetApp or similar)

• Experience with user and access administration (IPA, LDAP, Active Directory, or similar).

• Experience performing hardware installation, cabling, or troubleshooting.

• Ability to follow established procedures, document work clearly, and operate within controlled environments.

• Demonstrated willingness to learn new technologies, tools, and lab workflows.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting development, test, or lab environments.

• Experience with scripting and/or automation (Bash, Python, or similar).

• Familiarity with:

  • Infrastructure-as-Code (e.g., Ansible, Terraform)

  • CI/CD or automated deployment workflows

• Experience administering VMware environments (vSphere, ESXi, vCenter)

• Exposure to system patching, backups, and restore processes

• Experience with monitoring or logging tools

• Cloud administration (AWS, Azure, or similar).

• Experience working in data center, lab, or equipment room environments.

ATMC