Senior Systems Engineer with Security Clearance

Forge Forward is searching for a Senior Systems Engineer to support a client in Charleston, SC. This position requires a minimum seven (7) years of experience supporting enterprise IT or C4I systems in secure DoD environments, with primary expertise in enterprise networking and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). The Senior Systems Engineer serves as a hands-on technical authority for the design, integration, hardening, sustainment, and lifecycle management of network and Linux infrastructure supporting mission-critical systems. The role requires strong experience with Cisco and/or Juniper routing and switching, network security and transport services, and administration of RHEL platforms, including SELinux, firewalld, identity integration, DNS, and automated configuration management. The engineer will independently troubleshoot complex issues across network, operating system, virtualization, compute, storage, and security layers while ensuring compliance with DISA STIGs, RMF controls, and DoD cybersecurity requirements. Broad working knowledge of Windows Server, Active Directory, VMware, endpoint technologies, backup and recovery, Infrastructure as Code, and container platforms is required to support integrated engineering efforts across lab and production environments. This senior role also provides technical leadership, supports architecture and configuration decisions, and mentors engineers within a multi-disciplinary Agile team. Functional Responsibilities and Required Skills:

• Design, configure, integrate, secure, and sustain enterprise and transport network solutions using Cisco and/or Juniper routers, switches, firewalls, and related technologies.
• Administer, secure, and troubleshoot enterprise RHEL systems, including SELinux, firewalld, system services, patching, repositories, identity integration, DNS, and baseline configuration.
• Analyze and resolve complex connectivity and performance issues across routing, switching, firewalls, VLANs, TCP/IP, DNS, and dependent platform services.
• Conduct lab-based testing, proof-of-concept development, integration, validation, and controlled deployment of network and system changes.
• Develop and maintain automation using Ansible, Bash, Python, PowerShell, and/or Terraform for provisioning, configuration enforcement, compliance, and repeatable deployment.
• Engineer and maintain systems in accordance with DISA STIGs, RMF controls, DoD cybersecurity policies, and approved configuration baselines.
• Support vulnerability assessment and remediation activities, including ACAS findings, POA&M development, control validation, and continuous monitoring.
• Provide cross-platform engineering support for Windows Server, Active Directory, Group Policy, and identity or authentication services integrated with Linux and network environments.
• Administer and troubleshoot VMware vSphere, ESXi, vCenter, virtual networking, and virtual workloads supporting enterprise services.
• Support compute hardware, SAN/NAS storage, backup and recovery platforms, and related datacenter services as part of integrated infrastructure solutions.
• Support containerized workloads and orchestration platforms such as Kubernetes, and apply DevSecOps and Infrastructure as Code practices where appropriate.
• Monitor system and network health, identify operational risks, and restore services while minimizing mission impact.
• Participate in architecture reviews, technical reviews, Agile ceremonies, change management, and configuration control boards.
• Produce and maintain architecture diagrams, configurations, implementation plans, test plans, validation results, SOPs, and operational documentation.
• Brief technical leadership and stakeholders on engineering status, risks, tradeoffs, and recommended actions; mentor junior engineers and share technical knowledge. Desired Skills:
• Experience supporting Navy C4I or similar DoD mission environments, including classified systems with privileged access.
• Advanced experience with RHEL engineering, high availability, performance tuning, or enterprise lifecycle management.
• Advanced routing and switching knowledge, firewall administration, network monitoring, and software-defined networking such as NSX-T.
• Experience with VMware vSphere, vCenter, ESXi, vSAN, VMware Cloud Foundation, or Tanzu.
• Experience with enterprise storage and data protection platforms such as NetApp, SAN/NAS, Rubrik, or equivalent solutions.
• Experience with Git-based version control, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and secure infrastructure deployment.
• Familiarity with Kubernetes or other container platforms and hybrid cloud or cloud-adjacent architectures.
• Strong communication, technical documentation, collaboration, and leadership skills in a multi-disciplinary Agile environment. Education Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related technical field desired. Relevant technical experience may be considered in lieu of a degree, subject to contract labor category requirements. Certification Requirements:

Required: CompTIA Security+ or equivalent certification meeting DoD Cybersecurity Workforce IAT Level II requirements.

Desired: Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) or Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE); Cisco CCNA or CCNP; and relevant VMware, Ansible, or Terraform certification. Clearance Requirements:

SECRET (minimum) with current SSBI/T5 investigation required. TS/SCI clearance desired.