Nightwing provides technically advanced full-spectrum cyber, data operations, systems integration and intelligence mission support services to meet our customers’ most demanding challenges. Our capabilities include cyber space operations, cyber defense and resiliency, vulnerability research, ubiquitous technical surveillance, data intelligence, lifecycle mission enablement, and software modernization. Nightwing brings disruptive technologies, agility, and competitive offerings to customers in the intelligence community, defense, civil, and commercial markets.

Senior Proxmox Cluster Engineer

About Nightwing

Nightwing delivers advanced cyber operations, systems integration, data analytics, and intelligence mission support to address the national security community's toughest challenges. Our expertise spans cybersecurity, software engineering, enterprise IT, distributed data processing, and intelligence operations. We've built a strong reputation delivering mission-critical outcomes for DoD, IC, and national security customers. Learn more at nightwing.com.

Position Overview

We're looking for a polygraph-cleared Senior Proxmox Cluster Administrator to take ownership of mission-critical virtualization infrastructure supporting multi-OS research environments. You'll collaborate directly with Nightwing engineers, mission partners, and government customers in a high-tempo operational setting.

This is a technical, hands-on role focused on ensuring platform availability, strengthening security controls, and advancing automation capabilities. Strong candidates will also have depth in Linux system administration and/or DevSecOps engineering practices.

Location: Full-time onsite at National Business Park, Maryland

What You'll Do

Virtualization Platform Management

Operate and maintain Proxmox VE clusters, including quorum health, HA configuration, node lifecycle management, and capacity planning
Establish standardized workflows for VM and container provisioning
Troubleshoot complex issues spanning compute, networking, and storage layers
Configure and optimize host networking: bridges, bonding, VLAN trunking, and isolated management networks

Backup & Recovery Operations

Implement and oversee backup strategies and disaster recovery capabilities
Conduct regular restore drills to validate recovery procedures

Documentation & Governance

Create and maintain operational documentation including runbooks, standard operating procedures, topology diagrams, and change logs
Produce compliance artifacts aligned with program security and audit requirements

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Work alongside Nightwing teams, mission partners, and government personnel to safely integrate new workloads
Lead platform enhancement efforts and identify opportunities for operational improvements

Extended Capabilities (Nice to Have)

Manage hardened Linux baseline configurations and platform services across the environment
Build automation solutions using Ansible and Git-based workflows to eliminate manual tasks and prevent configuration drift

Required Qualifications

Experience Requirements

10+ years of relevant experience with a Bachelor's degree
6+ years with a Master's degree
4+ years with a Ph.D. in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field
14+ years of experience may substitute for a degree

Core Technical Skills

Proven Linux administration experience in production settings (RHEL, Ubuntu, or equivalent distributions)
Operational background managing virtualization platforms at scale (Proxmox VE strongly preferred)
Proficient in automation using Ansible and scripting with Bash and Python

Technical Foundation

High availability & clustering: Understanding of quorum mechanics, failover processes, and maintenance procedures
Performance analysis: Diagnosing resource contention (CPU/memory/I/O), capacity forecasting
Network architecture: VLANs, link aggregation, traffic segmentation
Storage systems: Experience with ZFS, Ceph, or distributed storage, backup/restore methodologies

Certification Requirement

Current industry certification in one of the following domains:
- Systems administration, information security, networking, virtualization, IT management, or project management
- Examples: Security+, CISSP, CISM, CASP+, CCNA, CCNP, RHCSA, RHCE, VCP, ITIL, PMP

Security Clearance

U.S. Citizenship required
Active TS/SCI clearance with polygraph

Preferred Qualifications

Advanced Proxmox expertise: HA optimization, corosync diagnostics, multi-cluster architectures, version migrations
Beyond-basic virtualization skills demonstrating platform design or architectural capabilities
DevSecOps/Infrastructure as Code: GitOps methodologies, declarative infrastructure management
Compliance & security operations: Hands-on experience with STIG implementations, RMF processes, NIST controls, and vulnerability management in classified environments
Monitoring & observability: Familiarity with Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack, OpenSearch, Splunk, or SLO-based operational practices

#NEP

Salary & Benefits

The salary associated with this position ($122,000-$253,000) is commensurate with the selected candidate’s qualifications, years of relevant experience, and demonstrated level of expertise. Compensation will be determined based on these factors to ensure alignment with skills, responsibilities, and market standards.

Nightwing offers medical, vision and dental insurance coverage in addition to a 401k plan, PTO, Holidays, and additional insurances.

Nightwing is An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status, age or any other federally protected class.

Learn more about this Employer on their Career Site