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Ocean Cleanup Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

Ocean Cleanup information

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$8

$19

$31

How much do ocean cleanup jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 23, 2026, the average hourly pay for ocean cleanup in Virginia is $19.05, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $13.09 and $22.21 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is an ocean cleanup?

An Ocean Cleanup job involves working to remove plastic waste and debris from oceans, rivers, and coastal areas to protect marine life and ecosystems. Professionals in this field may work on research, engineering, logistics, advocacy, or hands-on cleanup operations. Roles can vary from scientists studying pollution impact to technicians operating cleanup equipment. Many organizations, including nonprofits and environmental agencies, offer these positions. The goal is to reduce ocean pollution and promote sustainable waste management solutions.

What does an ocean cleanup worker do?

In an Ocean Cleanup role, you can expect to spend your days participating in on-water collection of marine debris, operating cleanup equipment, recording findings, and helping sort or analyze collected waste. Team members often rotate between field work and data entry or reporting, depending on project needs. Collaboration with scientists, engineers, and local community organizations is common, with regular briefings to align goals and safety protocols. Many positions also include public education or outreach components, helping to raise environmental awareness. This variety ensures a dynamic workday and offers opportunities to develop a diverse skill set while making a tangible environmental impact.

What skills and qualifications are needed for an ocean cleanup position?

To thrive in an Ocean Cleanup role, strong knowledge of environmental science, marine biology, or engineering—often supported by a relevant degree—is essential. Familiarity with aquatic debris removal technologies, GPS mapping systems, and small vessel operation certifications (such as boating licenses) is typically required. Teamwork, adaptability, and a proactive attitude are critical soft skills for success in this field. These qualifications enable employees to ensure safe, effective, and environmentally responsible removal of ocean pollutants while maintaining smooth operations in dynamic, team-based settings.

How do I get involved in ocean cleanup?

To get involved in ocean cleanup as a worker or volunteer, look for organizations that focus on marine debris removal and environmental conservation. Opportunities may include participating in cleanup events, applying for positions with environmental groups, or gaining relevant skills such as environmental science or logistics. Certifications in safety or marine operations can also enhance your involvement.

What are the most commonly searched types of Ocean Cleanup jobs in Virginia?

The most popular types of Ocean Cleanup jobs in Virginia are:

What are popular job titles related to Ocean Cleanup jobs in Virginia?

For Ocean Cleanup jobs in Virginia, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Ocean Cleanup jobs in Virginia look for?

The top searched job categories for Ocean Cleanup jobs in Virginia are:

Infographic showing various Ocean Cleanup job openings in Virginia as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 43% Full Time, 52% Part Time, and 5% Contract. Highlights an 95% In-person, and 5% Hybrid job distribution, with an average salary of $39,630 per year, or $19.1 per hour.

DevOps Engineer/ Principal DevOps Engineer (AHT)

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Fairfax, VA • On-site

$54 - $73.75/hr

Full-time

Medical, Life, PTO

Posted 12 days ago


Northrop Grumman rating

8.2

Company rating: 8.2 out of 10

Based on 364 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

87th of 544 rated manufacturers


Job description

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be availableCLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: YesCLEARANCE TYPE: Top SecretTRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the TimeDescriptionAt Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work - and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history.

Northrop Grumman's Space Sector is seeking a DevOps Engineer - Level 2 or Level 3 to join our team in Aurora, CO to support on-premises mission systems by operating, maintaining, and incrementally enhancing existing DevOps and platform solutions. The engineer will work within established architectures and standards rather than designing new solutions, focusing on reliability, security, and continuous improvement of current environments. The position can be based in Fairfax, VA.

In this job, you will:

  • Operate and maintain existing GitLab CI/CD infrastructure including patching and permissions. Advise on updates to jobs, runners, variables, and approvals to improve stability and throughput.

  • Administer Nexus artifact repositories including patching, backups, access management, repository configuration, cleanup/retention policies, and routine health checks.

  • Maintain Apache NiFi infrastructure including patching, troubleshooting, performance tuning, and implementing changes defined by senior engineers.

  • Support installation and day-to-day operations of Kubernetes on-prem clusters, including patching, storage management, deployments, rollouts/rollbacks, configuration updates, and resource adjustments.

  • Maintain and extend monitoring and alerting using Grafana and Prometheus for on-prem infrastructure and applications, including patching, access control, refining dashboards, alert rules, and service onboarding within existing observability patterns.

  • Implement incremental improvements to existing DevOps tooling and workflows (e.g., adding tests, improving pipeline stages, automating manual steps) consistent with established designs and security baselines.

  • Perform routine incident response and problem resolution for build, deployment, and runtime issues across CI/CD, Kubernetes, Nexus, NiFi, and supporting services.

  • Apply existing security and compliance controls across the DevOps toolchain: secrets management, access controls, certificate and credential rotation, image scanning, and log retention in accordance with program requirements.

  • Follow formal change management processes, including documenting changes, participating in reviews, and updating runbooks, SOPs, and technical documentation.

  • Collaborate with senior engineers, system administrators, and developers to implement improvements and operational changes defined by leads and architects.

  • Other duties as assigned

This position can be staffed at a level 2 or 3 based on the basic qualifications below.

Basic Qualifications:

  • Level 2: Bachelor's in STEM degree with 2 years of professional experience; Master's in STEM degree with 0 years of professional experience. Will consider an additional 4+ years of experience in lieu of degree.

  • Level 3: Bachelor's in STEM degree with 5 years of professional experience; Master's in STEM degree with 3 years of professional experience; PhD with 0 years of experience. Will consider an additional 4+ years of experience in lieu of degree.

  • Requires an active Top-Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) clearance at time of application

  • Must have the ability to obtain and maintain U.S. Government Full Scope Polygraph.

  • Relevant DevOps, site reliability, or systems engineering experience.

  • Demonstrated experience maintaining GitLab CI/CD in an on-prem environment

  • Practical experience administering Nexus repositories

  • Experience supporting Apache NiFi infrastructure

  • Working knowledge of on-prem Kubernetes operations

  • Experience using Grafana and Prometheus in an on-prem context

  • Proficiency with Linux systems administration fundamentals and at least one scripting language (e.g., Bash, Python) for automation and operational tasks.

  • Familiarity with operating in secure, classified, or highly regulated on-prem environments and adherence to associated processes (security, configuration control, and auditing).

  • Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills; ability to methodically diagnose issues across multiple interconnected services.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Experience using Helm and Rancher

  • Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code and configuration management tools (e.g., Terraform, Ansible) for maintaining existing on-prem infrastructure definitions and playbooks.

  • Experience with log aggregation and analysis platforms in on-prem environments (e.g., ELK/EFK or similar).

  • Experience working within formal change control and release management processes.

  • Exposure to microservices running on Kubernetes and related operational patterns (service discovery, scaling, health checks).

  • Behavioral Competencies

  • Operational ownership: Proactively monitors, maintains, and improves existing on-prem systems and DevOps toolchains.

  • Continuous improvement mindset: Identifies and implements incremental enhancements within established architectures and constraints.

  • Team collaboration: Works closely with senior engineers, system administrators, security, and development teams to execute defined technical directions.

  • Discipline and rigor: Adheres to security, configuration management, and documentation expectations in a classified on-prem environment.

Primary Level Salary Range: $91,800.00 - $137,600.00Secondary Level Salary Range: $114,000.00 - $171,000.00The above salary range represents a general guideline; however, Northrop Grumman considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, skills and current market conditions.Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Annual bonuses are designed to reward individual contributions as well as allow employees to share in company results. Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives. In addition, Northrop Grumman provides a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, savings plan, Company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.The application period for the job is estimated to be 20 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.Northrop Grumman is an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class. For our complete EEO and pay transparency statement, please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com/EEO. U.S. Citizenship is required for all positions with a government clearance and certain other restricted positions.

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About Northrop Grumman

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work - and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible.

Industry

Space research administration

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

Falls Church, VA, US

Year founded

1939