Research Lab Manager Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

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.
Nightwing is supporting a U.S. Government customer to provide support for onsite incident response to civilian Government agencies and critical asset owners who experience cyber-attacks, providing immediate investigation and resolution. Contract personnel perform investigations to characterize the severity of breaches, develop mitigation plans, and assist with the restoration of services. Nightwing is seeking a Technical Engagement Network (TEN) Lab Manager with experience in Linux, Splunk and Ansible System Administration to support the design, development, and deployment of advanced cybersecurity capabilities in the customer environment supporting analysts and business continuity of the customer mission.
Responsibilities:
- Serve as a lead Linux Systems Administrator overseeing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) environments across development, lab, and production systems.
- Perform large scale configuration management and deployment across Windows, MacOS, Linux/Unix, and other operating systems and virtual environments to support the TEN infrastructure.
- Supporting the implementation of new technologies and equipment in the lab environment.
- Providing ongoing systems administration, technical support, upgrades, patching and troubleshooting services
- Develop and maintain Ansible playbooks, roles, and workflows to automate application deployment and infrastructure provisioning.
- Configure, deploy, and maintain Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform for large-scale provisioning, configuration management, and compliance enforcement.
- Administer and maintain Splunk Enterprise/Splunk Cloud for system monitoring, security analytics, and operational intelligence
- Implement and monitor security controls, including STIG compliance, access management, and audit configurations for Linux and Splunk systems.
- Develop dashboards and alerts in Splunk for proactive system health, performance, and security event monitoring.
- Performing implementation of granular access control, and monitor systems for acceptable performance and user accessibility, establish back-ups, and monitor systems security.
- Troubleshoot and resolve complex storage problems across the enterprise related to storage and replication strategies across local and wide area networks, monitor channels for storage-related network and system issues and remediate them as they occur.
- Examine and identify efficiencies that can be made to existing procedures, with approval from the customer.
- Managing assigned project components to deliver services in accordance with established objectives.
- Advises and provides insight on development of lab standard operating procedures (SOPs) and policies.
- Employ security concepts, theories, insights, tools and methodologies to mitigate system weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
Required Skills:
- U.S. Citizenship
- Must have an active DoD Secret clearance, TS/SCI clearance is preferred.
- Must be able to obtain DHS Suitability.
- 5+ years of directly relevant experience as a Linux System Administrator.
- 3+ years of experience with Splunk Enterprise administration and log ingestion
- 3+ years of experience with Ansible automation (Ansible Core or Ansible Tower/AAP)
- Must be able to work collaboratively across physical locations.
Desired Skills:
- Experience with writing technical procedures and standard operating procedures.
- Virtualization automation and optimization.
- Experience with multiple operating systems to include Linux/Unix, Windows, MacOS.
Required Education:
BS Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Computer Information Systems, Computer Systems Engineering or related degree or HS Diploma and 7+ years lab management or systems administration experience.
Desired Certifications:
- DoD 8140.01 IAT Level II
Salary & Benefits
The salary associated with this position ($99,000-$206,000) 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.