Senior Automation Engineer Jobs in Cross, SC (NOW HIRING)

Forge Forward is searching for a Senior Infrastructure & Platform Engineer to support a client in Charleston, SC. This is an on-site position so any interested candidates must be able to be in the office every day. US citizenship and a minimum Secret clearance are required. The position requires a minimum seven (7) years of experience supporting enterprise C4I systems with a focus on infrastructure engineering, virtualization, and platform automation within secure DoD environments. This position serves as a senior technical authority responsible for the design, engineering, integration, and lifecycle management of hybrid infrastructure platforms spanning compute, storage, virtualization, and containerized environments. The Senior Infrastructure & Platform Engineer will design and sustain enterprise VMware-based environments while expanding into broader infrastructure domains including hardware platforms, storage systems, backup/recovery solutions, and automation frameworks. This role requires a hands-on engineer capable of bridging traditional datacenter infrastructure with modern DevSecOps and platform engineering practices. The candidate must independently troubleshoot complex system and infrastructure issues, lead engineering and integration efforts across multiple technology domains, and ensure compliance with DoD cybersecurity requirements. The engineer will operate across lab and production environments, supporting modernization initiatives that incorporate automation, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), and containerized workloads. This is a senior, hands-on role requiring strong technical leadership, cross-domain expertise, and the ability to drive infrastructure evolution within mission-critical environments. Functional Responsibilities and Skills:
-Engineer and sustain enterprise virtualization platforms (VMware vSphere, ESXi, vCenter, vSAN)
-Design and support hybrid infrastructure spanning compute hardware, virtualization, and platform services
-Contribute to datacenter hardware lifecycle activities including server deployment, configuration, and optimization
-Support and integrate enterprise storage solutions (SAN/NAS) and associated performance tuning
-Administer and support enterprise backup and disaster recovery platforms (e.g., Rubrik or equivalent)
-Develop and maintain automation using tools such as Ansible, Terraform, PowerShell, and Bash
-Implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) for provisioning, configuration, and system standardization
-Support containerized environments and orchestration platforms (Kubernetes or equivalent)
-Troubleshoot complex issues across compute, storage, virtualization, and platform layers
-Ensure systems are engineered and maintained in accordance with DISA STIGs and DoD cybersecurity requirements
-Support RMF activities, including control validation, POA&M development, and continuous monitoring
-Collaborate across engineering, cybersecurity, and program teams to deliver integrated solutions
-Participate in technical reviews, architecture discussions, and configuration control boards
-Produce and maintain technical documentation including designs, implementation plans, and operational procedures
-Provide technical leadership and mentorship within a multi-disciplinary engineering team Requirements:
-Minimum seven (7) years of experience supporting enterprise C4I systems with a focus on infrastructure engineering, virtualization, and platform automation within secure DoD environments
-US citizen holding a Secret clearance at minimum with current SSBI/T5 investigation, TS/SCI clearance is desired
-CompTIA Security+ certification
-DoD Cybersecurity Workforce IAT Level II
-Bachelor’s degree in IT or related technical field is desired Desired Skills:
-Experience supporting Navy C4I or similar DoD environments
-Experience with VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) and/or VMware Tanzu
-Familiarity with software-defined networking (NSX-T or equivalent)
-Advanced experience with storage platforms and data protection strategies
-Strong understanding of DevSecOps principles and CI/CD pipeline integration
-Proficiency in scripting/programming (Python, PowerShell, Bash)
-Experience with Git-based version control and automation pipelines
-Experience supporting classified environments with privileged access
-Familiarity with hybrid cloud or cloud-adjacent architectures
-Excellent communication and collaboration skills across technical teams
-VMware Certified Professional (VCP-DCV or NV), Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) or equivalent, HashiCorp Terraform Associate or similar IaC certification