Systems Administrator III (Windows Infrastructure Engineer/Architect) - Washington, DC, USA, 20580 ( Hybrid -2 days/week flexible)

title: Systems Administrator III (Windows Infrastructure Engineer/Architect)
Location: Washington, DC, USA, 20580 ( Hybrid -2 days/week flexible)
Duration: 6 months, FTE Possible
Security clearance: Must possess, or be eligible to obtain Public Trust clearance.
Physical requirements:Ability to lift 50+ pounds.

Windows Infrastructure Engineer/Architect position will have experience in securing, scaling, and supporting core enterprise identity and access management platforms. In this role, the candidate will serve as the subject matter expert and highest-tier escalation point for our Active Directory (AD) environment and Azure Active Directory /Microsoft Entra ID cloud integrations. They will be responsible for architecting robust identity solutions, managing our Enterprise Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), and providing high-level tier -3 architectural support to ensure optimal security, compliance, and system availability across our hybrid environment. This technical resource will support and engage with the infrastructure team on the various tasks being supported by the team at a higher technical level. The position will set standards the rest of the team builds to and serve as an escalation point when an issue exceeds Tier 1 and Tier 2 support. They may also provide hands-on support in program operations, configuration, deployment, maintenance, monitoring, maintenance and trouble-shooting activities.

A summary of the areas they will provide and qualifications::
Identify Architecture,
Security & PKI Management,
Cloud Design,
Azure Engineering, Administration, Optimization,
Tier 3 Engineering Support,
Access Governance,
Automation and Optimization,
Disaster Recovery,
Continuous Improvement,
Documentation Compliance,

Duties and Responsibilities::
Bachelor s degree in computer science, information systems, engineering, or a related technical field, and eight (8) or more years of progressive Windows Infrastructure Engineer/Architect experience OR Master s degree in a related field and at least 6 years of relevant experience in above areas. Equivalent additional experience may substitute for the degree.
A minimum of six (6) years of experience in cloud operations, engineering, or related field.
A minimum of three (3) years performing at a senior and lead level with design and architecture ownership for an enterprise Windows environment.
Familiarity with federal compliance (NIST, FISMA, FedRAMP) and CIS 4.0 controls.
Significant experience designing, operating and maintaining Microsoft Azure environments to include Zero Trust, hybrid cloud, and cross-domain architectures in mission environments.
Experience with the configuration, deployment, and management of Microsoft Entra ID / Azure AD for centralized identity, single sign-on (SSO), and role-based access control (RBAC) across Azure tenants and subscriptions.
Demonstrated experience with the integration of federated identity solutions with AWS Identity Center, Entra, or on-premises Active Directory.
Develop and enforce Azure governance frameworks, including Azure Policy, Management Groups, and Blueprints, ensuring alignment with Zero Trust and least-privilege principles.
Experience with Azure Monitor and cost optimization strategies.
Deep expertise in Microsoft Azure architecture, Microsoft Entra ID and on-prem interoperability.
Familiarity with orchestration tools like Ansible, Chef, or Puppet for configuration management and ability to implement Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines for cloud infrastructure provisioning and deployment automation.
Ability to script in one more of the following computer languages Python, Bash, Visual Basic or PowerShell.
Strong understanding of federated identity, modern authentication protocols (SAML, OIDC, OAuth 2.0), and cross-cloud authentication mechanisms.
Deep expertise in Microsoft Azure architecture, Microsoft Entra ID and on-prem interoperability.
Hands on experience with and knowledge of networking concepts (DNS, VPNs, load balancers, etc.) and cloud-based networking configurations.

Configure, maintain and upgrade 2019, 2022, & 2025 servers operating systems by performing system administration tasks related to:
Microsoft Application installation and maintenance
3rd Party software installation and maintenance
Configure, maintain and upgrade physical and virtual server installations in datacenters, to include:
OS installation and configuration
Out of Band management configuration (iLO, etc.)
Hardware installation/maintenance (network adapter, memory, hard drives, etc.)
RAID Configuration
Network adapter configuration
SCSI and Fiber Channel configuration
Experience and ability to immediately contribute to Automation Tasks and Infrastructure-as-Code tools and templates.
Provide experience designing, deploying, and maintaining Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) / PKI environments.
Applied knowledge of system security engineering, including CIS and STIG hardening, vulnerability management, and federal compliance frameworks (FISMA, NIST SP 800-53).
Extensive experience with Visio or other networking diagram tools and solid understanding of Networking principles.
Excellent troubleshooting skills with the ability to resolve complex technical issues in a timely manner.
Strong problem-solving skills and ability to conduct root cause analysis.
Actively participate in the process of reviewing and improving operational processes, procedures, technology, and documentation. Support the program team in efforts to improve service delivery. Adopt program directed procedural changes, process changes, and tool changes as required for the role.
Perform work activities in accordance with program processes, procedures, and service level agreements.
Support other anticipated requirements that will emerge and are reasonably aligned to the role supporting server elements of the infrastructure.
Demonstrated ability to complete technical projects independently, with strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
Create, monitor and drive to resolution change requests and trouble tickets for service level changes that affect Windows Servers and applications installed on Windows servers.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills. This includes drafting SOPs and technical documentation as well as communication with senior program and customer leadership.
Must be able to present designs, plans, courses of action, and analyses of alternatives to technical leadership personnel and boards for approvals.
ITIL4 experience.

ServiceNow experience and review incoming ServiceNow tickets and work to resolve any incident tickets and service requests as assigned for:
o Server builds
o Server configuration changes
o Windows Permissions changes
o File Server ACL changes

o Application maintenance for:
Symantec Endpoint Protection (Servers)
Carbon Black Protection (Servers)
DNS/DHCP Updates
Active Directory (including Group Policy Objects)
Maintain status of assigned tickets in accordance with program standards and program SLAs, including quality of status and timeliness of updates.
Be comfortable in preparation of data and presentations then active participation and presenting in and customer meetings as required.

Required Certifications::
Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator Associate certification (AZ-104).
Current 8570/8140 baseline certification appropriate for Intermediate System Administrator roles (e.g., Security+, GSEC, SSCP, or equivalent).

Preferred Certifications::
Any other certifications in support of the stated work scope requirements.