At the heart of Defining Possible is our commitment to missions. In rapidly changing global security environments, Northrop Grumman brings informed insights and secure technological solutions to enable strategic objectives. We’re looking for innovators who can help us keep building on our wide portfolio of secure, affordable, integrated, and multi-domain systems and technologies that fuel those missions. By joining in our shared mission, we will support yours of expanding your personal network and developing skills, whether you are new to the field or an industry thought leader. At Northrop Grumman, you will have the resources, support, and team to do some of the best work of your career.
Northrop Grumman’s Chief Information & Digital Office (CIDO) organization is seeking a well-qualified Senior Systems Administrator with expertise in Software/Application Lifecycle Management, to join its dynamic Classified Solutions team of technical professionals in Linthicum, MD. The selected candidate will be required to work on-site, full-time, at our Linthicum, MD campus - this is not a remote work opportunity.
Roles and responsibilities will include but not be limited to the following:
Serve as the Business Unit (BU) Software & Application Lead with primary responsibility for overseeing the effective standardization of software delivery efforts (i.e., Core Packaging & Deployment, Engineering & Infrastructure, and Management & Strategy) across all organizational units (OU) within the business unit (BU).
Serve as a Senior Systems Administrator with shared responsibility for the effective maintenance and operational activities of the entire IT infrastructure including Servers (Windows & Linux), Workstations (Windows & Linux), Networking equipment, and NetApp storage systems.
VMware Architecture & Operations – Assist with the design, deployment, and management of a multi‑site VMware vSphere environment (vCenter, ESXi, DRS, HA, vMotion, vSAN, NSX‑T/SD‑WAN), capacity‑planning, performance tuning, and lifecycle management of clusters (patching, upgrading, host roll‑out, licensing), building and maintenance of automation pipelines using PowerCLI, vRealize Automation, Terraform, or Ansible.
Storage Integration & Management – Collaborate with the Storage Administrator to provision LUNs, NFS, SMB, and object‑store volumes for VMFS, vSAN, and hybrid workloads; assist with the implementation of SnapMirror, SnapVault, and Snapshot policies to meet RPO/RTO goals and support disaster‑recovery testing. Ensure storage tiering, de-duplication, and compression for virtual workloads are optimized; monitor latency and IOPS trends.
Data Protection & Security – Collaborate in the definition and enforcement of backup and recovery strategies for VMs (using Backup Exec, NetApp SnapProtect, or native tools), and the implementation of storage‑level encryption, access controls, and compliance reporting (in accordance with JSIG requirements).
Incident & Problem Management - Own root‑cause analysis for software delivery related incidents; act as the escalation point for Tier‑2/3 tickets; develop runbooks, health‑checks, and proactive alerts (using tools such as vRealize Operations, NetApp Active IQ, Splunk, etc.).
Collaboration & Leadership - Partner with network, security, storage and virtualization teams to design end‑to‑end software delivery solutions (e.g., software delivery via Windows Software Center, Operating System In-Place Upgrades, Third-Party Software Patching, etc.); mentor junior system administrators and provide technical guidance during on‑call rotations; lead or co‑lead cross‑functional projects such as cloud migrations, hyper‑converged roll‑outs, and virtualization of legacy workloads.
Documentation & Continuous Learning - Keep architecture diagrams, SOPs, and change‑control records current in Confluence/SharePoint; evaluate emerging technologies (AI and Machine Learning, GitOps, DevSecOps, Feature Management, Platform Engineering, Chaos Engineering, Policy-as-Code, Low-Code/No-Code Tools, etc.), and present recommendations to leadership.
Vendor & Procurement Management – Assist with vendor evaluations, request‑for‑quotes, and contract negotiations for hardware, software, and support services related to software delivery lifecycle management.
Additional System Administration (as needed) – Assist with the maintenance of Windows and Linux server baselines, workstation imaging, and Active Directory account management; coordinate endpoint protection, security‑audit logging, and compliance remediation in partnership with the Cybersecurity team.
Basic Qualifications:
Associate's degree with 10 years of relevant experience, or a Bachelor’s degree with 8 years of relevant experience, or a Master’s degree with 6 years of relevant experience, or a PhD with 4 years of relevant experience; a High School diploma or equivalent with 12 years of relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a completed degree.
Applicants must have an active DoD Secret level security clearance (at a minimum), to include a closed investigation date completed within the last 6 years, or must be enrolled in the DoD Continuous Evaluation Program (CEP) in order to be considered; the required security clearance must be maintained as a condition of continued employment.
The selected candidate will be required to obtain a Special Access Program (SAP/SAR) clearance before a start date can be established; maintaining a SAP/SAR clearance will be a condition of continued employment.
Possess a currently valid Security+ CE certificate (IAT Level II) or any other IAT Level III DoD 8140/8570 baseline certification; the required certification must be maintained as a condition of continued employment.
Ability to lift equipment weighing up to 40 pounds, unassisted.
Experience operating under and managing systems within current applicable information systems compliance standards.
Experience as a SCCM Administrator; platform implementation, migration, and maintenance (other technologies will be considered if candidate demonstrates sufficient understanding of enterprise software delivery systems).
Experience maintaining Classified Windows Domains in effective operations to include advanced knowledge of the following: Microsoft Active Directory (AD) - deployment, maintenance, and support; Group Policy Objects (GPO) - creation, modeling, and maintenance; DNS Server administration, and DHCP Server administration, and Windows Server Update Servers (WSUS), or similar third-party software update system administration.
Preferred Qualifications:
8+ years of deep knowledge of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (MECM/SCCM) infrastructure, including architecture, software distribution, patch management, and OS deployment.
8+ years of hands-on VMware experience (vSphere 6.7/7.x/8.x, vCenter, ESXi host lifecycle, vSAN). Experience with NSX T/Edge, software defined networking, or SD WAN. Relevant certifications (e.g., VCAP‑DCV Design, VCAP‑DCV Deploy, or VCAP‑DCV Cloud, NetApp Certified Data Administrator, NetApp Certified Implementation Engineer) are a plus.
Experience with container platforms (VMware Tanzu, Kubernetes) and modern storage interfaces (NVMe over Fabrics).
Solid understanding of data integrity, encryption, and compliance standards (e.g., RMF, JSIG, STIG, NIST, ITAR).
Experience leading a technical team of IT professionals.
Track record of mentoring junior staff and leading technical projects from concept to production.
Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot complex performance, storage latency, networking, and VM kernel issues.
Experience Supporting golden image creation, deployment, and underlying infrastructure.
Experience deploying vulnerability scanning tools and remediation.
Experience deploying and managing Linux systems (preferably Red Hat) in both a domain-joined and non-domain-joined environment.
Experience managing SELinux and FAPolicy on Linux systems.
Experience Supporting license managers.
Experience in giving technical presentations to technical and non-technical audiences.
Experience providing surge support to other programs as needed.
Experience with VMWare virtualization platform implementation, migration, and maintenance.
Experience with Nutanix hyperconverged infrastructure implementation, migration, and maintenance.
Experience with system design and architecture.
Experience with communicating with executive leadership.
Ability to travel as needed.
Ability to work after hours and weekends as needed.
We offer flexible work arrangements, phenomenal learning opportunities, exposure to a wide variety of projects and customers, and a very friendly team environment. Our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) offer opportunities to be a friend, be active, be a volunteer, be a leader, be recognized, and to be yourself. At Northrop Grumman, we are on the cutting edge of innovation. Our diverse portfolio of programs means there are endless paths to cultivate your career. We also offer exceptional benefits/healthcare, a 9/80 work schedule, and a great 401k matching program. Come join us!
Primary Level Salary Range: $123,400.00 - $185,000.00The 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.