Senior Staff Systems Administrator

Why This Role Matters
At Bluestaq, mission success depends on systems that are secure, reliable, and always ready. As a Senior Staff Systems Administrator, you won't just keep the lights on — you'll set the technical bar for how we operate and evolve the infrastructure that powers our most critical missions. Your expertise raises the team, your standards shape the environment, and your ownership ensures what we build holds up under real-world pressure.

What You'll Own:

• Maintain and support the integrity of enterprise system networks across cloud-hosted and on-premises environments through technical support and configuration management
• Perform daily maintenance, monitoring, and troubleshooting of applications, networking, and systems infrastructure to ensure continuous operational readiness
• Serve as the senior escalation point for complex infrastructure incidents, outages, and systemic performance issues — empowering the team to resolve routine issues independently
• Partner closely with Bluestaq's core teams to troubleshoot, share knowledge, and ensure smooth integration and collaboration across the organization
• Perform software and system installations, upgrades, routine automation, cybersecurity risk mitigation tasks, and technical support in coordination with the security team
• Design and implement automation workflows using Ansible, Terraform, Docker, Kubernetes, and related tooling to reduce manual effort and improve reliability at scale
• Administer and support cloud identity and access management (IAM) across a broad range of systems spanning the AWS component stack and on-premises environments
• Collaborate with stakeholders across teams and leadership to understand systemic challenges and drive improvements in system performance and organizational effectiveness
• Own documentation standards in Confluence — driving consistent, high-quality runbooks, SOPs, and system records across the team
• Manage and communicate work scope, status, and risk effectively through Jira at a program level
• Actively mentor and develop junior and mid-level administrators, modeling ownership, accountability, and a growth mindset for the team
• Proactively identify systemic issues, anticipate roadblocks, and drive resolution before they impact operations
• Independently prioritize and escalate unforeseen issues as needed
• Display a strong sense of ownership for ensuring systems are available 24/7
• You use modern AI tools with judgment: integrating them into workflows where they're impactful, reviewing their outputs, and handling proprietary or sensitive data responsibly.

What You Bring:

Must Have:

• Willingness to support 24/7 operations and shift work
• Active DoD Secret or Top Secret security clearance
• Expert-level Linux systems administration in production environments
• Advanced experience administering cloud identity and access management (IAM) tools across complex, multi-system environments
• Advanced knowledge of system vulnerabilities and security issues
• Strong networking expertise — DNS, DHCP, VLANs, firewalls, and routing
• Advanced hands-on experience with automation tools — Ansible, Terraform, Kubernetes, Docker, and Packer
• Strong experience with cloud computing concepts and the AWS component stack
• Exceptional troubleshooting and debugging skills, with a passion and curiosity for problem-solving and investigation
• Hands-on experience with Atlassian tools — Confluence and Jira — at a team or program-wide level
• Demonstrated experience mentoring and developing team members, sharing knowledge, and supporting professional growth
• Strong collaboration and communication skills — able to work across teams and engage stakeholders at all levels with clarity and confidence
• Active CompTIA Security+ certification (DoD Directive 8140/8570.01-M)

Bonus:

• CISSP or CEH certification
• Advanced Linux certifications (RHCE, LPIC-3, or equivalent)
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines or DevSecOps practices

Required Education: 12+ years of systems administration/information technology experience with a High School Diploma/GED OR an Associate degree with 2 additional years of experience beyond the minimum required OR a Bachelor's degree with 8 years OR a Master's degree with 6 years OR a PhD with 4 years may be substituted in lieu of a degree.