Windows Systems Administrator

We are seeking a skilled Windows Systems Administrator to support a Department of Defense customer onsite in Fort Meade, Maryland. The successful candidate will be responsible for administering, maintaining, securing, and ensuring the reliability of mission-critical Windows Server infrastructure and enterprise services.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Independently administer, patch, secure, and troubleshoot Windows Server 2019, 2022, 2025, and other supported versions in enterprise production environments.
• Manage Active Directory (AD DS), Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, and related authentication and authorization services.
• Support Windows Server VMs in Microsoft Azure and Nutanix, including provisioning, configuration, and troubleshooting with cloud and virtualization teams.
• Monitor server health, performance, capacity, and logs to proactively resolve issues, and perform root-cause analysis on recurring or significant incidents.
• Apply security updates, remediate vulnerabilities, implement DISA STIGs, and partner with cybersecurity on POA&Ms, compliance assessments, and incident response.
• Plan and execute server builds, upgrades, migrations, and decommissioning under established change management processes, and manage assigned incidents, requests, and changes through resolution.
• Develop PowerShell scripts to automate administration, inventory, reporting, and configuration tasks, and maintain server inventories, SOPs, and recovery documentation.
• Support backup and recovery activities, and collaborate with network, storage, cloud, and application teams to solve complex issues and drive modernization.
• Mentor and peer-review the work of junior administrators.
• Participate in maintenance windows, after-hours support, and on-call rotations as required.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline with at least four years of relevant systems administration experience.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience administering, maintaining, and troubleshooting Microsoft Windows Server 2019, 2022, or newer supported versions in medium-to-large enterprise environments.
• Strong working knowledge of Active Directory Domain Services, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, NTFS and share permissions, service accounts, and Windows authentication.
• Experience administering and supporting Windows Server virtual machines in enterprise virtualized or cloud-hosted environments.
• Experience performing Windows Server patching, security configuration, vulnerability remediation, and operating system hardening.
• Working knowledge of DISA STIG requirements, cybersecurity compliance processes, and security configuration baselines.
• Demonstrated ability to independently troubleshoot complex Windows Server issues involving operating system services, authentication, storage, networking, performance, and application dependencies.
• Practical experience using PowerShell for systems administration, troubleshooting, and scripting or automation of recurring tasks.
• Experience performing server builds, configuration changes, upgrades, migrations, and operational maintenance activities in production environments.
• Understanding of ITIL-aligned incident, problem, service request, and change management processes.
• Ability to independently manage assigned technical tasks, analyze complex problems, and develop effective solutions while coordinating with other infrastructure teams as necessary.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to document technical activities and collaborate with customers, cybersecurity personnel, and cross-functional technical teams.
• Ability to meet applicable DoD 8140 cybersecurity workforce qualification requirements within the timeframe established by the customer and contract.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Active DoD Secret clearance; Security+ CE (or other DoD 8140-accepted certification) and a relevant Microsoft certification (Windows Server, Azure, or hybrid infrastructure).
• Advanced Active Directory experience, including domain controllers, replication, trusts, Group Policy troubleshooting, and privileged access management.
• Production experience with Windows Server 2025, including VMs in Azure and Nutanix. Nutanix Certified Associate is a plus.
• Experience with Failover Clustering, IIS, WSUS, MECM/SCCM, or comparable patching and management platforms, plus enterprise backup, recovery, and disaster recovery testing.
• Experience with SCAP scanning tools and DISA STIG Viewer, PowerShell or Ansible automation, and supporting DoW or federal environments with formal compliance and change management requirements.
• Experience mentoring junior administrators and developing technical documentation and operational procedures.

Salary Range: $73,450.00 - $132,775.00