Systems / Network Administrator Lead

About the role

CWS seeks an experienced Systems / Network Administrator Lead to lead enterprise systems and network administration supporting the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command (USMEPCOM) Enterprise Network for Lifecycle, Information Support, and Technology (ENLIST) program.

The Systems/Network Administrator Lead will be responsible for systems and network administration, operations and maintenance (O&M), and associated activities supporting platforms installed throughout the USMEPCOM enterprise. This individual will serve as the contractor's service owner for enterprise infrastructure services, ensuring systems consistently meet defined service levels while providing secure, reliable, and highly available operations.

The Systems/Network Administrator Lead will provide technical leadership for enterprise servers, operating systems, databases, virtualization platforms, storage, collaboration technologies, cloud environments, and network infrastructure.

This position will also lead the Outage Response Team (ORT), directing enterprise outage response, disaster recovery, Continuity of Operations (COOP), incident management, and restoration efforts while serving as the primary technical point of contact during major incidents.

Working closely with Government leadership, engineering teams, cybersecurity personnel, vendors, and external partners, the Systems/Network Administrator Lead will ensure enterprise infrastructure remains secure, compliant, resilient, interoperable, and mission-ready.

The successful candidate will possess exceptional technical leadership skills, extensive enterprise infrastructure experience, and the ability to lead geographically dispersed technical teams supporting a complex Department of Defense IT enterprise.

Key Tasks & Responsibilities

• Lead enterprise systems administration, network operations, and operations and maintenance (O&M) activities across the USMEPCOM enterprise.
• Serve as the contractor's service owner for enterprise infrastructure services and ensure systems consistently meet defined service level objectives.
• Plan, organize, and direct contractor personnel responsible for operations and maintenance of USMEPCOM-constructed networks.
• Provide technical leadership for Windows and UNIX/Linux operating systems, physical and virtual servers, databases, VMware ESXi environments, Storage Area Networks (SANs), collaboration tools, enterprise applications, and cloud infrastructure.
• Perform system-level configuration, validation, integration, and administration of enterprise hardware, software, operating systems, and infrastructure platforms while maintaining interoperability with existing legacy systems.
• Lead engineering development, infrastructure integration, interface design analysis, software and hardware testing, and enterprise systems implementation activities.
• Apply Risk Management Framework (RMF) security principles, practices, and procedures to maintain compliance with Department of Defense cybersecurity requirements.
• Lead the Outage Response Team (ORT) and direct all activities associated with enterprise outage response, incident management, disaster recovery, and Continuity of Operations (COOP).
• Serve as the primary point of contact during enterprise outages, coordinating response activities with Government leadership, vendors, DISA, external agencies, and other stakeholders.
• Coordinate, direct, and oversee outage resolution efforts while providing timely status updates to Government leadership throughout incident response activities.
• Develop, maintain, and regularly update enterprise outage response procedures, Incident Response Plans, disaster recovery documentation, and operational playbooks.
• Review Incident Response Plans quarterly to ensure system inventories, procedures, documentation, and operational processes remain current.
• Lead geographically dispersed teams responsible for enterprise infrastructure operations, systems administration, and network support.
• Monitor enterprise performance, availability, and operational health while proactively identifying opportunities for infrastructure improvements, automation, and operational efficiencies.
• Support cloud technologies, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), enterprise networking, firewall administration, secure communications, and enterprise modernization initiatives.
• Foster continuous improvement while ensuring compliance with Federal Government, Department of Defense, and enterprise IT operational standards and best practices.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Information Systems, Cybersecurity, Network Engineering, or a related technical discipline is preferred.
• Minimum five (5) years recent experience managing enterprise IT teams in geographically dispersed locations supporting operations and maintenance of enterprise servers (physical and virtual), operating systems (Windows and UNIX/Linux), databases, VMware ESXi, Storage Area Networks (SANs), collaboration tools, enterprise applications, scripting, and enterprise security.
• Minimum one (1) year recent experience:
• Leading network personnel and coordinating enterprise outage response procedures
• Supporting DISA network transport solutions.
• Minimum five (5) years recent experience supporting:
• Cloud-based enterprise solutions and cloud infrastructure
• Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environments
• In enterprise network and systems administration, including outage response and incident management
• Leading enterprise network operations teams supporting programs similar in size, scope, and complexity to this Task Order
• Minimum six (6) years recent experience supporting global enterprise network systems and subsystems, including LAN, WAN, MPLS, BGP, network availability, troubleshooting, and infrastructure optimization
• Minimum three (3) years experience:
• Supporting IPv4 and IPv6 protocol stacks
• Planning and executing local and long-haul communications
• Supporting and troubleshooting firewall appliances, firewall rulesets, and enterprise firewall solutions

Certifications

• ITIL® 4 Foundation (or higher) Certification
• At least two network certifications (e.g., Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), CompTIA Network+)
• Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) certification
• Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) or Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE) certification
• One of the below:
• CISSP-ISSAP (Information Systems Security Architecture Professional) - the architecture concentration
• CISSP-ISSEP (Information Systems Security Engineering Professional) - the engineering concentration
• CCSP (Certified Cloud Security Professional) - added in more recent baseline updates

Additional information

Candidates who do not currently possess the required certifications must obtain them within one month of hire. CWS may sponsor certification training and examination costs.

Security Clearance

• Active Secret Clearance is required.

Other (Travel, Work Environment, DoD 8570 Requirements, Administrative Notes, etc.)

• This position is primarily remote. Candidates located in the Chicago area are preferred, but this is not a requirement. Approximately 25% travel is anticipated during the first six months of the contract, primarily to the USMEPCOM Headquarters in North Chicago, Illinois, to support transition activities and program ramp- up. Once the program is fully operational, travel is expected to decrease to approximately 10% for periodic customer meetings and program support.