Systems Architect (TS/SCI with Poly Required)

GCI embodies excellence, integrity and professionalism. The employees supporting our customers deliver unique, high-value mission solutions while effectively leverage the technological expertise of our valued workforce to meet critical mission requirements in the areas of Data Analytics and Software Development, Engineering, Targeting and Analysis, Operations, Training, and Cyber Operations. We maximize opportunities for success by building and maintaining trusted and reliable partnerships with our customers and industry.

At GCI, we solve the hard problems. As a Systems Architect, a typical day will include the following duties:

JOB DESCRIPTION

We are seeking a hands-on Systems Architect (SME) with deep expertise across infrastructure, platforms, and application ecosystems spanning cloud and on-premises environments. This role requires a proven practitioner who can analyze existing (“as-is”) systems and applications, document current state architectures, design future-state solutions, and implement system enhancements or technology transformations end-to-end.

The ideal candidate is a technical leader and doer, not just an advisor – someone who can seamlessly collaborate across infrastructure, platform, application, DevSecOps, information systems security, and data teams while maintaining ownership of system reliability, performance, scalability, and security.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, IT or related technical discipline, or the equivalent combination of education, technical training, or work/military experience.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS

Candidates must demonstrate hands-on experience in all the following areas:

Infrastructure & Platforms

• Enterprise networking (e.g., routing, switching, firewalls, load balancers, DNS)

• Storage technologies (e.g., SAN, NAS, object storage)

• Container platforms (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker)

• Linux (Redhat, CentOS) operating systems (administration, hardening, automation)

• IdAM – Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) hands-on for AuthN and AuthZ

Cloud & On-Prem Technologies

• Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, and/or GCP)

• Hybrid and on-prem infrastructure design and integration

• Cloud networking, identity, security, and cost optimization

Data & Application Platforms

• Relational and NoSQL databases – relational (e.g., Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server) and NoSQL (e.g., MongoDB, Cassandra, DynamoDB, Redis) databases

• Web services, APIs, and middleware

• Software development lifecycle (SDLC) fundamentals

• Event-based messaging systems (e.g., SQS, SNS, RabbitMQ)

Engineering & Automation

• Infrastructure as Code – Scripting & Automation: Python, Bash, PowerShell, Terraform, Ansible, or CloudFormation

• Configuration management and scripting (e.g., PowerShell, Bash, Python, etc.)

• CI/CD integration with infrastructure and platforms (e.g., Jenkins, Gitlab CI/CD, GitHub Actions, GitOps, ArgoCD)

• Security best practices and system hardening

• Monitoring & Incident Response: Proficiency with tools like Prometheus, Grafana, Splunk, ELK Stack, CloudWatch

Architecture & Design

• Ability to create:

• As-is architecture documentation

• To-be architecture and detailed engineering designs

• Implementation and migration plans

DESIRED KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS

• Observability and monitoring tools (e.g., logging, metrics, tracing)

• Zero Trust and modern security architectures

• Data analytics, AI/ML platform exposure

• Experience supporting production or mission-critical environments