Senior/ Staff IT Systems Engineer in Arlington, Virginia at Forterra

About Forterra

At Forterra, we are unleashing autonomy at scale to transform the battlefield. Our mission is to build the foundational platforms that enable an intelligent ecosystem to coordinate, adapt, and execute with speed and precision even in the uncertainty and disruption of modern conflict. In an era marked by rapid technological change and evolving threats, we design for flexibility, survivability, and operational dominance.

Forterra delivers weapons, sensors, and battlefield effects through integrated autonomous networks reaching operational areas faster, safer, and without placing human lives at risk. Our systems operate with distributed control, dynamic routing, and real-time responsiveness, enabling sustained advantage across complex mission environments.

About the role
You will join Forterra's IT Infrastructure team as a trusted hands-on infrastructure engineer, working across our on-prem virtualization, storage, and backup platforms and the hybrid cloud identity layer above them.

This is not a ticket queue. The team runs real hardware it is accountable for: Proxmox clusters, NetApp storage, Veeam and Proxmox Backup Server, and a Microsoft GCC High tenant spanning Entra ID and Azure Government, alongside AWS, Palo Alto, and Juniper. When we stand up infrastructure at a new site, you will be in the room shaping it and, on the ground, deploying it.

We are looking for a genuine generalist, someone equally comfortable hardening a Windows Server baseline, debugging a Debian kernel issue on a Proxmox node, and reasoning about conditional access policy in a GCC High tenant. The breadth is the point, and so is the willingness to pick up whatever the team needs that week rather than defending a narrow specialty. If you have built range across the stack and want to use all of it alongside people who will push back on your thinking, this is that role.

You will do this inside a compliance-driven environment (CMMC, NIST SP 800-171, ISO 27001) that shapes design decisions rather than blocking them, partnering day to day with Cybersecurity, Network Engineering, and Development.

Note, this role is also relevant if you currently work as a Systems Engineer, Linux Systems Engineer, Infrastructure Engineer, Virtualization Engineer, or Senior Systems Administrator.

What you'll do

• Virtualization and storage. Run and evolve our Proxmox VE clusters and NetApp systems with the infrastructure team: capacity, performance, upgrades, and lifecycle.

• Hybrid identity and cloud. Administer Microsoft Entra ID and Azure Government within our GCC High tenant, plus Active Directory, Intune, and endpoint management, working closely with Cybersecurity on policy and controls. AWS where it fits.

• Windows and Linux. Administer and harden Windows Server and Ubuntu/Debian systems, covering patching, security baselines, and compliance evidence.

• Architecture. Design infrastructure solutions at enterprise scale with input from Cybersecurity, Network Engineering, and Development, then see them through deployment across multiple Forterra sites.

• Resilience. Help shape disaster recovery and business continuity strategy for cloud and on-prem services, built on Veeam and Proxmox Backup Server.

• Automation. Extend our configuration-as-code practice with Ansible, turning manual work into repeatable, reviewable systems the whole team can run.

• Mentorship. Raise the bar through influence rather than authority, share what you know, and mentor engineers as the team grows.

What We're Looking For

Mission-First Mindset - We put the needs of the mission and our customers first and understand that the US and its allies have no preordained right to victory in any future conflict.

Ownership Mentality - We're looking for owners; those who have a natural bias to assume responsibility, a healthy dose of skepticism, and contribute to a culture of performance.

Technical Aptitude and Intellectual Curiosity - We are first and foremost a technology company, and this role requires genuine curiosity to operate across a broad, evolving infrastructure stack rather than staying within a narrow specialty.

Structured Thinker and Problem Solver - Supporting critical infrastructure requires clear communication, sound triage judgment, and the ability to distill complex problems into their essential, actionable components, especially under after-hours pressure.

360 Degree Leader - We are a non-hierarchical organization with a matrix structure that is dynamic and evolving. We expect you to be self-aware enough to recognize your position of unstated leadership within the company, and to lead and influence through both formal and informal channels.

What We Need

• Hands-on Windows Server administration, patching, hardening, compliance.

• Solid, hands-on Linux administration (Ubuntu, Debian), ideally in a virtualization context.

• Real production experience with on-premises virtualization: Proxmox, VMware or similar. We care that you have run a platform, not which one.

• Strong Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Entra ID experience.

• Experience designing and deploying infrastructure at enterprise scale, ideally across multiple sites or locations.

• Identity and endpoint management experience (Active Directory, Entra ID, Intune).

• Availability to respond when infrastructure emergencies arise outside business hours. This is a shared rotation across the team.

• A collaborative default: you document what you build, hand off cleanly, and would rather the team be able to run something than be the only one who can.

What We Love to See

• GCC High or Azure Government experience. A significant advantage, though we will teach a strong engineer the sovereign-cloud specifics.

• Proxmox VE specifically, or NetApp storage administration.

• Ansible or equivalent configuration-as-code tooling in a production environment.

• Enterprise networking exposure (Palo Alto, Juniper, SD-WAN concepts).

• Prior defense, government contracting, or other regulated-industry experience.

• Experience mentoring or training junior engineers.

US Salary Range
$150,000—$175,000

The salary range for this role is an estimate and is based on a wide variety of compensation factors. The salary offered to candidates will vary based on a variety of factors including (but not limited to) relevant work experience, education, specialized training, critical expertise, training, and more. Equity in Forterra is included in most of our full-time, high-demand roles and is therefore considered part of Forterra’s overall compensation package. In addition to base salary and equity, Forterra offers competitive benefits for full-time employees including:

• Premium Healthcare Benefits: Three plan options, including an HSA-eligible plan, with Forterra covering 80% of the plan premium for you and your dependents.
• Basic Life/AD&D, short and long-term disability insurance plans 100% covered by Forterra, plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents.
• Extremely generous company holiday calendar including a winter break in December.
• Competitive paid time off (PTO) offering 20 days accrued per year.
• A minimum of 7 weeks fully paid parental leave for birth/adoption.
• A $9k annual tuition reimbursement or professional development stipend.
• Fully stocked beverage refrigerators with all the Celsius your little heart desires.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan, including traditional, Roth 401(k), and after-tax deferral with company match up to 4%.

Your recruiter will be able to share more information about our salary and benefits offering during the hiring process.

CLEARANCE ELIGIBILITY - This position may require eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance. For more information about U.S. Security Clearances: click here. 

Forterra is an equal-opportunity employer, providing and promoting equal employment opportunity in all personnel practices. Forterrans are unique, talented individuals who are united through a shared passion to deliver autonomous systems that enable national resilience and a robust supply chain.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any factor, including veteran and disability status, and criminal history, in accordance with applicable local, state, and federal laws.

Forterra is also committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. Please let your recruiter know if you need an accommodation at any point during the interview process.

To see Forterra’s candidate data privacy policy, please visit Forterra Legal | Job Applicant Privacy Notice.