Infrastructure Lead (VMware vSphere)

About Zaden Technologies

Zaden Technologies is a defense technology company based in Huntsville, Alabama. We build AI, DevSecOps and digital engineering products and put them to work for DoD customers.

You'll support a new Defense Health Agency program. This position is contingent upon contract award, and the start date will align with the program start.

You'll lead the infrastructure team that runs a VMware vSphere estate of more than 2,000 virtual machines across two disconnected DoD enclaves in Chantilly, VA. You're the technical lead for the program's virtualization engineers and system administrators, and you report to the program manager. You'll own the plan that consolidates the environment onto fewer, denser hosts in a smaller footprint, without disrupting the test events the program depends on. You'll work alongside platform engineers who build environments as code and a cyber team that keeps every system authorized.

What you'll do:

• Lead a team of virtualization engineers and system administrators: set priorities, assign and review work, and grow the team
• Own the design and operation of vSphere 8 clusters, vCenter, vSAN and NSX across two enclaves
• Plan and run the consolidation and right-sizing program: dormant VM disposition, memory and CPU right-sizing, and fewer active hosts
• Plan the path from vSphere 8 to VMware Cloud Foundation 9
• Chair infrastructure change control and report status, risks and capacity to the program manager
• Keep hosts and VMs patched and STIG-compliant, and support RMF evidence for authorizations
• Set the automation standard for VM builds and configuration with Terraform, Packer and Ansible in GitLab CI

Must have:

• 10 or more years designing and operating VMware vSphere, including environments of 1,000 or more VMs
• Experience leading infrastructure engineers or administrators, as a supervisor or as the technical lead
• A professional-level VMware certification (VCP-DCV or higher) or equivalent experience
• Experience leading a host consolidation, hardware refresh, major version upgrade or data center migration
• Hands-on automation with Terraform, Ansible, PowerCLI or a similar tool
• U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain the investigation DHA designates for privileged access
• DoD 8140 qualification for a privileged infrastructure role, or the ability to earn it within six months

Nice to have:

• An active Secret clearance or higher
• VCAP, VCDX or VMware Cloud Foundation experience
• Air-gapped or classified environment experience
• Experience on a DoD or federal health contract, or supporting health IT or test-lab environments

Location: Chantilly, Virginia, on site at the test center, with work at the Ashburn, Virginia data center as needed.

Citizenship: U.S. citizenship is required for the privileged-access investigation this role needs. Zaden's FSO verifies investigation status.

Pay range: $166,000 to $194,000 per year for Chantilly, Virginia.

Questions about this role? Email [email protected].

How we use AI in hiring

Zaden uses AI tools to help organize and prioritize applications. People review every application and make every hiring decision. To ask about an accommodation or about how your application was reviewed, email [email protected].

If you need an accommodation to apply or interview, email [email protected] and a person will help.

Equal opportunity

Zaden Technologies is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status or any other status the law protects.