Systems Administrator - Astrobotic Technology Inc

Astrobotic Technology, Inc. is a space robotics company that seeks to make space accessible to the world.  The company’s suite of lunar landers delivers payloads to the Moon for companies, governments, universities, non-profits, and individuals.  The company is also developing advanced space robotics capabilities such as terrain relative navigation, mobile robotics for lunar surface operations, and reliable computing systems for mission-critical applications.  Originally spun out of Carnegie Mellon University in 2007, Astrobotic is pioneering affordable planetary access that promises to spark a new era of exploration, science, tourism, resource utilization, and mining.  Astrobotic’s headquarters is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a second location in Mojave, California.

We are currently looking for an experienced System Administrator to join our talented IT team and help us maintain a secure and efficient infrastructure, ensuring the stability, security, and performance of our company’s mission-critical devices and networks.  This position will collaborate with cross-functional teams. This role offers an opportunity to work with the latest IT technologies and make a significant impact on the company’s IT operations.

Job Responsibilities:

• Maintaining and supporting mission-critical network and IT infrastructure at our headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA.
• Proactively monitor network and device health, usage, capacity, and throughput. Identify potential bottlenecks and troubleshoot issues to maximize reliability, uptime, and performance.
• Tune and optimize network configurations for optimal speed, reliability, and efficiency.
• Continuously analyze devices and network traffic patterns, utilization, and performance metrics to identify trends, optimize configuration, forecast capacity needs, and proactively prevent issues before they impact users and business operations.
• Work closely with cybersecurity to design, implement, and maintain separate program-specific device deployments and networks that meet contractual obligations and adhere to stringent security protocols such as NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC 2.0 level 3.
• Create and maintain network diagrams and documentation detailing the physical and logical network and device architecture, IP addressing, VLANs, routing, firewall rules, and other technical specifications.
• Set up and maintain Windows and Linux clients to meet operational needs and security requirements.
• Maintain, configure, and administer enterprise-grade firewalls, VPNs, and other security measures to protect network infrastructure and data while granting appropriate access to users and systems.
• Work closely with cybersecurity to maintain and enforce strong security policies, patch management procedures, monitoring, and other measures to ensure comprehensive protection against cyber threats.
• Collaborate with cybersecurity and system architects to select, implement, and maintain optimal hardware and equipment such as racks, servers, storage media, switches, patch panels, power systems, and IP-based voice/intercom systems that meet infrastructure, security, and operational requirements.
• Continuously monitor device and network connectivity and troubleshoot issues to ensure optimal uptime and performance.
• Set up and administer Windows and Linux servers to support mission operations, leveraging virtualization platforms such as VMware vSphere/ESXi and Scale Computing to facilitate scalability, efficiency, and disaster recovery capabilities.
• Implement and maintain server architectures for optimal resource utilization, high availability, and performance.
• Manage virtual machine lifecycles, apply security hardening standards across physical and virtual servers, and proactively monitor server health to identify and implement improvements as needed.
• Implement and administer database, network storage, and backup solutions to meet performance, scalability, resilience, and data protection requirements.
• Provide technical support and troubleshooting for mission-critical applications and services dependent on the network infrastructure. Work closely with application teams to prioritize traffic and ensure adequate bandwidth and low latency for optimal application performance.
• Provide expert troubleshooting and root cause analysis for network issues to minimize downtime. Rapidly diagnose and resolve connectivity, latency, and performance problems. Offer on-call support for critical network outages. Proactively monitor systems to detect anomalies and prevent problems before they impact users. Continuously optimize device and network architecture and configurations to improve stability, speed, and efficiency. Provide comprehensive technical support to internal teams on network-related matters.
• Provide ongoing IT and network administration to support mission and program specific networks throughout development and operations. Continuously monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize mission-critical devices and networks. Work with cross-functional teams on device and network upgrades and changes with minimal disruption, while maintaining updated documentation on administered networks.

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, information technology, or related technical field or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of experience as a system or network administrator.
• Expertise with virtualization platforms including VMware vSphere/ESXi, Scale Computing,
• Experience with Windows Server deployment, configuration, and management across various versions (e.g., 2016, 2019).
• Experience with Linux server and Linux client deployment, configuration, and management, particularly Ubuntu.
• Proven experience with Microsoft 365 administration, including Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Teams, and OneDrive.
• Deep experience with Windows 10 and Windows 11 desktop environments, including deployment, configuration, and management using tools such as Intune.
• Deep understanding of Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, and Group Policy management.
• Experience with Cisco switches, Fortinet switches and firewalls, and Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewalls.
• Proficiency with network architecture, small to medium LAN/WAN infrastructures, VPN configuration, and enterprise Wi-Fi environments.
• Knowledge of security practices, protocols, and technologies.
• Skilled in server, storage, and backup administration.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work independently with minimal supervision.

Desired Skills & Qualifications:

• Experience in the aerospace/space industry supporting mission-critical systems.
• Experience with Dassault Systems SolidWorks and SolidWorks PDM.
• Experience with deploying and managing ANSYS tools such as ANSYS, STK, ODTK, and Thermal Desktop.
• Experience deploying and managing Altium products.
• Experience deploying and managing MathWorks products such as MATLAB, Simulink and toolboxes.
• Experience deploying and managing Wolfram products such as Mathematica.
• Syslog server administration and support.
• Database management and administration experience with solutions like SQL Server.
• Application installation, configuration, and support on Windows and Linux platforms.
• Experience establishing site-to-site connectivity such as point-to-point, dark fiber, and IPsec VPNs.
• Experience with routing protocols such as BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, and EIGRP.
• Skilled in working with ISPs/carriers to procure and implement dedicated high-speed links.
• Experience with Nagios for network monitoring.
• Knowledge of RClone for file transfer and synchronization.
• Expertise with Ansible for configuration management and automation.
• Experience with Postfix email configuration and maintenance.

 The base salary range represents the low and high end of the anticipated salary range for this position. The actual base salary offered for this position will depend on numerous factors including individual performance, business objectives, and the candidates professional experience.  Base salary is just one component of Astrobotic’s competitive total rewards strategy.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Astrobotic Technology, Inc. does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factor.

If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request to contact@astrobotic.com.