Systems Engineer 5 - Network/Hardware
About the job
- A bachelor's degree in a related technical discipline is required.
- Fifteen years of systems engineering experience is required.
- An IAT Level II baseline certification as defined by DoD 8570.01-M is required.
- Experience supporting an agency machine room is required.
- Experience racking and cabling systems for operational deployments is required.
- Experience creating and updating machine room drawings in Visio or a similar tool is required.
- Hands-on support experience with hardware from vendors such as HP, Dell, Cisco, Arista, and Juniper is required.
- Experience supporting fiber, including locating breaks and testing, is required.
- Strong communication skills and the ability to work with a small team, customers, leadership, facilities personnel, and vendors to identify and resolve issues are required.
- Candidates must currently hold a Top Secret/SCI U.S. Government security clearance with a favorable polygraph and must be U.S. citizens.
- Maintain machine rooms, a lab, and a communications room to agency standards, including maintaining access lists for scan access.
- Monitor and enforce agency requirements for power, space, and cooling in the rooms.
- Work with facilities personnel to anticipate power, space, and cooling upgrades needed to support newer hardware and customer needs.
- Assist customers with the physical installation and decommissioning of racks of servers, network devices, and communications equipment.
- Work JIRA tickets from systems administration and network engineering teams for hardware replacements, including warrantied backfill or escorting vendor support technicians into the rooms to work on hardware under warranty.
- Review emails and JIRA tickets, address issues, monitor machine rooms, and walk the floor to check for alerts or other issues.
- Experience managing or leading a team supporting an agency machine or communications room.
- Experience on a system build or deployment team.
- Experience working in an agency or contractor lab.
About the company
Captivation builds digital software for mission makers by delivering engineering services across a wide range of disciplines. The work is collaborative, with teams that move quickly like a small business and take pride in what they develop. The company emphasizes transparency, a flat organizational structure, and a developer-focused culture, which enables engineers to work directly and iteratively with clients. Compared with larger firms, Captivation differentiates itself through its focus on timely delivery, practical problem solving, and actively pursuing challenging projects for the Intelligence Community, using modern software technologies. The goal is to produce solutions that clients value, on time, while growing the team and empowering its engineers to take ownership of their work.
Company Size
11-50
Company Stage
N/A
Total Funding
N/A
Headquarters
Columbia, Maryland
Founded
2014
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Greenhouse showed 72 openings in October 2026, signaling sustained program demand.
- Recent roles target AI/ML, Rust, cloud, and 508 accessibility modernization.
- Federal award history and active hiring suggest sticky relationships with cleared government customers.
What critics are saying
- Captivation's dependence on classified Annapolis Junction programs creates single-contract revenue shock risk.
- TS/SCI polygraph hiring shrinks the talent pool and slows scaling across 72 openings.
- A 2025-2026 contract loss could force rapid headcount cuts and damage clearance trust.
What makes Captivation unique
- Captivation serves TS/SCI-cleared mission software for DoD, USCYBERCOM, and DISA.
- Its 72-job 2026 slate spans DSP, AI, Kubernetes, and geospatial reporting tools.
- Direct-hire, developer-owned culture with 20% 401k and six weeks PTO differentiates recruiting.
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Benefits
- Health Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- Life Insurance
- Disability Insurance
- Health Savings Account/Flexible Spending Account
- Unlimited Paid Time Off
- 401(k) Retirement Plan