Full-Time

Lead Systems Engineer

Visionist

Visionist

51-200 employees

Engineering, software development and analytics services

Compensation Overview

$170k - $240k/yr

+ 15% retirement contribution + 401(k) match + ESOP + Overtime + $8,000 supplemental payment + $600 lifestyle bonus + Performance-based bonuses

No H1B Sponsorship

Annapolis Junction, MD, USA

In Person

US Citizenship, US Top Secret Clearance Required

Bachelor's

Category
DevOps & Infrastructure
Required Skills
Packer
Bash
Kubernetes
Malware Analysis
Python
Grafana
Data Science
AWS
Elasticsearch
Prometheus
Terraform
Redis
Ansible
MongoDB
Penetration Testing
Kibana
Linux/Unix
Database Administration

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Requirements
  • A bachelor's degree in a technical discipline is required; four additional years of experience may substitute for the degree.
  • At least 12 years of experience in system engineering is required.
  • Strong Linux system administration experience, including RHEL9, is required.
  • Experience with system automation and scripting tools including Ansible/Semaphore, Terraform, Packer, Bash, and Python is required.
  • Experience with containerization technologies including Podman and Kubernetes is required.
  • Experience with Amazon Web Services, including EC2, S3, VPCs, and IAM, is required.
  • Experience with metrics and observability tools including Kibana, Grafana, and Prometheus is required.
  • Knowledge of SSP compliance and processes, including STE/STN, is required.
  • Familiarity with database administration using Elasticsearch, MongoDB, Redis, or graph databases such as DGraph is required.
  • An active Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information clearance with polygraph is required.
  • U.S. citizenship is required; green card holders and permanent residents are not eligible.
Responsibilities
  • Lead, mentor, and direct the daily activities of two system administrators.
  • Collaborate with and support a broader engineering team of more than 25 software developers.
  • Provide technical guidance on overall system architecture, design, and configuration in coordination with software engineering teams.
  • Maintain the health and availability of system platforms across EC2, MASH, bare-metal, production, and development environments.
  • Oversee system maintenance, security, and SSP accreditation activities.
  • Develop and maintain automation, monitoring, alerting, backup, and disaster recovery strategies across development, staging, and production environments.
  • Maintain continuous integration and continuous delivery and deployment automation processes using GitLab.
  • Maintain current system documentation and conduct technical reviews and post-mortems to drive continuous improvement.
  • Maintain base Linux kickstart images using RHEL9.

Visionist provides engineering, software development and analytical services for mission-critical intelligence projects, forming cross-disciplinary teams to own project success. Its work includes integrating AI/ML into mission systems, embedding data scientists in analysis, UX and data-analysis apps, signal/cyber/exploitation analysis, and security testing and vulnerability assessment. It works on large prime contracts that offer growth and leadership opportunities while keeping a small-team feel. Visionist aims to foster long-term employee ownership through an ESOP and deliver meaningful, mission-focused outcomes for clients.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

Columbia, South Carolina

Founded

2010

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Visionist opened a second Columbia office on June 16, 2026, showing headcount demand.
  • A September 1, 2026 DevOps role says the mission is fully funded.
  • Visionist won two contract extensions in November 2025, preserving work into 2028.

What critics are saying

  • Two prime contracts depend on extensions through 2027 and 2028.
  • Hiring requires U.S. citizenship and TS/SCI polygraph, shrinking the talent pool.
  • Loss of the single-award DoD contract would cripple revenue and threaten survival.

What makes Visionist unique

  • Visionist is 100% employee-owned and embeds small analyst-engineer teams in missions.
  • Its June 2026 expansion into a second Columbia building signals scale with retention.
  • A five-year, single-award $210M DoD contract anchors its cyber-mission operations niche.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

Unlimited Paid Time Off

Flexible Work Hours

Paid Vacation

Paid Sick Leave

Paid Holidays

Hybrid Work Options

401(k) Retirement Plan

401(k) Company Match

Performance Bonus

Annual Lifestyle Bonus

Paid Parental Leave

Employee Stock Ownership Plan

Company News

Visionist, Inc.
Apr 3rd, 2025
A Decade of Excellence: Visionist Named a Baltimore Sun Top Workplace for the 10th Consecutive Year

Visionist, Inc. is thrilled to announce that Visionist has been recognized as a Baltimore Sun Top Workplace for the 10th consecutive year!

Visionist, Inc.
Jan 10th, 2024
Visionist Celebrates 9 Consecutive Years as a Baltimore Sun Top Workplace

Visionist, Inc. is excited to announce that Visionist has once again been recognized as a Baltimore Sun Top Workplace for the 9th consecutive year!

Visionist, Inc.
Dec 19th, 2022
Visionist Named a 2022 Top Workplace by Baltimore Sun

Visionist, Inc. is thrilled to share that Visionist has been named a Baltimore Sun Top Workplace for the 8th consecutive year!