Classified Systems Administrator, IV

Job Type: Regular

The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND's research and analysis address issues that impact people everywhere, including security, health, education, sustainability, growth, and development. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, RAND has approximately 1,700 people from more than 45 countries working in offices in North America, Europe and Australia, with annual revenues of more than $260 million.

RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. Our research is sponsored by government agencies, foundations, other nonprofit organizations, and the private sector. We rely on philanthropic support to reach beyond the scope of client-sponsored work to tackle questions that may be too big, too complex, or too new for our clients to address. RAND values objectivity and integrity in both its research processes and internal interactions.

We emphasize a collegial environment that respects the contributions and dignity of all staff.

The Classified Systems Administrator, IV performs advanced to highly complex evaluation, design, implementation, and maintenance of classified servers, networks, and communications systems supporting secure computing environments. This role serves as a senior technical resource and integral member of the Classified IT Operations Team, ensuring the reliability, security, and performance of classified local and wide-area network infrastructure, systems, and services.

• Operate independently with minimal supervision, prioritizing work and driving initiatives to completion.
• Lead medium- to large-scale projects and technology implementations for government- and contractor-owned classified systems, including solution architecture, design, and deployment.
• Assign, coordinate, monitor, and review technical work of peers; provide guidance and technical leadership across the Classified IT team.
• Serve as the senior escalation resource for platform-specific issues, providing guidance on Windows- or Linux-based infrastructure decisions.
• Maintain, configure, and support classified servers, operating systems, applications, and network infrastructure.
• Serve as a senior point of contact for diagnosing and resolving complex networking, hardware, software, and system issues in classified environments.
• Mentor and provide expert-level technical assistance to administrators and support staff.
• Windows Systems Administration: Install, configure, and maintain modern Windows Server environments, Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, and enterprise applications. Support Windows-based classified endpoints, servers, and workstations.
• Linux Systems Administration: Install, configure, and maintain Linux systems (e.g., RHEL
  8), including OS upgrades, software packages, service configuration, shell scripting, VMWare, and network storage. Support TS/SCI and secret-classified Linux servers and workstations.
• Verify integrity, availability, and performance of classified data, voice, and LAN/WAN networks and systems; identify issues, develop solutions, and ensure successful implementation.
• Analyze capacity and performance requirements and initiate system or network expansions, upgrades, or migrations.
• Evaluate and recommend enhancements to hardware, software, network architecture, and infrastructure for functionality, security, and cost-effectiveness.
• Ensure protection of classified information and systems by implementing and maintaining required security controls and operational procedures.
• Collaborate with classified IT, cybersecurity, and security compliance teams in evaluation, customization, accreditation, and implementation of classified hardware and software solutions.
• Manage classified cloud-based systems, including deployment, administration, performance monitoring, and compliance validation.
• Support classified data transfer operations in accordance with approved procedures and controls.
• Maintain working knowledge of policies, STIGs, NISPOM, NIST 800-53, ICD 503,…