IT Engineer - Hardware

EMPLOYER IS A CONTRACTOR FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. THIS POSITION WILL REQUIRE U.S. CITIZENSHIP.

Role Description:

We are seeking an IT Engineer to join our team, based primarily out of our San Antonio, TX office. This role is first and foremost a hardware role, the primary owner of physical infrastructure at Defense Unicorns' San Antonio location, responsible for racking servers, configuring switching and network gear, and maintaining a growing lab environment that supports active defense programs. When not heads-down on hardware, this person is a contributor to day-to-day IT operations, handling helpdesk tickets, endpoint support, and IT projects alongside the broader IT OPS team. The ideal candidate thrives in a hands-on lab environment, has real experience standing up physical infrastructure, and can context-switch into IT OPS work without losing momentum. This is an onsite role; physical presence is the job.

Responsibilities:

Hardware & Infrastructure (~70%)

• Install, configure, and maintain servers, rack-mount switches, and associated network infrastructure in the San Antonio office and lab environments

• Stand up and maintain virtualization environments on IT-owned bare-metal hardware

• Lead rack layout, cable management, patch panel termination, and physical infrastructure documentation

• Support UPS and PDU installation, configuration, and monitoring

• Configure and maintain network infrastructure including switches, access points, and security appliances

• Lead hardware procurement coordination, maintain physical and digital asset inventory, and support engineering and delivery teams with hardware staging needs

• Assist with edge and lab hardware as needed, including mini PCs, single-board computers, and portable networking gear

• Support physical security infrastructure as needed, including access control and related CMMC-adjacent hardware considerations

IT Operations (~30%)

• Provide Tier 1 and Tier 2 helpdesk support, triaging and resolving tickets or escalating as appropriate

• Administer MDM (Jamf) for device enrollment, policy enforcement, and compliance reporting

• Support endpoint hardware management (primarily macOS) alongside other IT team members, including imaging, configuration, deployment, and decommission

• Support user onboarding and offboarding workflows including access provisioning and equipment movement

• Manage access through Google Admin Console and related identity tools

• Collaborate with third-party vendors and internal stakeholders on SaaS tool rollouts, troubleshooting, and updates

• Contribute to IT projects, process improvements, and compliance initiatives aligned with NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC

Travel Expectations/Requirements: Primarily onsite in San Antonio; occasional travel to other Defense Unicorns locations (~20%)

The listed responsibilities are not exhaustive and additional responsibilities may be assigned based on the evolving needs of the organization. We are seeking a dynamic individual who is able to adapt and take on new responsibilities as they arise.

Minimum Experience and Qualifications

• 3+ years in an IT operations, systems administration, or infrastructure role

• Hands-on experience racking and configuring servers and network switches in a lab or data center environment

• Experience with virtualization platforms on IT-managed infrastructure (Proxmox, ESXi, or similar)

• Demonstrated homelab or lab environment experience, comfortable standing up and troubleshooting infrastructure from scratch

• Familiarity with structured cabling, patch panel termination, and physical infrastructure documentation

• Experience with layer 2/3 networking concepts (VLANs, switching, routing)

• Experience with change management processes and IT documentation practices

• Experience with helpdesk or trouble ticketing systems

• Familiarity with macOS endpoint management and MDM solutions (Jamf preferred)

• Experience with Google Admin Console or similar directory/identity management tools

• US citizenship required; must be eligible for CUI access

• Ability to work independently in an onsite environment and manage competing priorities without close supervision

Preferred Experience and Qualifications:

• Experience with enterprise rack-mount server configuration and out-of-band management (e.g., iDRAC, iLO, IPMI)

• Experience with managed switching and prosumer/enterprise network stacks (e.g., UniFi, Cisco, Ubiquiti, or similar)

• Experience in a defense contractor, government, or classified lab environment

• Familiarity with NIST SP 800-171, CMMC 2.0, or similar compliance frameworks

• Exposure to edge compute platforms (single-board computers, mini PCs, GPU workstations)

• Experience contributing to endpoint hardware programs in a shared-ownership model

Full compensation packages are based on candidate experience. Compensation ranges are established using national benchmarking data and apply across all geographic locations within the United States.

Remote - USA
$76,500—$103,500 USD

Who We Are

Defense Unicorns delivers mission value by streamlining software delivery so our customers can focus on the most important challenges. We share a vision of freedom and security for the advancement of progress and innovation. Our commitment to this vision, and to our mission-driven customers, means a commitment to speed, user experience and optionality, without compromising security. Our team is composed of innovators, software engineers, and veterans with decades of experience delivering technology programs across the federal market.

What We Do

We create and deliver secure solutions for continuous software integration and delivery. Defense Unicorns consolidates the best practices for security pipelines, testing, and deployment automation in order to meet the high security requirements valued by mission owners. Our solutions are agnostic by design and we believe that growing a robust ecosystem of secure, cloud-native software solutions can help enterprise customers inside and outside the federal market buy and integrate software more easily.

Who We Serve

Defense Unicorns’ customers are mission-focused leaders across public and private enterprises. We proudly support defense and civil agencies across the U.S. government and we work closely with the creators of leading-edge software solutions to deliver value to the mission-owner by improving the security and consumability of commercial software products.

What We Work On

• Kubernetes

• Cloud Environments (AWS/GCP and Azure)

• Infrastructure-as-code (like Terraform/Pulumi)

• Continuous Delivery and automation tooling

• GitOps

• Containers

• CNCF projects and open source products and packages

• Helm/Kustomize-Value Stream Mapping

• Building and improving security delivery

• Building Kubernetes and cloud native applications

Benefits Our Unicorns Enjoy

Health:

• Medical/Dental/Vision

• Premiums are 100% Company Paid

• Health Reimbursement Account

• Life Insurance

• Disability Insurance

Financial:

• 401k Retirement Plan

• Company Stock Options

• Home Office Budget

Leave:

• We offer all full-time Unicorns Flexible Time Off (FTO) plus all Federal Holidays, one week for Thanksgiving, and two weeks for Christmas and New Year’s

• Paid Parental Leave

Learning:

• Reimbursement for approved trainings/subscriptions

• Conferences (travel, lodging, and fees)

Don’t have all the preferred experience or qualifications? Studies show that underrepresented groups like women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs if they don't meet every requirement listed.

At Defense Unicorns, we're committed to diversity. If you're enthusiastic about the role but don't match every criteria, we encourage you to apply. You could be the perfect fit for this or another role! Defense Unicorns is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

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