Senior System Specialist

Simplesense builds, deploys, and sustains the Installation Resilience Platform that enables mission operators to rapidly adapt and respond. The Platform protects critical infrastructure from cyber attack while unlocking previously siloed information to monitor, diagnose, and improve response times to incidents. Our adversaries rapidly adopt the latest technology: we help defense users respond in kind. Simplesense is a non-traditional defense contractor and prime on the Air Force's Installation Resilience Operations Command and Control (IROC) program, which is now expanding to five additional Air Force, Space Force, and Army installations from the one prototype installation, Tyndall Air Force Base. Our team combines over 100 years of direct mission experience solving hard problems with 50 years technical expertise deploying DevSecOps, cybersecurity, and cloud infrastructure, giving us a deep appreciation for our customers’ mission and end users’ priorities. We build for scale, architecting and prioritizing technical work for long term sustainability.

Location: We prioritize candidates who reside in the Denver, CO metro area (hybrid as needed), but we are open to exceptional remote talent.

About the Role

As the Senior System Specialist, you are the technical escalation point for our Support Desk and Network Operations Center (NOC). Operating at the intersection of our AWS cloud infrastructure and on-premise edge network, you will tackle complex, hybrid connectivity issues and system faults that stump the front-line team. You will play a critical role in elevating our support capabilities by running our daily and escalation workflows, tapping into observability, writing robust technical runbooks, and mentoring a team of System Specialists. By partnering closely with our core Engineering teams, you ensure our mission-critical platforms remain resilient, secure, and fully operational.

Work Model:

• Locals: Onsite as needed for collaborative workspace time.
• Remote: Quarterly travel to hub locations for team syncs and alignment.

Our Performance Culture

We measure performance across two key dimensions: How you perform your role (Our Core Values) and What your role entails (Your Execution).

How You’ll Work — Our Core Values

• People Always – Win as One Team: We foster a culture of psychological safety and mutual support. We operate as an integrated team where we assume noble intent as our default setting, ensuring that even the toughest feedback is rooted in trust. We trade our silos for a shared mission because collective impact always outweighs individual achievement.
• Empathize – Obsess Over the Customer: We don't just solve technical problems; we empathize and advocate for the operators using our products. We look beyond the surface to build what our customers—both internal and external—actually need to succeed, not just what they asked for.
• Focus – Ruthlessly Prioritize with Urgency: We focus on the highest-impact work and ruthlessly say no to distractions. We build resilient systems so that our solutions can repeat and scale under pressure.
• Let’s Go – Catalyze the Change You Seek: We don't wait for the industry to change; we drive it. We seek to understand why things are the way they are, but we never use “the way it’s always been” as an excuse. We aren't afraid to change course when the data or our mission demands it.

Responsibilities

• Advanced Incident Management: Act as the technical backstop for the NOC, identifying the root cause of system failures, connectivity issues, and cloud application problems. You will take charge as the Incident Lead during critical outages to ensure swift resolution and mission continuity.
• AWS & Compute Operations: Actively monitor and troubleshoot our cloud networking, EC2 instance health, resource constraints, and resolve OS-level issues within virtualized environments.
• Hybrid Network Diagnostics: Seamlessly cross the boundary between physical and cloud networks. Navigate Cisco switch configurations and AWS VPCs to trace traffic patterns, parse logs, and isolate the true root cause of platform degradations.
• Observability Optimization: Build and tune observability dashboards and alerts across platforms like Splunk, DataDog. Filter out noise to ensure the NOC is reacting to high-fidelity, actionable signals.
• Runbook Orchestration: Continuously analyze ticket trends to identify gaps in documentation. Write, test, and publish operational runbooks used by the whole team.
• Technical Mentorship: Act as the team lead for the System Specialists. Review workflows, escalations, provide technical feedback, and elevate the baseline skills of the entire support organization.

Requirements

• Experience: 7+ years of experience in a NOC, IT Ops, or Tier 2/3 Systems Support role, with a proven track record of handling complex escalations.
• AWS Cloud Networking: Practical experience troubleshooting AWS network topologies, including VPCs, Security Groups, NACLs, Route Tables, and hybrid connectivity (VPN/Direct Connect).
• Observability Administration: Hands-on experience configuring and tuning alerts, dashboards, and log queries in Splunk and DataDog.
• Networking Expertise: Strong practical experience navigating Cisco switch configurations to troubleshoot routing.
• Linux Proficiency: High comfort level working within a Linux command-line environment to navigate file systems, parse system logs, and execute advanced troubleshooting scripts.
• Compliance: Must be a U.S. Citizen and capable of obtaining a DoD NIPR network account and Common Access Card (CAC).
• Security Clearance: Must have, or be able to obtain, a DoD Secret Clearance.

Qualifications

• Strongly prefer candidates residing in the Denver, CO metro area.
• Prior experience working within DoD, Air Force, Space Force, or fast-paced Federal contractor/dual-use startup environments.
• CompTIA Security+, CCNA, or advanced Linux certifications.
• Experience supporting OT/ICS environments or working within DoD/Air Force spaces.
• A strong track record of mentoring junior staff or acting as a Shift Lead in a NOC environment.

What Success Looks Like (First 90 Days)

• 30 Days: Learn and integrate into our workflows and processes, auditing current workflows and Observability configurations to identify opportunities for efficiency improvements.
• 60 Days: Identify the top three undocumented, recurring issues and design the standard operating runbooks that empower your teammates to resolve them autonomously.
• 90 Days: Take ownership of the team’s workflows and processes and function as the technical bridge between the NOC and core Engineering. Ensure that tickets escalated to the engineering teams include comprehensive diagnostic data, isolated logs, and a tested hypothesis.

Pay

Pay Range: $103k - $135k per year. Compensation is determined based on experience, skill level, and location. We review ranges regularly to ensure market competitiveness.

Benefits

• Competitive Benefits
• Equity
• Medical, Life, Short-Term Disability, and AD&D insurance
• Medical travel coverage
• Dental coverage
• Vision coverage
• 401k matching