Systems Integration Engineer

About the role

i3 is looking for a Systems Integration Engineer to support US Air Force RPA training systems as well as other RPA-related development activities. The successful candidate for this position will serve as a technical integrator for robust, high-performance on-premises virtualization platforms. They will architect and maintain hybrid operating environments bridging Linux kernel subsystems and Windows infrastructure. They will also optimize low-level hypervisor performance and hardware passthrough for secure, mission-critical operations. Working in this role will include being a member of a highly technical team in a System Integration Lab environment to aid in development of new systems or modification of existing systems to meet customer requirements. This position is located in Huntsville, AL.

Responsibilities

• Hypervisor Architecture: Deploy, tune, and maintain QEMU/KVM virtualized environments and libvirt management layers, and Ansible scripting for automation.
• Virtual Machines and Containerization: Deploy, develop and manage virtual machine in multiple environments (Hyper-V, VMWare) and development of container solutions developed using podman and docker.
• Kernel & Hardware Passthrough: Configure Linux kernel parameters, IOMMU groups, and VFIO drivers for dedicated PCIe hardware passthrough (GPUs, NICs, storage controllers).
• VirtIO Optimization: Implement and configure VirtIO device drivers for accelerated networking, storage, and balloon memory handling.
• Hybrid Systems Management: Integrate and maintain heterogeneous systems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 9 and Windows OS/Windows Server.
• Network Operations: Configure Layer 2/3 routing, manage network isolation across the 7-layer OSI model, and troubleshoot routing issues with modern Linux networking toolsets.
• Security & Compliance: Apply required security baselines, DISA STIGs, and hardening standards across all physical and virtual assets.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Information Technology, Computer Engineering, or related technical discipline.
• Experience Level: Mid-to-Senior (3-7+ years)
• Linux Expertise: Advanced proficiency in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 9, system administration, kernel configuration, and bash scripting.
• Windows Administration: Solid operational familiarity with Windows OS and Windows Server environments.
• Virtualization & Passthrough: Proven hands-on experience with QEMU, KVM, VirtIO, and hardware passthrough (PCIe/VFIO/IOMMU).
• Networking Fundamentals: Strong working knowledge of the OSI Model, TCP/IP protocols, Layer 3 routing, subnetting, and Linux firewall management (nftables/iptables).
• Certifications: Security+; Secret security clearance required.
• Physical Demands: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to stand; walk; handle or feel; and reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to sit; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl. The employee must be able to lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

Skills

• Desired & Preferred Skills: CICD pipeline experience (Gitlab, JIRA, ADO, etc.); Familiarity with containerization tools on RHEL (Podman); Proficiency with network debugging tools (tcpdump, wireshark, iproute2).
• Knowledge/Skills: Knowledge of office administration and procedures; Exceptional judgment capabilities and relationship management skills; Excellent communication, teamwork, and client service skills; ability to clearly communicate in discussions and written documents, and to deliver feedback clearly and tactfully; Inter