Systems Administrator at Aquila Technology
Lexington, MA
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Jul 6, 2026
Lexington, MA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A fully on-site systems administrator role supporting classified and unclassified IT infrastructure at a defense research organization near Lexington, MA. Day-to-day work centers on automating Linux build lifecycles using infrastructure-as-code, maintaining isolated classified networks, hardening systems to CMMC and STIG standards, and translating cyber research staff requirements into compliant IT solutions. Suits candidates with broad Linux administration experience and scripting proficiency who hold an active Secret clearance.
Mid level · 3+ years · Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH · Bachelor's required · Secret clearance · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $119,338 (middle half $97,590–$141,760).
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (9)
Active Secret clearance is a hard gate; candidates without one will not be considered. US citizenship is also required.
The role is 100% onsite in Lexington, MA; candidates must live within 100 miles.
CompTIA Security+ (DoD 8570/8140 IAT Level II) is listed as a must-have certification, though the JD notes candidates may obtain it within 6 months of hire — it is still treated as a hard requirement.
The JD lists '3 years – PowerShell and Ansible' as a single combined requirement; both are also independently reinforced in the Required Skills section, so they are emitted as separate skills.
Cisco/Juniper network equipment management, VMware administration, and DNS/DHCP/load-balancing technologies appear under the 'Nice to Have' section and are marked preferred accordingly.
Red Hat certification is listed under 'Desired Certifications' and is therefore preferred, not required.
The alt SOC 15-1212 (Information Security Analysts) reflects the significant security hardening, STIG/CMMC compliance, and vulnerability scanning responsibilities woven throughout the role, though day-to-day work is primarily systems administration.
No compensation range is stated in the posting.
Requires a Secret clearance — the cleared population is a small fraction of this occupation, so the real candidate pool is materially smaller than the estimate below, which does not model clearance.
Read the full posting
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