Senior Systems and Network Engineer
IonQ · College Park, MD
$126,887–$166,127from the description
Jul 20, 2026
College Park, MD
Jul 22, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A hands-on infrastructure role focused on the classical computing layer that underpins quantum hardware development at a College Park lab and datacenter. The work centers on provisioning Linux servers, building and maintaining infrastructure-as-code for automated deployments, configuring lab and datacenter networking, and integrating non-standard scientific hardware such as cameras and laser control systems. Best suited to engineers with deep practical experience in on-prem systems and network engineering rather than design-and-delegate roles.
Senior level · 6+ years · Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV · 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
Roughly 380 people in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (network and computer systems administrators). range 95–590
Applicant volume Moderate — A normal amount of company. The rare requirements below are what will separate a shortlisted application from the rest.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $128,188 (middle half $100,819–$156,589). This posting is about at that midpoint.
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 (8)
The role sits at the boundary between 15-1244 (Network and Systems Administration) and 15-1252 (Software Developers). The primary day-to-day work is provisioning, configuring, and troubleshooting physical servers and lab/datacenter networking — operating and maintaining infrastructure — which points to 15-1244. However, the JD also emphasises infrastructure-as-code, scripting, and automation tooling, which are increasingly developer-adjacent. 15-1244 is the better fit because the role's core output is a running, correctly-configured physical environment, not shipped software.
The role is described as hybrid (College Park, MD office with a few days remote per week) — it is not fully remote.
Ansible, Salt, Kickstart, Foreman, Cobbler, and Packer are all listed as interchangeable provisioning/IaC options in the requirements section; Ansible is used as the primary name with the others as alternatives. Terraform also appears in the same list in the Responsibilities section but not in the Requirements section, so it is marked preferred.
Python and Go are listed as interchangeable scripting languages in the Requirements section; Python is used as the primary name.
Kubernetes, cloud networking (AWS/Azure/GCP), configuration drift detection, and research/scientific compute experience all appear under Preferred Qualifications and are marked accordingly.
No formal degree is required — the posting makes no degree mention at all.
Export control language requires U.S. Person status but does not gate on a formal security clearance.
Ignored 1 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): VLAN configuration.
Read the full posting
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