Systems / Network Administrator Lead at Computer World Services
Chicago, IL
$115,000–$155,000
Jul 20, 2026
Chicago, IL
Jul 22, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A lead-level role overseeing enterprise systems and network administration for a large Department of Defense IT program supporting military entrance processing. Day-to-day work spans operations and maintenance of servers, operating systems, databases, virtualization, storage, cloud, and network infrastructure, as well as heading an outage response team responsible for incident management, disaster recovery, and continuity of operations. Suits a seasoned enterprise IT professional with strong technical depth and experience directing geographically dispersed teams in complex DoD environments.
Senior level · 5+ years · Remote · Secret clearance · Full-time
Pay in the description: $115,000–$155,000
“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
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $101,310 (middle half $79,725–$129,425). 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 (12)
The bachelor's degree is explicitly stated as 'preferred,' not required — the degree requirement is set to None accordingly.
The role is primarily remote but candidates in the Chicago area (North Chicago, IL / USMEPCOM HQ) are preferred; ~25% travel is expected in the first six months, dropping to ~10% thereafter.
Active Secret clearance is a hard gate per the posting.
Multiple experience thresholds are stated (1, 3, 5, and 6 years) tied to specific skill domains; the overall years minimum is set to 5 as the broadest stated minimum for the core enterprise IT management requirement.
CCIE and CCDE are listed as interchangeable alternatives ('or') for the Cisco expert-level certification requirement.
The information security certification requirement names CompTIA Security+ and CISSP as examples; these are captured as a single skill with alternatives since the posting treats them as interchangeable options satisfying one requirement.
Two network certifications are required; CCNA and CompTIA Network+ are the named examples and are captured as a single skill with alternatives since they satisfy the same requirement slot.
MCSE, CCIE/CCDE, the security certification, the two network certifications, and DoDI 8570 IASAE Level III are all hard gates — candidates who don't hold them must obtain them within one month of hire at company expense.
'Scripting,' 'databases,' and 'collaboration tools' appear in the experience requirements section but name no specific technology; they are captured as preferred given the lack of a named product.
The alternative occupation code 15-1299 is noted because the role blends network/systems administration with a significant technical leadership and incident-command function that doesn't fit neatly into a single standard occupation.
Ignored 2 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): firewall administration, DoDI 8570 IASAE Level III.
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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