Engineering System Administrator, Principal
Centrus Energy · Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States · $84K–$168K/yr
Nuclear Electric Power Generation · 201-500 employees
About the role
You will design, secure, and sustain control systems and OT infrastructures for mission-critical environments including nuclear and accelerator facilities. This role involves integrating OT and ICS environments with enterprise services while ensuring compliance with NIST and DOE cybersecurity requirements.
What they look for
Requirements
Candidates must have 5-10+ years of experience in systems engineering or architecture with a focus on OT/ICS or critical infrastructure. A bachelor's degree is required, along with the ability to obtain and maintain a Q security clearance.
Benefits
Full description
Job Summary
Are you energized by solving complex engineering challenges that directly support national security, energy reliability, and scientific innovation? We’re looking for a Systems Engineer / Systems Architect who thrives in mission‑critical environments and is ready to take on a role where their work truly makes a difference.
In this position, you’ll design, secure, and sustain the control systems and OT infrastructures that keep essential DOE and energy‑sector operations running—spanning nuclear facilities, accelerator systems, experimental platforms, and site‑wide operational technologies.
You’ll work at the intersection of OT engineering, cybersecurity, facility operations, and research programs to deliver resilient, well‑architected systems aligned with NIST frameworks and DOE requirements. If you enjoy systems engineering with real‑world impact, this is a unique opportunity.
What You’ll Do
Systems Architecture & Design
You craft secure, resilient system architectures built for high‑consequence OT and industrial control environments. Your designs follow industry-leading frameworks—including NIST 800‑82, NIST 800‑53/171, and ISA/IEC 62443—and support a wide range of mission‑critical systems such as SCADA, PLC/DCS, building automation, and power distribution. You define architectures that deliver deterministic performance, high availability, and fault tolerance, all while maintaining rigorous configuration baselines, lifecycle documentation, and design records.
Systems Engineering, Deployment & Operations
You engineer, deploy, and operate complex infrastructure across Windows/Linux servers, virtualization platforms, clustered systems, and enterprise storage. Your work integrates OT and ICS environments with core services for authentication, monitoring, patching, and secure remote access. You support SCADA/HMI servers, historians, and engineering workstations, ensuring reliable data movement between OT and enterprise/DMZ networks. You also develop inventories, diagrams, SOPs, and precise configuration documentation to sustain long-term system reliability.
OT Security & DOE Compliance
You implement NIST‑aligned security controls and DOE cybersecurity requirements across operational technology environments. Your role supports vulnerability management, patching programs, and secure baseline maintenance. You participate in cyber and operational readiness assessments and integrate systems with enterprise monitoring, logging, and detection platforms. You safeguard OT access by managing privileged workflows, vendor connectivity, and secure identity operations.
Automation, Monitoring & Sustainment
You drive safe and effective automation using PowerShell, Python, Ansible, and similar tooling. You deploy and manage monitoring and observability platforms such as Splunk, Elastic/Grafana, SolarWinds, and Nozomi/Claroty. You perform root‑cause analyses, support cyber and operational incident response, and continually refine system reliability and performance across mission‑critical operations.
We'd Love to Hear from Candidates With:
- 5–10+ years as a Systems Engineer or Architect, including 3+ years supporting OT/ICS or critical infrastructure
- Strong experience with Windows/Linux administration, virtualization (VMware, Hyper‑V, KVM), and storage systems
- Background with SCADA/ICS architectures, HMIs, engineering workstations, and historians
- Working knowledge of NIST cybersecurity frameworks
- Hands‑on experience with configuration management, patching, imaging, and lifecycle processes
- Experience supporting operational environments such as energy, nuclear, accelerator, national lab, or 24/7 mission systems
- Ability to collaborate seamlessly across engineering, cybersecurity, operations, and research groups
A Successful Candidate Also Brings:
- Certifications: CISSP, Security+, GICSP, Microsoft/Linux engineering certs, VMware VCP, Red Hat, ISA/IEC 62443
- Experience in secure or high‑hazard environments (nuclear, accelerator, etc.)
- Familiarity with OT monitoring tools (Nozomi, Claroty, Dragos) and SIEM platforms
- Background designing resilient architectures for scientific or experimental workloads
- Experience with cyber assessments and configuration management processes
Pay
Estimated Starting Base Salary Range: $83,753 - $167,506. This position is Bonus eligible. Centrus considers several factors when extending job offers, including but not limited to candidates’ key skills, relevant work experience, and education/training/certifications. While the posted range reflects the anticipated hiring range for this position, compensation above the range may be considered for candidates with exceptional qualifications and directly relevant experience.
In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.
This position will require a pre-employment background check and a pre-employment drug test.
Centrus Energy and all subsidiaries shall abide by the applicable legal requirements. We prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.
This position requires the successful candidate to obtain and maintain a Q security clearance. Candidates for positions requiring a security clearance are required to be tested for the absence of any illegal drug as defined in 10 CFR 707.4 prior to an offer of employment being made. In addition, once employed, employees will become part of a random drug testing program and may also be tested in the event of any incident causing injury or causing damage to property, or if it is determined that there is a reasonable suspicion the employee is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. This position will require preemployment background check on the part of the Company and in order to receive a Q security clearance, a background investigation by the Federal government. Subsequent Federal government reinvestigations may be required.
Centrus Energy Corp. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.