Principal Help Desk

Zachary Piper Solutions is seeking a Top Secret Cleared Senior Principal Help Desk Tier 3 to support our responsible for the most complex and critical technical issues supporting the Joint Fires Network program. Responsibilities include identifying/resolving complex issues within the system, collaborating directly with internal developers to fix bugs/issues, and developing standard operations procedures for training Tier 1 & 2 support team and end user customers.

Clearance : Top Secret cleared, TS/SCI preferred

Location: San Diego, CA

Schedule: Fully on site, customer-facing

Responsibilities of the Senior Principal Help Desk :

• Responsible for asset installation/configuration, operation and maintenance of systems, hardware, software and related infrastructure.
• Configure and manage operating systems (Windows and Linux), applications (commercial and government), networks (IPs, subnets, etc.), and network equipment (switches).
• Configure and manage DOD and IC standard distributed authentication services.
• Serve as the final point of internal escalation for all technical support issues, performing in-depth analysis of complex hardware, software, server, and network-related problems.
• Develop, document, and maintain comprehensive knowledge base articles, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and technical guides for Tier 1 and Tier 2 teams to use in resolving common issues and adhere to government policies.
• Develop and maintain scripts (e.g., using Bash, Python, or Perl) to automate routine tasks, streamline processes, and improve the efficiency of the support team.

Qualifications of the Senior Principal Help Desk:

• CONUS/OCONUS travel less than 10% of the time.
• Operates standard computer-based business tools (including but not limited to Microsoft Word and Excel) effectively with a high degree of competency.
• Bachelors and fourteen (14) years or more of related experience; Masters and twelve (12) years or more of related experience; PhD or JD and nine (9) years or more of related experience.
• Certifications: IAT Level 1 (CompTIA Security + and OS/Computing Environment certification.)
• U.S. Citizenship and an active Top Secret clearance with the ability to obtain a TS/SCI CI Poly.
• 5+ years of direct experience with implementation and understanding of Engineering principles in a professional environment.
• Familiarity with DNS / DHCP / Kickstart / LDAP / Kubernetes / Red Hat 7&8 / Windows 10 / ACAS / Rancher / Grafana / Cloud Security Gateway.
• Ability to automate installation, configuration, and provisioning using Infrastructure as Code tools like Terraform, Ansible, Puppet, and Chef.
• Ability to configure and manage operating systems (Windows and Linux), applications (commercial and government), networks (IPs, subnets, etc.), and network equipment (switches).

Compensation of the Senior Principal Help Desk

• Compensation: $130,000 - $170,000+ **based on years of experience**
• Full Benefits: Cigna Medical, Dental, Vision, 401k, PTO/Holiday, Sick leave as required by state law

Keywords: Help desk, senior help desk, principal help desk, tier 3, leadership, networking, IPS, Subnets, Windows, Linux, DoD, IC, scripts, Bash, Python, Perl, Hadoop, Spark, Kafka, Puppet, Ansible, Terraform, Bash, Powershell, Python, security, security concepts, secure shell, CONUS, OCONUS, IAT Cert, CompTIA Security+ certified, CompTIA Security+ Certification, OS/Computing Environment Certification, DNS, DHCP, Kickstart, LDAP, Kubernetes, Red Hat, Windows 10, ACAS, Grafana, Defense Research, Honolulu, Hawaii

This job opens for applications on 1/30/2026. Applications for this job will be accepted for at least 30 days from the posting date

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