Middleware Engineer

Position Overview    The Middleware Engineer designs, deploys, and maintains middleware platforms that support integration, messaging, and application hosting for mission‑critical systems in a federal IT environment. The role manages provisioning, configuration, performance tuning, and lifecycle management of middleware components across on‑premises and cloud environments, ensuring stability, resilience, and compliance with security standards. The Middleware Engineer collaborates with application owners, database administrators, and infrastructure teams to troubleshoot complex multi‑tier issues and optimize end‑to‑end service performance, while documenting middleware architectures and runbooks to support continuity and disaster‑recovery objectives.    Key Responsibilities  - Install, configure, and administer middleware technologies such as application servers, web servers, and integration platforms supporting enterprise workloads.  - Monitor middleware availability, throughput, and error rates, tuning thread pools, connection settings, and caching to maintain performance and stability across environments.  - Implement secure configuration baselines, TLS configurations, and access controls for middleware components in alignment with organizational security policies and standards.  - Plan and execute middleware patching, upgrades, and migrations, coordinating with change management processes to minimize downtime and service disruption.  - Develop and maintain detailed runbooks, configuration documentation, inventory records, and topology diagrams to support operations, audits, and continuity planning.  - Collaborate with application and database teams to diagnose and resolve complex performance and reliability issues that span multiple infrastructure tiers.  - Support backup and recovery operations, continuity of operations activities, and lifecycle support plans for middleware installations in highly regulated environments.  - Evaluate new middleware capabilities, tools, and practices, recommending enhancements that improve reliability, scalability, and operational efficiency.    Required Qualifications  - Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent relevant work experience.  - 8+ years of experience in middleware engineering, systems administration, or related infrastructure roles, including provisioning, configuring, optimizing, and maintaining middleware software solutions.  - Strong technical proficiency with middleware technologies and tools, including experience monitoring, troubleshooting, patching, migrating, and upgrading middleware environments.  - Solid understanding of security standards, best practices, and lifecycle management for middleware applications, including secure configuration and change control.  - Excellent problem‑solving, analytical, and communication skills, with the ability to coordinate effectively with diverse technical stakeholders and follow formal change‑management processes.  - Demonstrated experience documenting and maintaining comprehensive operational procedures, connectivity diagrams, and lifecycle support plans for enterprise middleware.  - Ability to obtain and maintain a SECRET clearance; U.S. citizenship required.    Preferred Qualifications  - Experience with middleware stacks commonly used in large enterprise environments such as WebLogic, WebSphere, JBoss, or equivalent platforms.  - Relevant vendor or platform certifications in middleware administration or systems engineering.  - Familiarity with complex federal IT environments and compliance expectations for mission‑critical application hosting.