Field Systems Engineer
Unlocked Labs · St. Louis, MO
The Mission That Matters
You'll be the technical backbone ensuring thousands of incarcerated individuals can access transformative education. When a network goes down in Alaska, someone's GED prep stops. When you fix it, their future restarts. This isn't IT support, it's IT with purpose.
The Real Job
We've built educational technology networks in correctional facilities from Alaska to Maine, with others coming soon. We need someone who can remotely manage these networks, troubleshoot issues that pop up 2,000 miles away, and occasionally jump on a plane to solve problems that can't be fixed from a terminal.
You'll be managing real infrastructure in challenging environments. Think DMZ-level security requirements, limited physical access, and users who desperately need things to work because this might be their only shot at education.
What You'll Actually Do
- Remote Network Operations: Monitor and manage correctional facility networks from our St. Louis hub, ensuring educational services stay online across multiple states
- Field Deployments: Travel to facilities for hands-on troubleshooting, upgrades, and new deployments
- Stakeholder Communication: Translate technical issues into plain English for DOC administrators while also going deep on technical details with third-party contractors
- Infrastructure Management: Maintain our current Foreman/Wazuh/Boundary stack while helping plan our technical evolution
- Creative Problem-Solving: Diagnose issues in environments where you can't just "pop over to check the server room"
- Security Operations: Monitor and respond to security events in highly sensitive environments
- Relationship Building: Develop trust with correctional staff who need to believe you'll fix their problems, even from 2,000 miles away
You Might Be Perfect If You Have
- Experience managing remote infrastructure (MSP, field service, distributed sites)
- Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain complex issues to non-technical stakeholders AND dive deep with technical vendors
- Comfort with network fundamentals and Linux systems
- History of solving problems with limited physical access
- Patience and professionalism when working with stressed, non-technical clients
- Ability to obtain security clearance for correctional facilities
- Willingness to travel to unique locations (expenses covered)
- Passion for using technology to drive social change
Bonus Points For
- Experience with Foreman, Wazuh, HashiCorp Boundary
- Background in secure or challenging environments (military, oil/gas, rural ISP)
- Correctional or education technology experience
- Customer-facing technical role experience (solutions engineer, technical account manager)
- Network certifications (CCNA, Network+, Meraki)
- Stories about fixing things everyone else said couldn't be fixed remotely
- Experience being the "translator" between technical and non-technical teams
What's In It For You
- Immediate Impact: Your work directly affects educational access for thousands
- Technical Growth: Influence our stack evolution and scale nationwide infrastructure
- Unique Experience: How many engineers can say they've networked a prison in Alaska?
- Career Path: Clear progression to senior technical leadership as we scale
- Mission-Driven Team: Work alongside formerly incarcerated individuals using tech to transform the justice system
- Travel Adventures: Paid trips to deploy and troubleshoot in facilities nationwide
- Benefits: Health insurance, PTO, and the stability of W-2 employment
The Reality Check
- This role requires mental flexibility, you might troubleshoot tablets in the morning and plan network architecture in the afternoon
- You'll need to pass background checks for correctional facility access
- Some travel will be on short notice when critical systems need hands-on attention
- You'll be employee #2 in IT, meaning you'll shape how we do things
About Unlocked Labs
We're not just another nonprofit talking about criminal justice reform. We're proving that formerly incarcerated individuals can build the technology solutions that transform the system. Our team includes people who've been on the inside, now building technology for those still there. We're creating dignified, high-skill jobs while solving real problems in corrections education.
