Systems Engineer - Level II (Linux Engineer)

Job description

An experienced Linux Engineer to join our infrastructure team and serve as a technical leader in the design, deployment, and operational management of our enterprise Linux environment. This role is responsible for maintaining a secure, highly available, and performant fleet of Linux servers and virtual desktops running across AWS and VMware platforms. The successful candidate will bring deep expertise in Linux administration, configuration management with Ansible, and security baseline hardening aligned with the CIS standard. Working closely with application owners, developers, and analytics engineers, the Linux Engineer will drive automation, enforce patching and vulnerability remediation, and ensure that our Linux infrastructure reliably supports mission-critical business and analytics workloads. ### Key Tasks & Responsibilities **Linux Systems Administration & Troubleshooting** - Manage, maintain, and troubleshoot Linux servers deployed in AWS across a mixed distribution environment, including **Amazon Linux 2023, Ubuntu 22.04 and later, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and 9**. - Diagnose and resolve complex operating system, networking, storage, and performance issues across the server fleet. - Make performance-based recommendations for server configuration changes to optimize workloads, cost, and reliability. **Virtual Desktop Support** - Support and maintain Linux-based virtual desktop environments running on **VMware** and **AWS WorkSpaces**. - Partner with end users and application teams to ensure a stable, secure, and productive virtual desktop experience. **Security Baselines & Hardening** - Develop, deploy, and maintain Linux operating system baselines aligned with **Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmarks**. - Collaborate with application owners to customize security baselines as needed to enable application functionality without compromising the organization's security posture. **Configuration Management & Automation** - Perform enterprise-wide configuration management using **Ansible**. - Author, maintain, and version-control **Ansible playbooks** used to define system baselines, configurations, and repeatable operational tasks. **Application Support & Collaboration** - Work directly with application owners, developers, and analytics engineers to **deploy, upgrade, migrate, and maintain** applications running on Linux. - Serve as a trusted infrastructure partner during application lifecycle events, providing guidance on Linux best practices. **Monitoring & Uptime** - Develop and maintain monitoring solutions for servers across the enterprise to ensure **maximum system uptime** and rapid incident detection. - Continuously improve alerting, dashboards, and observability to reduce downtime. **Patching & Vulnerability Remediation** - Oversee regular and ad-hoc system patching efforts to ensure **timely vulnerability remediation** in accordance with organizational SLAs. - Monitor and enforce patching requirements using **AWS Systems Manager**. **Cloud Infrastructure & Infrastructure-as-Code** - Deploy and manage infrastructure using **AWS CloudFormation** and **AWS Service Catalog**. - Contribute to and maintain reusable, standardized infrastructure templates that streamline provisioning and enforce compliance. ### Education & Experience **Required** - **3 or more years** of hands-on experience managing Linux systems in a production environment. - **2 or more years** of experience performing configuration management using **Ansible**, including authoring and maintaining playbooks and roles. - **2 or more years** of experience supporting **Linux virtual desktops**. - Demonstrated experience working in a **large government, financial, regulatory, or corporate environment**, where formal change management, security compliance, and audit requirements are standard. **Preferred** - **Bachelor's degree or higher** - Experience supporting **analytics infrastructure**, such as Hadoop clusters, **AWS EMR**, **HPC grid clusters using SLURM, AWS Parallel Cluster**, or other distributed computing platforms. - Experience administering **VMware virtual desktops** or **AWS WorkSpaces** at scale. - Proficiency with **Python** for automation, scripting, and tooling development. ### Certifications **Preferred** - Red Hat certifications - Amazon Web Services (AWS) certifications ### Security Clearance - Public Trust High (Tier 4/BI) Risk Level - Must be a US citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident ### Other (Travel, Work Environment, DoD 8570 Requirements, Administrative Notes, etc.) - D.C or Remote