Senior Linux Engineer

AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, automation and analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation.At AHEAD, we prioritize creating a culture of belonging, where all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create spaces to empower everyone to speak up, make change, and drive the culture at AHEAD. We are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate based on an individual's race, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived. We embrace all candidates that will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD. 

Responsibilities

Oversee installation, configuration, and maintenance of Linux servers across diverse enterprise client environments.  Serve as a senior escalation point for P1/P2 client incidents, ensuring timely SLA adherence, technical resolution, and clear communication to clients and internal stakeholders.  Proactively maintain and develop all Linux infrastructure technology to deliver 24x7x365 uptime services.  Perform system performance management, patching, troubleshooting, upgrades, and lifecycle management to ensure high availability and reliability.  Implement and enforce security best practices, vulnerability management, and compliance standards (CIS, NIST, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, or client-specific frameworks).  Support incident, change, problem, and request management processes in alignment with ITIL frameworks.  Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Windows, Network, Security, Cloud) to deliver integrated client solutions.  Lead or support client onboarding and migration projects by assessing Linux environments, standardizing configurations, and integrating systems into MSP monitoring and management platforms.  Develop and refine SOPs, runbooks, and knowledge base articles to enable repeatable processes across multiple client environments.  Implement and optimize monitoring, alerting, and logging solutions (, Prometheus, Grafana, Splunk, ELK), generating reports for internal use and client presentations.  Provide mentorship and technical guidance to junior engineers and act as a role model for best practices.  Participate in on-call rotation, including business hours, weeknights, weekends, and holidays. 

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Systems, or similar relevant field.  9+ years of hands-on experience in Linux administration (RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu, Debian, or similar).  In-depth knowledge of Linux systems: installation, configuration, troubleshooting, performance tuning, and system hardening.  Proven expertise with authentication, authorization, and identity integration: user/group management, SSSD/REALMD, Kerberos, and LDAP/AD.  Strong scripting and automation skills in Shell, Perl, Python, and experience with configuration management (Ansible, Puppet, or Chef).  Experience with virtualization (VMware, KVM) and exposure to cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).  Solid understanding of security and networking, DNS, NFS, SMTP, HTTP/S, SELINUX, and firewalls within Linux ecosystems.  Familiarity with SAN/NAS storage management, LVM, and multipathing.  Experience working in ITIL-driven environments with proven SLA accountability.  Strong communication and client-facing skills, with the ability to explain technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. 

Good to Have

Certifications such as RHCE, Linux Foundation Certified Engineer, CompTIA Linux+, or relevant cloud/Linux certifications preferred.  Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation).  Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD).  Hands-on knowledge of containerization platforms (Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift).  Experience using MSP/PSA/RMM tools (ServiceNow, ConnectWise, SolarWinds, Datto, etc.).  Capacity planning and cost optimization experience in hybrid or multi-cloud environments.  Why AHEAD: Through our daily work and internal groups like Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity of people, ideas, experience, and everything in between.We fuel growth by stacking our office with top-notch technologies in a multi-million-dollar lab, by encouraging cross department training and development, sponsoring certifications and credentials for continued learning.USA Employment Benefits include:  - Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance - 401(k) - Paid company holidays - Paid time off - Paid parental and caregiver leave - Plus more See benefits for additional details. The compensation range indicated in this posting reflects the On-Target Earnings (“OTE”) for this role, which includes a base salary and any applicable target bonus amount. This OTE range may vary based on the candidate’s relevant experience, qualifications, and geographic location.

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