Linux Systems Administrator

About the role

Linux Systems Administrator

Location: Remote — United States

Department: Information Technology — Infrastructure Engineering

Reports to: Infrastructure Engineering Manager

Employment Type: Full-time, individual contributor

Experience: 7+ years of relevant hands-on experience

Base Salary: $120,000–$150,000 annually, plus equity and benefits

Eligibility: U.S. citizenship required

About RapidFort

RapidFort helps enterprises and government organizations reduce software supply chain risk through hardened container images, runtime-based attack surface reduction, and automated vulnerability remediation.

We own and operate infrastructure that supports our engineering teams and core systems. We’re hiring an experienced Linux systems administrator to keep that environment secure, reliable, and running efficiently.

The Role

We’re looking for a technically sharp, hands-on Linux administrator who investigates problems thoroughly, takes ownership, and delivers lasting solutions.

You will administer production Linux systems, troubleshoot complex issues, write automation, and improve day-to-day operations. You should be comfortable moving from an unfamiliar symptom to a diagnosis, implementing a controlled fix, and verifying that the underlying problem is resolved.

This is a senior individual contributor role with direct responsibility for technical execution. Strong Bash scripting, practical Python skills, and deep Linux troubleshooting experience are essential. You will work closely with our infrastructure engineers while independently owning assigned systems, incidents, and improvements.

The position is remote within the United States. Physical data center experience is beneficial but is not required.

What You’ll Do

Linux Systems Administration

Build, configure, administer, and harden Linux systems, primarily RHEL/Rocky Linux and Ubuntu .

Manage system services, packages, users, permissions, authentication, and access controls.

Own operating system lifecycle work, including patch testing, staged deployment, upgrades, exception tracking, and end-of-life remediation.

Maintain consistent configurations and identify configuration drift.

Support remotely managed physical servers and virtualized environments.

Troubleshooting and Incident Ownership

Independently diagnose production issues involving CPU, memory, disk I/O, filesystems, systemd, networking, and service dependencies.

Investigate failed services, boot problems, resource exhaustion, package conflicts, and intermittent performance issues.

Use logs, metrics, and command-line diagnostic tools to identify root causes and validate fixes.

Coordinate with engineering teams and vendors when an issue crosses system boundaries.

Contribute to incident reviews and complete corrective actions that prevent recurrence.

Escalate appropriately, with clear findings, supporting evidence, and a record of troubleshooting already performed.

Automation and Configuration Management

Write, debug, and maintain Bash scripts for provisioning, diagnostics, remediation, reporting, and routine operations.

Develop and maintain Python automation where it improves reliability or simplifies operational work.

Write and maintain Ansible roles and playbooks under established team standards.

Replace repetitive manual tasks with reliable, maintainable automation.

Test changes and maintain automation in version control.

Security and Operational Reliability

Apply Linux security baselines, least-privilege access, and timely security updates.

Improve monitoring and alerting to detect problems early and reduce unnecessary noise.

Maintain backup processes and test recovery procedures.

Execute planned changes with documented implementation, validation, and rollback steps.

Maintain clear runbooks, configuration records, and troubleshooting documentation.

Participate in a shared on-call rotation and scheduled maintenance windows.

What You’ll Bring

7+ years of hands-on experience administering Linux in production environments , including recent responsibility for systems operations and troubleshooting.

Deep practical knowledge of Linux processes, services, permissions, package management, filesystems, logging, and resource management.

Strong experience with RHEL/Rocky Linux and Ubuntu .

Strong Bash scripting skills. You can independently write, troubleshoot, and maintain shell scripts used in production.

Practical Python skills for systems automation and operational tooling.

Hands-on experience writing and maintaining Ansible roles and playbooks , or substantial experience with a comparable configuration management platform.

Strong networking fundamentals, including TCP/IP, subnetting, routing, DNS, firewalls, SSH, and connectivity troubleshooting.

Experience supporting virtualization, storage, monitoring, and backup and recovery.

A record of personally resolving complex technical problems and following through on corrective actions.

Sound judgment about change risk, testing, rollback, and escalation.

Clear communication and the ability to work independently within a remote team.

Recent technical execution is essential. Candidates whose current responsibilities are primarily people management should be able to demonstrate continued, direct ownership of Linux administration, scripting, and troubleshooting.

Helpful Additional Experience

Linux hardware diagnostics involving PCIe devices, drivers, firmware, and kernel logs.

GPU servers, NVIDIA drivers, CUDA environments, or infrastructure supporting AI workloads.

Virtualization technologies such as KVM, Proxmox, VMware, or LXC.

SAN/NAS storage, logical volume management, and multipathing.

Remote server management through IPMI, iDRAC, iLO, or similar tools.

Docker, containers, or Kubernetes.

Infrastructure supporting SOC 2 or ISO 27001 controls.

Physical data center operations.

What Success Looks Like

Within 90 days: You understand the environment, independently administer standard systems, resolve common incidents, and execute controlled changes.

Within six months: You own assigned systems and operational responsibilities, handle on-call issues effectively, and have automated recurring manual work.

Over time: You reduce repeat incidents, improve system reliability, and become a trusted technical resource for Linux troubleshooting and automation.

Location and Eligibility

Must reside and work within the United States .

U.S. citizenship is required to support federal programs and contractual requirements.

Must be available for the shared on-call rotation and scheduled maintenance.

Compensation and Benefits

Base salary: $120,000–$150,000 annually , depending on relevant experience and demonstrated technical skills.

Equity participation.

Medical, dental, and vision coverage.

401(k) with company contribution.

Paid time off.

Remote work within the United States.

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