Linux Systems Engineer - Bare Metal & Kubernetes

Optiver; Sydney; On-site; AUD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Optiver in Sydney is seeking a Linux Engineer to design, build and operate the critical infrastructure powering our trading environment. You will manage on-prem Kubernetes clusters and bare-metal Linux platforms across global datacenters.

You will own core Kubernetes components (Cilium, ArgoCD, Rancher), develop IaC with Terraform, and build CI/CD workflows using ArgoCD and GitHub Actions. You’ll contribute to monitoring, security, and runbooks to keep systems reliable and scalable.

Qualifications

• Production-grade Linux engineering experience.
• Hands-on on-prem Kubernetes in bare-metal environments.
• Familiar with Rancher, Cilium, ArgoCD, Terraform and GitHub Actions.
• Strong networking knowledge (L2/L3, routing, load balancing).
• Experience with incident response and post-mortem driven improvements.

Responsibilities

• Design, deploy and operate on-prem Kubernetes clusters in a bare-metal Rancher-managed environment.
• Maintain and improve bare-metal Linux infrastructure, including provisioning and lifecycle management.
• Own core Kubernetes components including Cilium, ArgoCD, and Rancher.
• Build CI/CD workflows for infrastructure deployments using ArgoCD and GitHub Actions.
• Develop infrastructure as code using Terraform.
• Participate in on-call rotation for Kubernetes and Linux systems.
• Drive reliability, scalability and performance across workloads.
• Contribute to monitoring, observability and security posture.
• Build clear documentation and runbooks for the team.

Skills

Linux engineering

On-prem Kubernetes

Rancher

Cilium

ArgoCD

Terraform

GitHub Actions

Networking fundamentals

Performance troubleshooting

Incident response

Tools

Rancher

Cilium

ArgoCD

Terraform

GitHub Actions

Job description

As a Linux Engineer in the Global Linux team, you will design, build and operate the critical infrastructure that powers our trading environment. The team owns both large-scale bare-metal Linux platforms and on-prem Kubernetes clusters across our global datacenters.
You will play a key role in evolving our Kubernetes platform while continuing to support and improve our high-performance Linux estate.

What you’ll do

Design, deploy and operate on-prem Kubernetes clusters in a bare-metal environment (Rancher-managed)

• Maintain and improve our bare-metal Linux infrastructure, including provisioning, lifecycle management and performance tuning
• Own and operate core Kubernetes components including Cilium (CNI), ArgoCD (GitOps), and Rancher
• Build and maintain CI/CD workflows for infrastructure and cluster deployments using ArgoCD and GitHub Actions
• Develop and maintain infrastructure as code using Terraform and bespoke on-prem systems
• Participate in on-call rotation covering both Kubernetes clusters and other Linux-based production systems
• Drive reliability, scalability and performance improvements across both containerized and non-containerized workloads
• Contribute to monitoring, observability and security posture across the Linux and Kubernetes platforms
• Ensure the broader team can effectively operate and support the Kubernetes and Linux platforms by building clear documentation, operational runbooks, and providing practical, hands‑on guidance
  

Who you are

• Strong Linux systems engineering experience in production environments
• Hands‑on experience operating Kubernetes on‑prem (not only managed cloud offerings)
• Experience with:
• Rancher
• Cilium or other CNI technologies
• ArgoCD (GitOps workflows)
• Terraform
• CI/CD systems such as GitHub Actions
• Solid understanding of networking fundamentals (L2/L3, routing, firewalls, load balancing)
• Experience troubleshooting performance issues across kernel, container and network layers
• Production mindset with experience in incident response and post‑mortem driven improvements
  

Nice to have

• Experience building monitoring stacks (e.g. Prometheus, Grafana)
• Experience with Kubernetes security controls (network policies, RBAC, policy engines)
• Knowledge of low‑latency or performance‑sensitive environments
• Experience contributing to internal platform tooling
  

No prior trading or financial experience is needed – our onboarding program will kick‑start your career at Optiver and support you in gaining all the relevant knowledge about our business.

Who We Are

At Optiver, our mission is to constantly improve the market by injecting liquidity, providing accurate pricing, increasing transparency and acting as a stabilizing force no matter the market conditions. With a focus on continuous improvement, we participate in the safeguarding of healthy and efficient markets for