Director of Linux Engineering and Operations

MetLif; Cary (NC); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health plan

401(k) match

PTO & holidays

EAP program

Job summary

MetLife’s Global Technology team seeks a Director of Linux Engineering & Operations to modernize Linux platforms, drive SRE practices, and lead a global, high-performing engineering organization. You will oversee automation-first workflows, infrastructure-as-code, and cross-region reliability initiatives.

Location is hybrid with in-office days; salary range is $140k–$185k with incentive opportunities. Join a team delivering resilient hosting services and cutting-edge digital solutions for

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field; leadership in large-scale enterprise infrastructure.
• Deep expertise in Linux platforms (e.g., RHEL) including engineering, operations, lifecycle management, and standardization at scale.
• Experience with VMware virtualization environments and platform transitions.
• Strong working knowledge of SRE concepts, reliability engineering, automation, observability, incident management, and continuous improvement.
• Proven ability to operate in complex, regulated enterprise environments with focus on availability, security, and risk management.

Responsibilities

• Lead the global Linux Engineering & Operations organization with clear direction and accountability for platform performance and reliability.
• Create a modern Linux operating model grounded in SRE principles and automation-first practices.
• Oversee stability, security, patching, and lifecycle management of Linux platforms across regions.
• Manage large-scale global infrastructure operations, capacity planning, incidents, and post-incident analysis.

Skills

Linux expertise

SRE concepts

Automation

Observability

Leadership

Incident management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

VMware virtualization

Ansible Automation Platform

Terraform

GitOps tooling

Elastic

Prometheus/Grafana

OpenTelemetry

Job description

When you join MetLife’s Global Technology team, you’ll be part of a forward-thinking group dedicated to shaping the future of digital solutions for customers worldwide. You’ll develop, maintain and support technology applications and delivery, leveraging AI, automation, and contemporary ways of working to enhance experiences and drive business outcomes. Your work will simplify complex processes, improve tech resiliency, and ensure high-performing, seamless solutions that power life’s most important moments. In this dynamic environment, you’ll collaborate with talented peers across teams and functions, expanding your skills in impactful ways. Ready to push boundaries and set new industry standards? Join us and help drive the future of technology forward.

The Opportunity

The Director – Linux Engineering & Operations is responsible for leading the global Linux platform and operations capability, ensuring the reliability, scalability, security, and resilience of critical hosting services across MetLife’s enterprise. This role oversees Linux infrastructure engineering and operational excellence through strong Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) principles across multiple regions.

Guided by our purpose – always with you, building a more confident future – and MetLife’s New Frontier strategy focused on stronger growth, attractive returns, and all‑weather performance, this is a highly visible leadership role addressing some of the firm’s most important technology platforms. The successful candidate will modernize how Linux and virtualization platforms are engineered and operated, elevate service reliability, and introduce new perspectives that balance technical depth with business outcomes. This role is ideal for a proven leader who can ramp quickly, bring fresh insight, and lead with confidence, clarity, and accountability.

What Success Looks Like (First 12–18 Months)

• Establish a modern, global operating model across all Linux platforms with automation‑first workflows
• Deliver measurable improvements in platform reliability, incident response time, and change success rates across the global Linux estate
• Build a high‑performing, globally distributed team with clear development paths and a culture of engineering ownership
• Drive operating system currency to eliminate legacy versions to achieve N and N‑1 currency position

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the global Linux Engineering & Operations organization, providing technical and operational leadership across enterprise Linux platforms environments. Set clear direction, priorities, and accountability for platform performance and reliability.
• Create a modern Linux operating model grounded in Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) principles, including automation‑first practices, infrastructure‑as‑code, standardization, observability, and continuous improvement.
• Oversee the stability, availability, security, patching, and lifecycle management of Linux platforms, ensuring alignment with enterprise risk, compliance, and resiliency expectations.
• Manage large‑scale global infrastructure operations, capacity planning, major incident response, and post‑incident analysis, driving systemic fixes and measurable improvements in service health.
• Drive infrastructure‑as‑code adoption and GitOps‑driven workflows across the platform, leveraging tools such as Ansible Automation Platform, Terraform, and related orchestration frameworks.
• Establish and mature observability practices across the platform estate using modern tooling (e.g., Elastic, Prometheus/Grafana, OpenTelemetry), ensuring actionable alerting, end‑to‑end visibility, and data‑driven capacity decisions.
• Manage hardware vendor relationships, lifecycle strategies, and procurement planning across the on‑premises compute and storage footprint, contributing to vendor diversification and cost optimization initiatives.
• Develop high‑performing engineering leaders and teams, fostering strong technical depth, sound engineering judgment, and a culture that balances operational discipline with innovation and customer focus.
• Coordinate closely with application, middleware, database, cloud, security, and SRE teams to ensure platform capabilities align with business needs, architectural standards, and technology roadmaps.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience) and demonstrated leadership in large‑scale enterprise infrastructure environments.
• Deep expertise in Linux platforms (e.g., RHEL) including engineering, operations, lifecycle management, and platform standardization at scale.
• Experience with VMware virtualization environments, including migration planning or platform transitions to alternative virtualization technologies.
• Strong working knowledge of SRE concepts, including reliability engineering, automation, observability, incident management, and continuous improvement.
• Proven ability to operate in complex, regulated enterprise environments with strong focus on availability, security, and risk management.
• Ability to rapidly assess situations, make informed decisions, and lead with confidence during both steady‑state operations and high‑pressure events.

Preferred Qualifications

• 12–15+ years of experience in infrastructure engineering, operations, or platform leadership roles within large enterprise environments.
• Red Hat certifications such as RHCE, RHCA, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform specialist
• Prior experience leading global teams across multiple regions and time zones.
• Experience with hybrid cloud strategies, particularly integrating on‑premises Linux and container platforms with public cloud services (Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services).
• Familiarity with modern observability platforms and practices (Elastic, Prometheus/Grafana, OpenTelemetry) and infrastructure‑as‑code tooling (Ansible, Terraform, GitOps workflows).
• Demonstrated success modernizing legacy platforms while maintaining operational stability.
• Experience partnering with senior executives and translating technical topics into business‑relevant insights.
• Experience managing hardware vendor relationships, lifecycle planning, and procurement strategies across enterprise compute and storage platforms.
• Strong leadership presence with a pragmatic, outcomes‑driven mindset and a bias for action.
• Track record of building durable platforms and teams that scale, adapt, and continuously improve.

#LI-WRAPJOB

Location Expectation: This is a hybrid role requiring a minimum of 3 days per week in office.

The expected salary range for this position is $140,000 - $185,000 . This role may also be eligible for annual short‑term incentive compensation. All incentives and benefits are subject to the applicable plan terms.

Benefits We Offer

Our U.S. benefits address holistic well‑being with programs for physical and mental health, financial wellness, and support for families. We offer a comprehensive health plan that includes medical/prescription drug and vision, dental insurance, and no‑cost short‑and‑long‑term disability. We also provide company‑paid life insurance and legal services, a retirement pension funded entirely by MetLife and 401(k) with employer matching, group discounts on voluntary insurance products including auto and home, pet, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and accident insurance, as well as Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and digital mental health programs, parental leave, paid time off, paid holidays, volunteer time off, tuition assistance and much more! For more information regarding MetLife’s U.S. benefits, please click here .

About MetLife

Recognizedon Fortune magazine's list of the "World's Most Admired Companies",Fortune World’s 25 Best Workplaces™, as well as the Fortune 100 Best Companiesto Work For®, MetLife, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is one of theworld’s leading financial services companies; providing insurance, annuities,employee benefits and asset management to individual and institutionalcustomers. With operations in more than 40 markets, we hold leading positionsin the United States, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

As part of our New Frontier strategy, MetLife is building an AI-enabled, people-centered future. We’re looking for people who bring curiosity, adaptability, and a growth mindset as we use AI to enhance how we serve customers, support communities, and evolve the way work gets done. At MetLife, AI is a responsible partner that supports human judgment, creativity, and continuous improvement while helping us build trust, inclusion, and long‑term value.

Our purposeis simple - to help our colleagues, customers, communities, and the world atlarge create a more confident future. United by purpose and guided by our corevalues - Win Together, Do the Right Thing, Deliver Impact Over Activity, andThink Ahead - we’re inspired to transform the next century in financialservices. At MetLife, it’s #AllTogetherPossible . Join us!

MetLife is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All employment decisions are made without regards to race, color, national origin, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital or domestic/civil partnership status, genetic information, citizenship status (although applicants and employees must be legally authorized to work in the United States), uniformed service member or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law (“protected characteristics”). If you need an accommodation due to a disability, please email us at [e-mail].
MetLife maintains a drug-free workplace.

This posting is for a current vacancy and is anticipated to remain open for at least 30 days from the listed posting date.