Linux Server Engineer Senior

Women In Science; Ann Arbor (MI); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Michigan ITS in Ann Arbor, MI, is seeking a Senior Linux Server Engineer to strengthen the Systems Operations team. This role focuses on engineering and supporting the core Linux infrastructure across on-premise and cloud platforms, with emphasis on automation and secure, scalable design.

You will report to the Linux Infrastructure Engineering Manager, mentor junior staff, drive incident RCA, and collaborate with Architects to implement reliable, compliant infrastructure

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in a relevant field.
• Minimum five years of progressive Linux experience on-premise and cloud.
• Experience with automation and scripting to streamline admin tasks.
• Strong diagnostic and root-cause analysis skills.
• Security hardening and backup/recovery proficiency.
• Ability to lead projects and mentor teammates.

Responsibilities

• Provide daily administration for RHEL, Ubuntu, and enterprise Linux across on-prem and cloud.
• Automate installations, patches, configurations, and maintenance with configuration management tools.
• Research, diagnose, and resolve complex incidents, performing RCA.
• Collaborate with project teams to design scalable, secure infrastructure.
• Monitor performance, plan capacity, and enforce security hardening.
• Support disaster recovery and backup operations to ensure availability.
• Mentor junior teammates and drive technical leadership.

Skills

Linux server administration

Troubleshooting & RCA

Python / Bash scripting

Security hardening

Automation & configuration management

Leadership & mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, business computing, or related field

Tools

Ansible

Terraform

Puppet

Docker

Kubernetes

VMware vSphere

Git

Job description

University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
Job posting number: #7373217
Posted: October 23, 2026
Application Deadline: Open Until Filled

Job Summary

Information and Technology Services (ITS) is seeking a Linux Server Engineer Senior to join the Systems Operations group. In this role, your primary focus will be engineering and supporting the core Linux infrastructure at ITS-including server platforms and critical systems-while collaborating closely with the ITS Container Service team. You will leverage high degrees of automation and integrate with modern cloud-native systems. This position reports to the Linux Infrastructure Engineering Manager.

Responsibilities

• Provide daily support and administration for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, and other enterprise Linux distributions across both on-premise and cloud platforms
• Develop, automate, and document procedures to install, patch, configure, manage, and maintain Linux operating systems using configuration management tools
• Research, diagnose, and resolve complex technical incidents, performing root-cause analysis (RCA) and implementing long-term remediations
• Collaborate with project teams and system architects to design and build scalable, secure infrastructure aligned with organizational standards and vendor requirements
• Proactively monitor system performance, manage capacity planning, and conduct security hardening and vulnerability remediation
• Support disaster recovery planning, backup operations, and system restoration processes to ensure continuous availability
• Utilize analytical and creative problem-solving skills to protect systems, enforce security compliance, and ensure overall infrastructure stability
• Demonstrate quality service, operational accountability, and effective technical leadership in resolving requests and mentoring junior team members

Required Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, business computing, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education, certifications, and experience
• Experience: Minimum of five years of progressive experience in a related role, with a focus on troubleshooting, analyzing, and independently supporting enterprise Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Ubuntu, and other Linux distributions across on-premise and cloud environments
• Automation & Scripting: Demonstrated experience writing, debugging, and maintaining Python or Bash scripts to automate administrative tasks, deployments, and operational workflows
• Technical & Diagnostic Skills: Advanced ability to leverage administrative tools for root-cause analysis, log analysis, performance monitoring, and service restoration (including backup, recovery, and failover operations)
• Networking, Storage & Security: Sound foundational knowledge of enterprise storage management (LVM, NFS), core network services (DNS, TCP/IP, SSH), and OS hardening/security standards
• Leadership & Collaboration: Demonstrated ability to manage complex technical projects, maintain awareness of emerging industry best practices, and effectively mentor team members or influence technical decisions through a consensus-building approach

Desired Qualifications

• Automation & Infrastructure as Code: Hands-on experience developing and maintaining playbook/configuration repositories using automation tools such as Ansible, Terraform, Puppet, Chef, or Salt
• Containers & Kubernetes Systems: Experience supporting Linux host OS nodes, container runtimes (e.g., Docker, Podman, containerd), or Kubernetes and container orchestration platforms
• Cloud Infrastructure: Practical experience architecting, deploying, and managing Linux workloads within cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform)
• Automated OS Provisioning: Experience implementing automated operating system deployment and image creation tools (e.g., Kickstart, Cloud-init, Packer)
• Observability & Log Analytics: Familiarity with enterprise monitoring and log analytics tools such as Splunk, Elastic Stack (ELK), Prometheus, or Grafana
• Virtualization: Experience configuring and managing virtual machines within VMware vSphere or hyperconverged infrastructure environments
• Hardware & Data Center Operations: Experience configuring, maintaining, and troubleshooting physical server hardware, specifically enterprise HPE and Dell platforms (including out-of-band management via iLO/iDRAC)