Linux Systems Administrator

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill (NC); Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is seeking a Linux Systems Administrator within ITS Research Computing. The role focuses on designing, deploying, operating and maintaining services for High Throughput and High Performance Computing in a research context.

Ideal candidates have strong Linux expertise, experience with automation tools (Cobbler, SALT, Ansible), enterprise storage, and observability platforms; they will lead complex projects, collaborate with researchers, and contribute

Qualifications

• Proficiency with Linux operating systems including installation, configuration, troubleshooting and lifecycle management.
• Experience with automation/configuration-management tools such as Cobbler, SALT or comparable platforms.
• Familiarity with enterprise storage platforms, capacity monitoring, health assessment and basic hardware maintenance.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, deploy, operate and maintain HPC/HTC services and related systems.
• Lead architecture and automation for observability platforms and telemetry collection.
• Collaborate with faculty, researchers, vendors and service owners to ensure reliable operations and security.

Skills

Linux admin

Automation

Monitoring

Security/compliance

Communication

Problem solving

Team collaboration

Education

Master’s degree or equivalent

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Cobbler

SALT

Ansible

Job description

One of the best college towns and best places to live in the United States, Chapel Hill has diverse social, cultural, recreation and professional opportunities that span the campus and community.

University employees can choose from a wide range of professional training opportunities for career growth, skill development and lifelong learning and enjoy exclusive perks for numerous retail, restaurant and performing arts discounts, savings on local child care centers and special rates on select campus events. UNC -Chapel Hill offers full-time employees a comprehensive benefits package, paid leave, and a variety of health, life and retirement plans and additional programs that support a healthy work/life balance.

Primary Purpose of Organizational Unit

ITS Research Computing (RC) aims to provide a world-class computing infrastructure as well as other technology tools and capabilities to support the research needs of University faculty and staff. Its goal is to provide a state-of-the-art environment to support the highest level of multidisciplinary research and help UNC -Chapel Hill become the premier research university in the United States.

Position Summary

This position may be eligible for a hybrid work arrangement that may include a partially remote work location, consistent with System Office policy. UNC Chapel Hill employees are generally required to reside within a reasonable commuting distance of their assigned duty station.

The Linux Systems Administrator will have a broad role within Research Computing at UNC Chapel Hill, designing, deploying, operating and maintaining services and solutions in support of leading -edge academic research, primarily related to High Throughput Computing ( HTC ) as well as High Performance Computing ( HPC ).

Responsibilities of the Linux Systems Administrator include leading and contributing to a variety of areas within Research Computing related to the design, build, and operation of services along with ancillary systems including high -speed storage and networking, containers, databases, monitoring, orchestration services, etc.

The ideal candidate for this position should possess a comprehensive understanding of Linux systems administration in a research context, broad technical capabilities, and enjoy applying these skills in academic research to further the mission of the University.

The successful candidate should possess excellent leadership and communication skills to effectively lead complex projects. They should have the ability to engage directly with faculty and researchers, as well as leverage research computing communities of practice beyond Carolina.

ITS Research Computing aims to provide world-class computing and data infrastructure as well as other services and capabilities in support of research needs for faculty, staff, students, and collaborators. Our goal is to provide state-of-the-art environments and services supporting the highest level of multidisciplinary research.

Minimum Education and Experience Requirements

Master’s and 1-2 years’ experience; or Bachelors and 2-4 years’ experience; or will accept a combination of related education and experience in substitution.

Required Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience

• Proficiency with Linux operating systems, including installation, configuration, troubleshooting, and lifecycle management in an enterprise or research-computing context. Experience with automation and configuration-management tools such as Cobbler, SALT , or comparable platforms used to deploy and manage systems at scale. Familiarity with enterprise storage platforms, including routine configuration tasks, capacity monitoring, health assessment, and basic hardware maintenance such as drive replacement. Ability to interpret and act on monitoring, logging, and alerting data to maintain operational continuity across diverse service lines. Understanding of RHEL repo management and practices for maintaining consistent, secure OS-layer operations.
• Ability to lift and maneuver equipment up to 50 pounds, work in hot/cold aisle conditions, and perform tasks in confined rack environments. Capacity to stand, bend, and work in data-center spaces for extended periods while performing installation, cabling, and hardware maintenance tasks.
• Strong diagnostic and problem-solving abilities, including the capacity to assess hardware and system issues under time constraints. Demonstrated adherence to change-management and operational best practices in complex technical environments. Ability to coordinate effectively with vendors, service providers, and internal stakeholders to support hardware and storage operations.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to convey technical information to both technical and non-technical audiences. Ability to work collaboratively within a team where some responsibilities are shared and others are independently owned.
• Understanding of operational practices required to support environments involving controlled information and regulated data, including attention to security, access control, and data-handling expectations.
• The position requires expertise with Linux operating systems and the ability to engineer, maintain, and troubleshoot large-scale OS deployments for HPC and research-computing environments. The role demands sustained focus, careful change-management discipline, and the ability to diagnose complex system-level issues in a fast-moving research environment.
• Duties include contributing to the architecture and automation that underpin observability platforms, ensuring reliable telemetry collection and correlation across diverse service lines, and interpreting operational signals to maintain service health, security posture, and compliance expectations. The role requires disciplined incident response, careful analysis of system behavior, and the ability to translate monitoring insights into stable, well-governed operations.
• The role requires strong organizational awareness, clear communication with service owners and vendors, and steady operational judgment to maintain reliable, well-governed storage services.

Preferred Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience

Experience managing InfiniBand HPC clusters. Experience managing multi petabyte enterprise storage platforms, including vendor specific administration tools, performance tuning concepts, and lifecycle planning. Hands on experience with data center hardware ecosystems such as multi node server deployments, high density rack environments, and hardware lifecycle management. Familiarity with infrastructure automation, including developing or extending provisioning and configuration management code in tools such as Cobbler, SALT , Ansible, or similar platforms. Experience maintaining RHEL based environments at scale, including custom repository management, patch orchestration, and compliance aligned OS baselines. Background working with observability platforms (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, ELK /Opensearch, Splunk, Alertmanager) and contributing to monitoring or logging architecture.

Special Physical/Mental Requirements

The position requires the ability to lift and maneuver hardware components up to 50 pounds, work in confined rack environments, and remain on one’s feet for extended periods. It also requires sustained concentration, situational awareness, and the ability to perform precise technical tasks under time pressure in an active enterprise data center environment.

Campus Security Authority Responsibilities

Department Contact Name and Title Parker Whitley, ITS Human Resources Specialist

Department Contact Telephone or Email

Office of Human Resources Contact Information

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

The University is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all to apply without regard to age, color, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Required Documents

• Curriculum Vitae / Resume
• List of References

Optional Documents

• Cover Letter
• Other Document

Supplemental Questions

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).

• * Please select the education / experience that matches your background
  • Master’s degree or higher and 1-2 years’ of experience
  • Bachelors degree and 2-4 years of experience
  • A combination of related education and experience
  • None of the above
• * Have you worked with a High Performance Computing (HPC) or High Throughput Computing (HTC) environment?
  • Yes
  • No
• * How many years of Linux experience do you have?

  (Open Ended Question)

• * Are you comfortable learning new technologies independently and working with researchers to solve technical problems?
  • Yes
  • No