Senior Linux Systems Engineer

Orange Barrel Media; Columbus (OH); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Orange Barrel Media seeks an experienced OS internals engineer to own and evolve its Ubuntu Core-based platform. You will lead the infrastructure function, ensure security, stability, and performance across a large device fleet, and drive incremental, well-reasoned improvements while maintaining reliable rollout processes.

You will oversee the Linux platform, display-server stack, and application stability, mentoring engineers and shaping migration paths with clear tradeoffs.

Qualifications

• 8+ years running production Linux systems with kernel/storage/networking depth
• Experience deploying Linux at fleet scale, including Ubuntu Core snap tooling
• Strong security background with patching and hardening
• Hands-on scripting and observability tooling
• Experience leading/mentoring engineers
• Clear written communication skills

Responsibilities

• Own the Linux platform end to end: kernel, base snaps, patch cadence, image management
• Run deployment/update pipelines across a large fleet with safe rollouts and health checks
• Maintain display-server stack (Ubuntu Frame/Mir, Wayland, GPU drivers) on embedded/server hardware
• Ensure stability/performance of apps on Linux, with resource and dependency management
• Lead root-cause analysis, define health baselines, and set up alerts for regressions
• Own OS security posture: hardening, secure boot, disk encryption, AppArmor/seccomp

Skills

Linux kernel depth

Fleet-scale deployment

Security fundamentals

Scripting (Bash, Python)

Observability (Prometheus/Grafana)

Mentoring/leadership

Tools

Landscape or fleet management tool

Snap packaging & confinement

AppArmor/Seccomp

Ubuntu Core

Job description

About The Role

We run an established Ubuntu Core-based platform and display-server estate deployed across a large fleet of devices, along with the applications that run on it. We're looking for an experienced OS internals engineer to own the platform: keep it secure, stable, and performant, evolve where it makes sense, and make sure changes reach every unit reliably. You'll inherit systems that work and have room to improve them, but we value incremental, well-reasoned change over rewrites. You'll lead our infrastructure function and provide technical direction for the team.

What You'll Do

Platform and fleet

• Own the Linux platform end to end: kernel and base snap versions, patching cadence, image management, end-of-life planning
• Run deployment and update pipelines that push OS, driver, application, and configuration changes safely across a large number of units: channels and tracks, staged rollouts, canaries, health checks, rollback
• Maintain the display-server layer (Ubuntu Frame/Mir, Wayland, X11, GPU drivers, remote display) on embedded and server-class hardware

Application stability and performance

• Ensure the applications running on the platform are stable under real-world load: resource limits, service supervision via snapd and systemd, restart behavior, dependency management
• Profile and tune at the OS/application boundary: CPU scheduling, memory pressure, I/O, GPU utilization, network throughput
• Define health and performance baselines, set up alerting on regressions, and lead root-cause analysis when things degrade

Security

• Own the OS security posture: hardening baselines, access control, privilege separation, secure boot, disk encryption
• Use snap confinement (AppArmor, seccomp, interfaces) as the primary isolation boundary for applications
• Run vulnerability management: CVE monitoring and triage, patch prioritization, and coordinated rollout across the fleet
• Reduce attack surface at the application layer: least privilege, dependency and supply-chain hygiene
• Maintain audit logging and integrity checks; support incident response and any compliance requirements

Leadership

• Identify where the platform should evolve and make the case with clear tradeoffs and migration paths
• Keep documentation, runbooks, and fleet tooling accurate and usable by others
• Manage and mentor engineers on the team; set priorities across OS, fleet, application, and cloud reliability work
• Be the escalation point for anything below the application code itself

What You'll Bring

• 8+ years running production Linux systems, with real depth in kernel, boot, init, storage, and networking internals
• Experience deploying and updating Linux at fleet scale, ideally on Ubuntu Core: snap packaging and confinement, channel and track management, transactional updates and rollback, and a fleet management tool (Landscape or similar)
• Track record of keeping production applications stable and fast on Linux, including profiling and performance debugging
• Strong security background: you read advisories, understand attack surface, and patch without breaking things
• Hands-on experience with display servers and GPU stacks beyond the desktop use case
• Judgment about when to change something and when to leave it alone
• Comfortable with scripting (Bash, Python) and observability tooling (Prometheus, Grafana, or similar)
• Prior experience leading or mentoring engineers
• Clear written communication

Nice to Have

• Experience with IoT or edge device fleets: constrained hardware, intermittent connectivity, remote provisioning and recovery
• Experience building and publishing snap packages, including confinement design and interface declarations
• Experience building custom Ubuntu Core images, gadget and kernel snaps, or brand stores
• Familiarity with other immutable OS models (ostree, NixOS)
• Kernel module or driver debugging experience
• Enough cloud familiarity (AWS, GCP, or similar) to partner well with cloud-focused engineers
• Compliance exposure (SOC 2, ISO 27001, CIS benchmarks)

Company Overview

Orange Barrel Media (OBM) creates and operates iconic urban media displays that advertisers ask for by name in top U.S. markets. Since our founding in 2004, OBM has pioneered a community-oriented model of outdoor media development and is nationally recognized by cities and real estate owners alike seeking to implement premier media programs that add to the character of urban places. In the advertising community, OBM is widely recognized as the owner of the highest impact and most memorable advertising locations in the cities where it operates. The OBM team is also a leader in smart city infrastructure, launching the Interactive Kiosk Experience (IKE) platform in concert with cities across the U.S. through the company IKE Smart City. IKE is a best-in-class public engagement platform that helps cities communicate with the public, enliven the pedestrian experience, and tell the story of their city. The core pillars of the IKE platform are public benefit and social equity, values that we seek to maximize in every IKE market to achieve city objectives and exceed community expectations. We are a place where people are inspired to achieve success, genuinely like each other, and have endless opportunities to grow. Learn more at www.obm.com and www.ikesmartcity.com.