Senior RHEL Engineer - High-Impact Linux Admin (Flexible)

Ignite IT; Suitland (MD); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) with matching

Health Insurance - 3 plans

Dental insurance

Vision Insurance

Life insurance

Paid time off

Professional development assistance

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Ignite IT is seeking a very experienced, senior-level Red Hat Linux Admin/Engineer to support the Unix Management Branch of the Census Bureau contract. You will deploy, configure, and maintain RHEL infrastructure and ensure high availability and security across multiple divisions.

Expect on-call rotation and collaboration with backups, virtualization, and storage teams. The role emphasizes performance tuning, kernel parameter analysis, automation via Bash/Ansible, and strong customer service to

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field (or 7+ additional years of equivalent experience)
• 10+ years of dedicated experience as a Linux/RHEL Engineer or Administrator
• Expert-level scripting with Bash and strong proficiency with Ansible for configuration management and automation
• In-depth knowledge of Linux storage (LVM, XFS, NFS, CLVM) and networking (TCP/IP, DNS, bonding)
• Expertise across RHEL 7, 8, and 9 environments
• Strong experience in Linux performance tuning, kernel parameter analysis (sysctl), and troubleshooting with tools like vmstat, iostat, sar, and perf

Responsibilities

• Manage the complete lifecycle (provisioning, patching, upgrading, decommissioning) of all RHEL servers supporting the enterprise
• Develop and maintain automation using Ansible, Bash, and/or Python to ensure consistent and rapid deployment of enterprise-wide changes
• Deploy and maintain servers in clustered environments
• Proactively monitor and tune the performance of the RHEL environment to support high-throughput, low-latency data processing and ingestion
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex performance bottlenecks related to CPU, memory, storage, and networking
• Serve as an escalation point for the Operations Center and other Unix team members
• Triage and resolve infrastructure issues, providing root cause analysis
• Work with application, storage, and network teams to resolve cross-domain service issues
• Work with the Backup team to ensure consistent backups of all Linux servers
• Implement and maintain system security in accordance with federal standards (NIST, FISMA, and DISA STIGs)
• Manage user access and system entitlements, including SSSD/LDAP/Active Directory integration
• Troubleshoot and resolve SELinux problems
• Participate in security audits and provide remediation for findings
• Participate in an on-call rotation for 24/7/365 operational support

Skills

Linux Administration

Bash scripting

Ansible

Python scripting

Kernel parameter analysis

Performance tuning

Networking

Vulnerability/SElinux troubleshooting

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/IT or related field

7+ years equivalent experience

RHCE/RHCA (preferred)

Tools

vmstat

iostat

sar

perf

Ansible (automation)

XFS/LVM/NFS/CLVM storage

Job description

Ignite IT is seeking a very experienced, senior-level Red Hat Linux Admin/Engineer to support the Unix Management Branch of the Census Bureau contract. You will deploy, configure, and maintain RHEL infrastructure and ensure high availability and security across multiple divisions.

Expect on-call rotation and collaboration with backups, virtualization, and storage teams. The role emphasizes performance tuning, kernel parameter analysis, automation via Bash/Ansible, and strong customer service to