Systems Engineer - Linux

Western Governors University; Salt Lake City (UT); On-site; USD 74,000 - 111,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonuses

Health benefits

Wellbeing program

Tuition discount

Flexible PTO (paid time off)

Job summary

Western Governors University is seeking a Systems Engineer - Linux to design, support, and improve our enterprise Linux infrastructure, spanning on-premises and cloud environments. You will manage RHEL systems, implement automation, and partner with security, networking, and data center teams to ensure high availability and security.

The role emphasizes automation, reliability, and collaboration in a large-scale enterprise setting, with a 40-hour work week and opportunities for professional

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Two (2) years of experience administering Red Hat Enterprise Linux in a production enterprise environment.
• Experience provisioning, configuring, and supporting enterprise Linux systems.
• Experience managing virtualized Linux workloads using VMware vSphere.
• Experience implementing security standards, patching, and configuration management using Ansible or similar automation tools.
• Experience supporting secure environments handling confidential or regulated data.

Responsibilities

• Administer, maintain, and support enterprise Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) servers across on-premises and cloud environments.
• Deploy, configure, and maintain standardized RHEL images, templates, and automation processes.
• Monitor Linux infrastructure to ensure system health, availability, performance, and security compliance.
• Implement and maintain backup strategies while partnering with application owners to meet service level objectives.
• Support VMware vSphere environments and assist with virtualization and storage administration.
• Configure and maintain storage resources supporting Linux workloads.
• Utilize Ansible and scripting to automate system deployment, configuration management, patching, and operational tasks.
• Partner with Security teams to implement operating system hardening, vulnerability remediation, and enterprise security standards.
• Collaborate with Data Center teams to ensure adequate compute, power, cooling, and connectivity for infrastructure platforms.
• Participate in infrastructure maintenance activities, upgrades, migrations, and troubleshooting efforts, including occasional after-hours maintenance windows.
• Develop and maintain operational documentation, runbooks, knowledge base articles, and technical standards.
• Support enterprise monitoring and alerting platforms to proactively identify and resolve infrastructure issues.
• Contribute to change management activities by documenting implementation plans in accordance with ITIL practices.
• Work closely with systems engineers, network engineers, cloud engineers, and application teams to deliver reliable infrastructure services.
• Participate in a 24x7 on-call rotation supporting mission-critical systems.

Skills

RHEL administration

VMware vSphere

Ansible

Security & patching

Enterprise Linux systems

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

VMware vSphere

Ansible

Job description

If you're passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you're committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals.

The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders.

Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case.

A reasonable estimate of the current range is: Grade: Technical 403 Pay Range: $73,800.00 - $110,700.00

Job Description

At Western Governors University, technology is foundational to delivering life-changing educational opportunities to students across the country. We're looking for a Systems Engineer - Linux to help design, support, and continuously improve the enterprise Linux infrastructure that powers our mission. In this role, you'll manage and maintain Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) environments across on-premises and cloud platforms, ensuring high availability, security, and operational excellence. You'll work closely with infrastructure, networking, security, cloud, and data center teams to deploy, monitor, automate, and optimize enterprise systems while contributing to modernization initiatives and operational improvements. This is an excellent opportunity for an engineer who enjoys automation, infrastructure reliability, systems security, and solving complex technical challenges in a collaborative enterprise environment.

What You'll Do

• Administer, maintain, and support enterprise Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) servers across on-premises and cloud environments.
• Deploy, configure, and maintain standardized RHEL images, templates, and automation processes.
• Monitor Linux infrastructure to ensure system health, availability, performance, and security compliance.
• Implement and maintain backup strategies while partnering with application owners to meet service level objectives.
• Support VMware vSphere environments and assist with virtualization and storage administration.
• Configure and maintain storage resources supporting Linux workloads.
• Utilize Ansible and scripting to automate system deployment, configuration management, patching, and operational tasks.
• Partner with Security teams to implement operating system hardening, vulnerability remediation, and enterprise security standards.
• Collaborate with Data Center teams to ensure adequate compute, power, cooling, and connectivity for infrastructure platforms.
• Participate in infrastructure maintenance activities, upgrades, migrations, and troubleshooting efforts, including occasional after-hours maintenance windows.
• Develop and maintain operational documentation, runbooks, knowledge base articles, and technical standards.
• Support enterprise monitoring and alerting platforms to proactively identify and resolve infrastructure issues.
• Contribute to change management activities by documenting implementation plans in accordance with ITIL practices.
• Work closely with systems engineers, network engineers, cloud engineers, and application teams to deliver reliable infrastructure services.
• Participate in a 24x7 on-call rotation supporting mission-critical systems.

What You'll Bring

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Two (2) years of experience administering Red Hat Enterprise Linux in a production enterprise environment.
• Experience provisioning, configuring, and supporting enterprise Linux systems.
• Experience managing virtualized Linux workloads using VMware vSphere.
• Experience implementing security standards, patching, and configuration management using Ansible or similar automation tools.
• Experience supporting secure environments handling confidential or regulated data.
• Equivalent professional experience may substitute for education requirements (generally one year of experience for one year of education).

Preferred Qualifications

• Linux certifications such as Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA), Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE), or comparable certifications.
• Experience supporting hybrid cloud infrastructure.
• Experience with enterprise monitoring platforms and infrastructure automation.
• Experience supporting higher education or similarly regulated environments.

Technical Skills

We're looking for someone with experience in several of the following areas: Red Hat Enterprise Linux administration and lifecycle management; Linux command line administration and shell scripting; Ansible automation and configuration management; VMware vSphere administration; Enterprise storage technologies; TCP/IP networking fundamentals; Active Directory and Azure Active Directory integration; Enterprise authentication and identity management; DNS, DHCP, and core infrastructure services; System monitoring, alerting, and operational health; ITIL Service Management and change management practices; Information security best practices and operating system hardening; Cloud infrastructure and Linux deployments.

What Makes You Successful

Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills with the ability to resolve complex infrastructure issues. A proactive mindset focused on reliability, automation, and continuous improvement. Excellent communication skills with the ability to collaborate across technical teams. A customer-focused approach that balances operational excellence with business needs. Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment. A commitment to documentation, knowledge sharing, and operational excellence.

Why Join WGU?

At WGU, you'll join a mission-driven technology organization where your work directly supports student success. Our engineers build and maintain secure, scalable, and reliable infrastructure that enables innovation across the university. You'll collaborate with talented teammates, work with modern enterprise technologies, and have opportunities to grow your technical expertise while making a meaningful impact.

Position & Application Details

Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.

Accommodations:

Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at [e-mail].

Equal Employment Opportunity:

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.

Additional Information

In 1997, a coalition of 19 U.S. governors founded Western Governors University with a singular vision: to make higher education more accessible by offering full degree programs online. Starting small, we quickly expanded. Today, we’re one of the largest accredited online universities in the U.S.