Systems Engineer

Share; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Share is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to own the foundational infrastructure, including production Linux, virtualization, and security perimeter at scale. This role demands hands-on experience in telco/ISP-grade environments and a cloud-first stack.

You'll work across hardware and virtualization layers, implement robust security controls, and collaborate with network and cloud teams. Experience with AWS/GCP/Azure and Kubernetes is preferred, plus a proactive ownership mindset.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional systems engineering experience, ideally in telco/ISP environments.
• Deep production Linux administration, hardened to run at scale.
• Real virtualization depth across VMware, KVM, Hyper-V.
• Security ownership: perimeter security, VPNs, IDS, and segmentation.
• Solid networking fundamentals: routing, switching, VLANs, DNS, load balancing.
• Experience with at least one hyperscaler (AWS/GCP/Azure).
• Kubernetes exposure and container orchestration familiarity.
• AI-native tooling experience in workflows and automation.
• Proactive ownership: from problem framing to production delivery.

Skills

7+ years experience

Production Linux admin

Virtualization depth

Security ownership

Networking fundamentals

Hyperscaler knowledge

Kubernetes exposure

AI-native workflows

Ownership mindset

Tools

VMware

KVM

Hyper-V

Networking tools

Kubernetes

Job description

About Share

Share is a venture backed company building the marketplace for bandwidth: the infrastructure layer that connects internet capacity suppliers to every individual and business that runs on it. Today, bandwidth is the most in-demand asset in the world, but its buy/sell process is highly fragmented and inefficiently priced. Share brings the supply and demand together by building distributed routing nodes and connecting carriers, ISPs, data centers, and enterprise buyers through a neutral exchange, turning bandwidth into a liquid, tradeable resource. We're building the category-defining marketplace for how bandwidth gets bought, sold, and delivered globally.

The Role

Share's physical network runs on real infrastructure: servers, virtualization, firewalls, and the operating systems underneath everything the company runs, cloud-native or not. We're looking for a senior Systems Engineer to own that foundation, the traditional infrastructure layer that everything else still depends on, hardened and run the way a carrier-grade network demands. This is the seat for someone who's spent years running production Linux, virtualized infrastructure, and the security perimeter around it at real scale (most likely inside a telco, ISP, or carrier-grade network operator) and who's now bringing that discipline into a more modern, cloud-first stack.

Our Ideal Candidate

• 7+ years of professional systems engineering experience, ideally including time inside a telco, ISP, or carrier-grade network operator.
• Deep, production Linux administration: you've built, hardened, and kept Linux systems running at real scale, not just deployed them from a template.
• Real virtualization depth: VMware, KVM, Hyper-V or similar, you're just as comfortable at the VM layer as you are one layer up.
• Genuine security ownership: perimeter security, firewalls, network segmentation, VPNs, intrusion detection. You've designed and defended a real security boundary, not just followed a checklist.
• Solid networking fundamentals: routing, switching, VLANs, DNS, load balancing, enough to hold your own with our network team, even if carrier-scale BGP isn't your specialty.
• Working knowledge of at least one hyperscaler (AWS, GCP, or Azure), you don't need to be cloud-native yet, but you're comfortable operating there.
• Kubernetes exposure.
• AI-native in your workflow: you've built with these tools, not just used them, and can show the leverage you've gained.
• You ship, and you drive. Handed an infrastructure or security problem, you scope it, build it, own it through production, and use what you've learned to push the department forward.

Compensation & Benefits

Competitive salary and meaningful equity in a mission-driven, investor-backed company. A high-ownership environment with a steep but well-supported learning curve, and a team that writes things down.