IT Systems Administrator (Linux Admin)

Description

The company builds defense products on Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN), used by warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to respond faster and handle changing threats.

Founded in 2022, the company has raised $1 billion from investors including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. It is headquartered in Los Angeles and has offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and London.

This is a senior role leading Linux systems engineering for the engineering and program teams. You will design, build, secure, and run Linux servers, services, and cloud workloads in a defense setting where uptime and data protection both matter.

You will set standards, take on the hardest problems, and mentor teammates while working with cybersecurity, service desk, engineering, and program staff.

The team's goal is to keep Linux platforms reliable, secure, and predictable, and to automate repeatable work so people can focus on improvements. You will handle escalations and advise on infrastructure decisions.

You will own the Linux server environment end to end, including architecture, configuration management, patching, monitoring, backup, recovery, and hardening, and lead projects such as migrations, new site builds, and consolidations as the company grows.

Responsibilities

• Design, run, and maintain Linux servers across physical, virtual, and cloud setups, covering provisioning, configuration, patching, monitoring, and lifecycle work on Red Hat-based and Debian-based systems.
• Build and maintain automation and configuration management with Ansible, shell scripts, and Python to standardize builds, enforce settings, and streamline patching, reporting, and routine tasks.
• Create hardened, standard server images and templates that meet baselines such as DISA STIG and CIS, including SELinux, auditd, and FIPS-validated cryptography where required.
• Manage Linux storage and networking, including LVM, file systems, NFS, DNS, firewalls, and tuning for performance and capacity.
• Connect Linux systems to enterprise identity services such as Active Directory, LDAP, Kerberos, and SSSD, and enforce SSH key management, sudo policy, MFA, and privileged access controls.
• Deploy and run Linux workloads on Azure and AWS virtual machines, and support containerized workloads where needed.
• Act as technical lead and final escalation point for complex incidents, performing root-cause analysis and delivering permanent fixes.
• Mentor junior administrators and service desk staff, set technical standards and best practices, and run peer reviews.
• Plan and deliver infrastructure projects, including platform migrations, site buildouts, and integrating newly acquired environments.
• Own backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity design for Linux systems, including regular restore tests and recovery targets.
• Monitor system health, logs, and performance with central monitoring and logging tools, and fix vulnerabilities with cybersecurity.
• Help meet compliance requirements such as CMMC, NIST SP 800-171, and FedRAMP by keeping configuration records, logs, and access reviews and supplying audit evidence.
• Review technical designs and changes, follow change control, and tell stakeholders about maintenance windows and their impact.
• Assess tools and technologies, and contribute to the infrastructure roadmap, capacity planning, and budget input.
• Write and maintain system documentation, runbooks, and architecture diagrams.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent work experience.
• 3+ years of progressive experience running enterprise Linux servers, such as RHEL, Rocky, CentOS, Ubuntu, or Debian.
• Expert command-line and troubleshooting skills, with deep knowledge of systemd, networking, storage (LVM, file systems, NFS), and performance tuning.
• Strong scripting and automation in Bash and Python, plus experience with configuration management tools such as Ansible.
• Experience hardening Linux and fixing vulnerabilities in a regulated environment, including SELinux, auditd, DISA STIG or CIS baselines, and NIST SP 800-171 or CMMC requirements.
• Experience connecting Linux to enterprise identity (Active Directory, LDAP, Kerberos, SSSD) and managing SSH, sudo, and privileged access.
• Experience owning patch management, monitoring, and backup and disaster recovery, including restore testing and meeting recovery objectives.
• Track record of leading infrastructure projects and mentoring engineers, with strong written and verbal communication.
• U.S. person status, required for access to CUI and export-controlled data under ITAR and EAR.
• Preferred: experience running Linux in Azure, AWS, or Azure Government and Microsoft GCC High, including hybrid and multi-cloud designs.
• Preferred: experience with containers and orchestration (Docker, Podman, or Kubernetes) and virtualization platforms such as KVM or VMware.
• Preferred: Linux or cloud certification such as RHCSA, RHCE, LFCS, or Azure or AWS Associate level, or a security certification such as Security+ or CISSP.
• Preferred: experience with infrastructure as code and CI/CD tools such as Terraform, Git-based workflows, or pipelines.
• Preferred: experience supporting CMMC, NIST 800-171, or FedRAMP assessments, and an active U.S. government security clearance or the ability to get one.

Conditions

Onsite role based in the office.

Travel is minimal, up to roughly 10%, mainly for company offices and new sites.

Mostly sedentary work at a computer, with occasional lifting of equipment up to 25 lbs and time in server or network rooms.

On-call rotation, plus occasional after-hours maintenance windows for critical systems.

The posted pay range is an estimate covering base salary only and excludes bonus, equity, and benefits. Final offers may differ based on experience, education, training, critical skills, and business needs. Applicants whose pay expectations fall outside the range are still welcome to apply.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision benefits, 100% paid by the company.
• 401k with a 50% company match up to 6% of pay, plus FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more.
• Free daily lunch when working onsite, a fully stocked kitchen, unlimited PTO, and a casual dress code.
• Competitive base salary, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, and relocation assistance.
• Annual bonuses are coming soon.
• Team of 500+ employees across 5 global offices.