Senior Linux Systems Administrator

About the role

SAIC is recruiting for a Senior Linux Systems Administrator to support our NOAA GFDL program in Princeton, NJ. This role serves the NOAA GFDL lab in a highly scientific, user- and mission-driven facility, dividing time between project work (60%) and user support (40%) in a high-interrupt environment requiring rapid response to complex system inquiries.

Responsibilities

• Provide mid-tier to top-tier systems administration for clients and servers in a heterogeneous environment.
• Maintain IT security posture according to organizational requirements and manage a rigorous patching schedule for all systems.
• Manage existing patching deployment tools, maintain and enhance current tools, and replace the current backup system with a new one.
• Install software packages, compile where necessary, and maintain an inventory of all assets and applications.
• Manage smart card authentication infrastructure.
• Support project and user activities in a high-interrupt environment.
• Write, update, and enhance system documentation concerning problem resolutions and HPC assets.
• Write technical justifications for the procurement of hardware and software.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, or a related field and five (5) years or more of experience; or a Master’s degree and three (3) years or more of experience; or a PhD and 0 years of related experience.
• Years of experience may be accepted in lieu of a degree.
• Demonstrated proficiency in Linux administration best practices.
• Demonstrated knowledge of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or derivatives (e.g., AlmaLinux OS, CentOS, Oracle Linux, Rocky Linux) is a plus.
• Understanding of licensing structures for Red Hat products is a plus.
• Documented experience with scripting (e.g., shell, bash, tcsh, perl, python, ruby).
• Documented experience with managing, deploying, or migrating centralized backup systems (e.g., Amanda, Bacula, Backup Exec, NetBackup, ReaR).
• Documented knowledge of configuration management tools (e.g., ansible, chef, puppet, or saltstack).
• Experience with configuration and support of access methods (e.g., VPN, SSH tunneling).
• Experience managing and maintaining database clusters, preferably Percona XtraDB/MySQL cluster.
• Experience managing software scalable network file systems and centralized storage appliances.
• Experience supporting enterprise logon with smart card authentication on Linux (e.g., BeyondTrust, Centrify, SSSD).
• U.S. Citizenship with the ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust Clearance.

Pay

Target salary range: $80,001 – $120,000. The estimate represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience and other factors.