Senior Linux Systems Administrator

UIOWA • Iowa City, IA

9d • Remote

About The Position

The Senior Linux Systems Administrator is responsible for the architecture, administration, automation, security, and lifecycle management of enterprise Linux platforms supporting critical healthcare, research, academic, and business applications. The role provides senior-level technical leadership for Linux infrastructure, supporting high availability, operational excellence, cybersecurity compliance, and disaster recovery across on-premises, hybrid cloud, and healthcare application environments.

The administrator works with infrastructure engineering, cybersecurity, cloud operations, storage, networking, DevOps, application teams, vendors, and organizational leadership. They serve as a technical expert and trusted advisor, lead complex projects and modernization initiatives, develop automation strategies, and support enterprise backup, recovery, and cyber-resiliency programs.

The position is eligible for remote work within Iowa. A work arrangement form must be completed upon starting employment; arrangements are reviewed annually and must comply with the remote work program and related policies and employee travel policy. The position participates in scheduled maintenance and change management, monitors platform health, and takes part in 24x7 on-call rotations for critical infrastructure services.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience in a related field.
• 5–7 years of progressively responsible experience administering enterprise Linux systems.
• Demonstrated expertise in Linux operating system administration, troubleshooting, performance analysis, and automation.
• Experience supporting mission-critical production environments requiring high availability and operational reliability.
• Strong experience with shell scripting and automation tools.
• Experience with enterprise storage technologies, including SAN and NAS environments.
• Demonstrated experience with backup and recovery tools, and knowledge of disaster recovery and business continuity procedures.

Nice To Haves

• Experience supporting healthcare, academic medical centers, research computing, or highly regulated environments.
• Experience with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, and enterprise Linux lifecycle management.
• Experience with Ansible Automation Platform and Infrastructure-as-Code methodologies.
• Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift, or AKS container platforms.
• Experience supporting hybrid cloud environments, including Microsoft Azure and AWS.
• Experience with enterprise monitoring platforms such as Zabbix, Nagios, Splunk, or similar solutions.
• Experience with enterprise backup and cyber-recovery solutions such as Cohesity, Dell PowerProtect Data Manager (PPDM), Dell Data Domain, Avamar, IBM Storage Protect, or equivalent technologies.
• Knowledge of immutable backup architectures, cybersecurity recovery controls, and ransomware recovery strategies.
• Experience with enterprise storage solutions such as Dell PowerScale (Isilon), PowerStore, PowerMax, NetApp, or equivalent platforms.
• Familiarity with Epic infrastructure requirements and healthcare application platforms.
• Linux certifications such as RHCSA, RHCE, RHCA, LFCS, LFCE, or equivalent.
• Experience leading infrastructure modernization, cloud migration, or large-scale platform transformation initiatives.
• A cover letter is desired as part of the application process.

Responsibilities

• Design, deploy, administer, and support enterprise Linux platforms, including Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and other enterprise distributions.
• Manage Linux operating system lifecycle activities, including installation, patching, upgrades, performance tuning, security hardening, and retirement.
• Administer authentication, identity integration, DNS, NTP, certificates, file systems, storage, and networking services.
• Implement and support Linux high-availability and clustering technologies for critical applications.
• Troubleshoot complex operating system, application, storage, and infrastructure issues across multi-tier environments.
• Support mission-critical healthcare applications, including Epic, and other clinical, research, and academic systems.
• Manage enterprise storage integrations, including SAN, NAS, software-defined storage, and cloud-based storage services; use LVM, file systems, and performance analysis tools to optimize platforms.
• Develop and maintain automation using Ansible, Python, Bash, PowerShell, or other scripting languages, and implement Infrastructure-as-Code and configuration management practices.
• Partner with DevOps and application teams to streamline deployments, configuration management, and operational processes.
• Support containerized workloads using Docker, Podman, Kubernetes, OpenShift, AKS, or similar platforms.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend solutions that improve reliability, scalability, security, and operational efficiency.
• Lead modernization initiatives involving cloud adoption, platform migrations, automation, and service transformations.
• Implement and maintain Linux security hardening standards aligned with healthcare, regulatory, and cybersecurity requirements.
• Collaborate with Information Security on vulnerability remediation, incident response, threat mitigation, and compliance initiatives; support privileged access management, auditing, endpoint protection, logging, and security monitoring.
• Participate in cybersecurity preparedness and resilience planning, and maintain documentation and operational standards for regulatory and audit requirements.
• Design, implement, monitor, and maintain enterprise backup, recovery, and cyber-recovery solutions for Windows, Linux, and related infrastructure platforms.
• Collaborate with backup, storage, and security teams to ensure critical healthcare and business systems can be recovered.
• Participate in disaster recovery planning, testing, and operational readiness exercises; validate backup integrity through recovery testing and document recovery procedures.
• Support immutable storage, cyber vaults, air-gapped solutions, replication, ransomware recovery capabilities, and enterprise data retention and recovery strategies.
• Lead technical projects and work involving multiple infrastructure and application teams, and serve as an escalation point for complex technical issues and operational incidents.
• Develop and maintain technical documentation, standards, procedures, architecture diagrams, and knowledge articles.
• Mentor junior administrators and engineers, promote operational excellence and knowledge sharing, and partner with vendors to evaluate solutions and resolve technical challenges.
• Contribute to strategic planning and long-term infrastructure roadmaps.
• Participate in scheduled maintenance and change management; monitor platform performance, capacity, availability, and operational health; and ensure adherence to service level objectives and operational best practices.
• Participate in 24x7 on-call support rotations for critical infrastructure services.

Benefits

• 24 days of paid vacation per year to start
• Paid sick leave
• Generous benefits package; full details are available through the University of Iowa benefits information

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior