Senior Linux Systems Administrator

Vast•Long Beach, CA

10h•$123,000 - $174,600•Onsite

About The Position

Vast is developing next-generation space stations and space infrastructure using an incremental, hardware-rich, and low-cost approach. Vast is rapidly developing its multi-module Haven Station to ensure a continuous human presence in space for America and its allies, enabling advanced microgravity research and manufacturing, and unlocking a new space economy for government, corporate, and private customers. Haven Demo’s 2025 success made Vast the only operational commercial space station company to fly and operate its own spacecraft. Next, Haven-1 is expected to become the world’s first commercial space station when it launches in 2027, followed by additional Haven modules. Additionally, the company recently announced Vast Satellite, a high-power satellite product line leveraging its space station components and the heritage of Haven Demo. Headquartered in Long Beach, California, and with more than 1,000 employees and over a billion dollars in private capital, Vast has built the facilities required to manufacture and operate America’s next space station. The company plans to develop future habitats and systems for the Moon and Mars, dedicated space stations for government partners, and other crewed systems that will unlock the expanding long-term space economy. Vast is looking for a Senior Linux Systems Administrator, reporting to the Manager of IT System Administrators, to play a key role in designing, deploying, and maintaining Vast's Linux workstations and servers. You will be responsible for configuration management using Puppet, development of Ubuntu workstation images, supporting hardware and software developers, as well as resolving complex technical issues escalated from Tier 2 support. Your contributions will ensure scalable, secure, and efficient workstation & infrastructure operations. This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location.

Requirements

5+ years of professional experience in Linux system administration (Ubuntu or Debian-based preferred), performance tuning, and automation.
3+ years of hands-on experience with Puppet in production environments
Proficient in scripting languages such as Bash or Python
2 years Experience with Git

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Ansible, etc.)
Exposure to LDAP or Active Directory integration for authentication and authorization
Experience with physical server hardware, including racking, cabling, and maintaining rack-mounted servers
Experience in cloud environments (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
Experience with monitoring, logging, and metrics collection tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack)
2 years experience with K8s or docker
Understanding of security compliance frameworks (e.g., NIST, FIPS, CIS)

Responsibilities

Develop, test, and maintain Puppet manifests and modules for system configuration and compliance
Create and maintain standardized Ubuntu imaging processes
Troubleshoot and resolve advanced system and application issues (Tier 2 & 3)
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support ongoing workstation improvements and patching
Assist with automation of infrastructure and deployment tasks using Terraform or similar tools
Contribute to identity and access management systems, including LDAP / Active Directory integration
Assist with support for hardware and software developers
Document best practices, system configurations, and procedures