Senior Linux Systems Engineer

Helion•Everett, WA

34d•Onsite

About The Position

We are a fusion power company based in Everett, WA, with the mission to build the world's first fusion power plant, enabling a future with unlimited clean electricity. Our vision is a world with clean, reliable, and affordable energy for everyone. Since Helion's founding in 2013, we have raised over $1 billion from long-time investors such as Sam Altman, Mithril, and Capricorn Investment Group as well as new investors SoftBank and Lightspeed to propel us forward. Our last prototype, Trenta, completed 10,000 high-power pulses and reached plasma temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius (9 keV). We are now operating Polaris, our next prototype on the path to the world's first fusion power plant. This is a pivotal time to join Helion. You will tackle real-world challenges with a team that prizes urgency, rigor, ownership, and a commitment to delivering hard truths - values essential to achieving what no one has before. Together, we will change the future of energy, because the world can't wait. The Senior Linux Systems Engineer will design, implement, and support a scalable, secure, and high-performance Linux ecosystem across Helion's R&D, manufacturing, and production environments. This role bridges IT, software engineering, and scientific computing teams to ensure Linux systems are reliable, automated, and well-integrated with broader company infrastructure. The ideal candidate thrives in complex hybrid environments, is proactive in identifying inefficiencies, and takes ownership of driving long-term technical improvements. This is an onsite role that reports directly to our System Security Manager at our Everett, WA office.

Requirements

8+ years in Linux systems engineering, systems administration, or infrastructure operations
Deep proficiency with RHEL/CentOS, Ubuntu, or similar distributions in hybrid environments
Expertise with automation and configuration management (Ansible, Chef, Puppet, Terraform)
Strong scripting experience (Bash, Python, PowerShell) for automation and tooling
Understanding of networking fundamentals, storage (iSCSI/NFS/SAN), and system performance tuning
Familiarity with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Podman, Kubernetes)
Experience with version control and CI/CD pipelines (Git, Bitbucket, Jenkins, or GitHub Actions)
Proven ability to document, communicate, and collaborate across technical and non-technical teams
Experience with identity integration (LDAP, Active Directory, Entra ID) and endpoint security tools (SentinelOne, Defender, etc.)

Responsibilities

Architect and manage Linux server infrastructure supporting engineering, software, and research workloads across on-premise and cloud environments
Automate system configuration and deployments using tools such as Ansible, Chef, or Terraform to ensure consistency, speed, and repeatability
Develop and maintain monitoring and alerting for system performance, capacity, and availability using open-source or enterprise observability tools
Collaborate cross-functionally with Windows, HPC, and DevOps teams to create seamless interoperability across mixed environments
Lead troubleshooting and incident response for complex system and application issues impacting production or development workloads
Enhance system security posture through hardening, patch management, identity integration, and compliance with CIS benchmarks
Support and scale engineering compute clusters (e.g., build/test environments, batch compute, GPU nodes) ensuring high availability and efficient resource use
Evaluate and implement new technologies that improve reliability, observability, and automation efficiency