Solaris Engineer, Hosting and Storage Services

Northramp LLC•Reston, VA

About The Position

The UNIX/Linux/Solaris Engineer supports the Hosting and Storage Services (HSS) program by administering production Oracle Solaris systems, including Zones and Logical Domains, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems hosted on VMware. The role performs operating system patching and change execution on established schedules and uses automation where it improves reliability, security, or customer outcomes. The Engineer collaborates with the Windows and VMware team, cybersecurity team, operations management group (DCOB), network operations center (NOC), and customer application owners. The position administers Solaris and Red Hat environments, manages Solaris operating system lifecycle, patching, and applicable Oracle hardware, and supports Red Hat systems in partnership with the Windows and VMware team. It executes Solaris patching using Alternate Boot Environments (ABEs), plans for Oracle's changing security-bundle cadence and urgent out-of-band updates, and maintains Red Hat patching through Puppet. The Engineer leads the transition from Oracle Ops Center to Ansible or Puppet automation and supports an Oracle Enterprise Manager upgrade from 13.5 to 24 AI. The Engineer configures and uses ScienceLogic SL1 monitoring, investigates security alerts and related tickets using Tenable, Tripwire, and Splunk, enforces host firewalls and account policies, and validates changes in non-production environments before deployment. The role follows distinct Solaris and Red Hat service models, uses ServiceNow for change and incident management, participates in xMatters on-call rotations, and coordinates with the NOC during enterprise incidents. It maintains SharePoint-hosted SOPs and runbooks and aligns documentation with team and customer meetings.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
At least 5 years administering Oracle Solaris (Zones and LDOMs) or Red Hat Enterprise Linux at scale, including operating system patching and change execution in regulated environments.
Hands-on experience with ABE-based Solaris patching, rollback, vendor bundle planning, and adapting to non-monthly patch cadences.
Practical experience with Puppet and Ansible for UNIX automation, including playbooks and modules.
Strong bash and ksh shell scripting skills.
Familiarity with VMware-hosted Linux operations and coordination with platform teams.
Experience with SL1, Tenable, Tripwire, and Splunk, as well as host-level firewall management and security policy enforcement such as password lifecycles.
Experience using ServiceNow for CAB and change templates, incidents, and root cause analysis, and using xMatters on-call processes.
Strong documentation habits, including creating SOPs and runbooks with screenshots, and a collaborative approach with customers and cybersecurity teams.
Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust.
Eligible to work in the United States.

Nice To Haves

Experience designing Ansible-first automation to replace legacy tools such as Oracle Ops Center for Solaris patch management, and integrating automation outputs with ServiceNow tasks and approvals.
Experience upgrading Oracle OEM and validating monitoring and administration workflows during cutover.
Familiarity with CIS controls and practical UNIX and Linux hardening, including file integrity, SSH posture, logging, and firewalls.

Responsibilities

Operate and administer Oracle Solaris and Red Hat Enterprise Linux estates.
Administer Solaris Zones and Logical Domains, and manage Solaris operating system lifecycle, patching, and applicable Oracle hardware, including T-series platforms.
Administer RHEL systems virtualized on VMware in partnership with the Windows and VMware team.
Build, patch, and reboot into Solaris Alternate Boot Environments on standard non-production and production cycles, with rollback when needed.
Adapt Solaris patch plans to Oracle's revised security-bundle cadence and plan out-of-band updates when vulnerability severity requires them.
Maintain Red Hat operating system patching through Puppet, including monthly updates for customer-managed servers.
Lead the transition from Oracle Ops Center to Ansible or Puppet playbooks for Solaris patch automation; develop playbooks, modules, and operational runbooks.
Support the Oracle Enterprise Manager upgrade from version 13.5 to 24 AI and maintain reliable monitoring and administration workflows during and after migration.
Configure and use ScienceLogic SL1 monitoring for operating system and hardware health and notifications, coordinating platform configuration with DCOB as needed.
Triage Tenable security alerts and follow-on Tripwire and Splunk tickets; enforce host-level firewalls and raise network blocks when needed.
Implement account policies, including password-expiration changes, and validate changes in non-production before production deployment.
Administer Solaris operating systems and hardware, granting sudo access for customer application operations.
Support managed and customer-managed Red Hat server models, ensuring operating system patching and providing consulting when requested.
Use ServiceNow for change and incident management, follow CAB approvals and standard change windows, and provide post-incident root cause analysis where applicable.
Participate in xMatters on-call rotations with 15-minute acknowledgment and tiered escalation, and coordinate with the NOC bridge during enterprise events.
Maintain SharePoint-hosted SOPs and runbooks, including screenshots, covering patch orchestration, rollback, automation, OEM upgrades, SL1 alerting, and security and vulnerability remediation.
Align documentation with weekly UNIX and security syncs and customer meetings.
Collaborate with platform teams, customers, cybersecurity, operations management, and the NOC.