Linux Administrator

Location: Richmond, VA
Work Arrangement: Hybrid
Experience: 5+ Years
Employment Type: Contract

Job Description

One of our clients is seeking an experienced Linux Administrator to support enterprise Red Hat Linux environments in Richmond, VA. This is a hybrid position requiring hands-on experience in Linux administration, Ansible automation, patching, vulnerability remediation, troubleshooting, and production support.

The ideal candidate will be responsible for maintaining the reliability, availability, security, and performance of enterprise Linux infrastructure across production and non-production environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Administer, provision, configure, maintain, upgrade, and decommission enterprise Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) servers.

• Perform operating system patching, kernel updates, security remediation, system hardening, and scheduled maintenance.

• Develop, maintain, and execute Ansible playbooks, roles, inventories, and automation workflows.

• Use Bash, Python, or other scripting languages to automate routine administrative tasks and improve operational efficiency.

• Monitor system performance, capacity, availability, and stability; troubleshoot issues related to networking, DNS, storage, filesystems, authentication, permissions, and services.

• Diagnose and resolve complex Linux incidents, production issues, and service requests; perform root cause analysis and implement corrective actions.

• Support vulnerability management, security audits, compliance requirements, and infrastructure lifecycle activities.

• Maintain technical documentation, operational procedures, runbooks, and troubleshooting guides.

• Collaborate with application, database, network, cybersecurity, cloud, and infrastructure teams to resolve technical issues.

• Participate in change management, scheduled maintenance windows, after-hours support, and an on-call rotation.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field.

• Minimum of 5 years of hands-on enterprise Linux administration experience.

• Strong experience with Linux server provisioning, configuration, maintenance, patching, upgrades, troubleshooting, and production support.

• Hands-on experience with Ansible automation and scripting using Bash, Python, or similar languages.

• Strong understanding of Linux networking, DNS, storage, filesystems, authentication, access controls, and package management.

• Experience with vulnerability remediation, system hardening, and enterprise security practices.

• Familiarity with incident management, problem management, change management, and service-management processes.

• Excellent analytical, troubleshooting, documentation, communication, and collaboration skills.

• Ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and support scheduled maintenance and on-call requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

• Knowledge of Ansible Automation Platform or Ansible Tower.

• Experience with Terraform and Infrastructure as Code (IaC).

• Familiarity with VMware and cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud Platform.

• Experience with Git, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure automation.

• Knowledge of ServiceNow, Jira, SolarWinds, Prometheus, Grafana, or CloudWatch.

• Exposure to Docker, Podman, Kubernetes, OpenShift, AKS, or EKS.

• Experience supporting highly available, business-critical, or regulated infrastructure environments.

• Relevant security, cloud, or Kubernetes certifications are a plus.

Work Schedule

• Hybrid work arrangement in Richmond, VA, with onsite presence during designated team weeks and as required for projects and operational support.

• Availability for after-hours maintenance, patching, upgrades, production support, and an on-call rotation is required.

Additional Information

• Federal Government Support: No

• Required Certifications: None

• Interview Process: Microsoft Teams video interview; camera must be on.