Senior Linux Platform Engineer - Kubernetes

NO SPONSORHIP - NO OPT

Senior Linux Platform Engineer w/ Kubernetes

CHICAGO, IL

HYBRID 4 DAYS IN OFFICE

SELLING POINTS: 5-7 years linux system administration and engineering, heavy Kubernetes k8 experience. You will be deploying and maintaining on premises Kubernetes clusters and containerized workloads system level software middleware and api’s python bash saltstack rpm’s kubeadm rke openshift and Prometheus Grafana loki TCPIP DNS NTP/PTP DHCP CICD Jenkins GItLab

In this role, you will be responsible for managing and improving our highly automated Linux-based systems and platforms while supporting our broader technology infrastructure with a focus on automation. You'll be working collaboratively with our technology and operations teams to ensure the highest levels of system performance, security, and availability.

Your responsibilities will be:

• Managing and improving our Linux-based infrastructure with a focus on performance, reliability, and scalability.
• Designing, deploying, and maintaining on-premises Kubernetes clusters and containerized workloads.
• Developing and maintaining system-level software, middleware, and APIs to support internal platforms and services.
• Automating system workflows and infrastructure tasks using Python, Bash, and configuration management tools like SaltStack.
• Building and maintaining RPM packages and internal software repositories.
• Collaborating with Application Support (SRE), Development, and Security teams to ensure secure, automated CI/CD and platform integration.
• Diagnosing and resolving complex system-level issues involving the OS, network, or container runtime.
• Implementing hardened security configurations, including system hardening, secure communications, and identity/access integration.
• Participating in an on-call rotation to support critical infrastructure services.
• Documenting architectures, tools, and operational processes to support long-term maintainability.

The ideal candidate has

• 5+ years of experience in Linux systems administration and infrastructure/platform engineering.
• Production experience managing Kubernetes, preferably in bare-metal or on-premises environments (e.g., with kubeadm, RKE, or OpenShift).
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure or Google Cloud Platform) in production environments.
• Strong scripting and automation skills in Python and Bash.
• In-depth knowledge of Linux internals, kernel tuning, and performance diagnostics.
• Hands-on experience with SaltStack (preferred), Puppet, or Ansible for configuration management.
• Familiarity with observability tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, or Loki.
• Solid understanding of core infrastructure protocols and services (TCP/IP, DNS, NTP/PTP, DHCP, etc.).
• Experience managing CI/CD pipelines with tools such as Jenkins, GitLab, or similar.
• Strong troubleshooting skills and a proactive approach to problem-solving.