Working Title:Linux Systems Engineer

State Role Title: Information Technology Specialist II

Position Type: Full-time Staff (Classified)

Position Status: Full-Time

FLSA Status: Exempt: Not Eligible for Overtime

College/Division: Information Technology

Department: 100212 - IT - Infrastructure Services

Pay Band: 5

Pay Rate: Pay Range

Specify Range or Amount: $77,500 - $83,950

Is this a JMU only position? No

Is this a grant-funded position? No

Is this a Conflict of Interest designated position? No

Beginning Review Date: 9/18/2026

General Information:

THIS POSITION IS ON-SITE

James Madison University Information Technology is seeking a Linux Systems Engineer to support Linux infrastructure, observability platforms and the email mailing list service. As a member of the Linux Team within IT Systems & Operations, you'll be part of a high-functioning, collaborative, and supportive team, with many years of collective experience, and supportive leadership.

This is an on-site position with rotating on-call, a one-week responsibility recurring approximately every 5 weeks, that requires on-site presence within one hour of receiving notification. This position includes the opportunity for hybrid work.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Platform Ownership: Administer and support observability platforms including Elastic, Dell OpenManage Enterprise, and Zenoss. Maintain platform health, host agents, performance, availability, and uptime. Troubleshoot issues, perform upgrades, apply patches, and mitigate security vulnerabilities.

Linux Systems Administration: Administer Red Hat Enterprise Linux physical and virtual servers supporting university services. Manage and support systems including: Red Hat Satellite, Ansible Automation Controller, GitLab, LISTSERV, Bitwarden, VMware, Dell hardware, Pure Storage, Commvault, AWS and other legacy Linux systems.

Service Reliability & Security: Maintain operational stability through proactive monitoring, incident response, and problem resolution. Resolve support tickets and collaborate with team members to restore services. Implement security best practices and remediate vulnerabilities.

Customer Support & Collaboration: Provide technical support and consultation to campus customers and stakeholders. Communicate clearly and effectively with customers, peers, and leadership. Participate in a rotating on-call schedule.

Continuous Improvement: Research, evaluate, and recommend new technologies and service improvements. Develop and maintain thorough documentation of processes, procedures, and systems. Contribute to evolving operational practices and service delivery.

Qualifications:

Demonstrated experience with installing, troubleshooting, and supporting Linux systems via the command line in an enterprise environment, including significant professional experience in a mid-level or higher Linux engineering role, adhering to best practices and organizational strategy, and demonstrating mastery and ownership of complex mission-critical systems as a seasoned, independent contributor.

Experience with deployment and management of observability platforms, and other platforms such as Red Hat Satellite, Ansible Automation Controller, Gitlab, LISTSERV, Bitwarden, Dell hardware, VMware, Pure Storage, Commvault and AWS.

Experience with security best practices including deployment of published benchmarks, and vulnerability management with Crowdstrike or similar software.

Demonstrated customer support skills and ability to communicate clearly and appropriately with customers, peers, and leadership.

Experience with bash, ansible and python for system management tasks, or demonstrated proficiency with other scripting languages for system management tasks.

Additional Posting Information:

Conditions of Employment:

Employment is contingent upon the successful completion of a criminal background check.