3+ years of SaltStack administration and automation experience
Strong hands-on experience with Debian and Ubuntu Linux
Responsibilities
Design, deploy, administer, and maintain enterprise Linux environments.
Develop standardized operating system configurations and hardened baseline builds.
Perform operating system upgrades, patch management, lifecycle maintenance, and performance optimization.
Troubleshoot complex operating system, networking, and application issues.
Analyze and troubleshoot network traffic using tools like tcpdump and Wireshark.
Automate system provisioning, configuration deployment, and compliance enforcement using SaltStack.
Design, deploy, and support secure VPN infrastructures utilizing OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IPSec.
Benefits
Collaborative work environment with cross-functional teams.
Engagement in mission-critical projects that enhance national security.
Opportunities for professional development and continued learning.
Possibility of working in a cutting-edge technological atmosphere.
Access to advanced tools for performance analysis and optimization.
Full Job Description
Nightwing is seeking a highly skilled Linux Systems Engineer to design, deploy, optimize, automate, and support large-scale Linux infrastructure supporting secure networking and remote-access services. This role is ideal for an engineer with deep expertise in Linux networking, policy-based routing, kernel performance tuning, infrastructure automation, and modern VPN technologies including WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IPSec. The successful candidate will collaborate closely with network engineering, systems administration, and platform engineering teams to deliver highly available, secure, and scalable infrastructure solutions in mission-critical environments. Primary Responsibilities Linux Infrastructure Engineering
Design, deploy, administer, and maintain enterprise Linux environments.
Develop standardized operating system configurations and hardened baseline builds.
Perform operating system upgrades, patch management, lifecycle maintenance, and performance optimization.
Troubleshoot complex operating system, networking, and application issues.
Advanced Network Engineering Design and implement advanced routing architectures utilizing:
Policy-Based Routing (PBR)
Multiple routing tables
Route maps and traffic steering
Source-based and destination-based routing
Multi-homed network environments
Configure and troubleshoot:
OSPF and static routing
VLANs, LACP, and 802.1Q trunking
Network namespaces
VRFs
NAT and firewall policies
Analyze and troubleshoot network traffic using:
tcpdump
Wireshark
iproute2
nftables
iptables
Linux Kernel Tuning & Performance Optimization Tune Linux kernel parameters for:
High-throughput networking
Low-latency applications
VPN gateway performance
Large-scale concurrent connections
Optimize:
TCP/IP stack performance
Network buffer sizing
IRQ balancing
CPU affinity
NUMA awareness
Memory management
Utilize performance analysis tools including:
perf
sar
vmstat
iostat
eBPF observability tools
systemd performance metrics
VPN Engineering Design, deploy, and support secure VPN infrastructures using:
OpenVPN 2.6+
WireGuard
IPSec
Implement and support:
Site-to-site VPNs
Remote-access VPNs
Hub-and-spoke architectures
High-availability VPN clusters
Dynamic routing across VPN overlays
Responsibilities include:
Troubleshooting encryption, routing, MTU, and performance issues
Implementing modern cryptographic standards and VPN hardening best practices
Configuration Management & Automation Develop and maintain Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) solutions using SaltStack. Create and maintain:
Salt States
Pillars
Custom modules
Orchestration workflows
Automate:
System provisioning
Configuration deployment
Compliance enforcement
VPN deployments
Security baseline management
Integrate SaltStack with CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure monitoring platforms.
Required Qualifications:
Current Top-Secret Clearance with SCI Eligibility
Technical Experience
5+ years of Linux Systems Engineering experience
3+ years of advanced Linux networking experience
3+ years of VPN engineering experience
3+ years of SaltStack administration and automation experience
Operating Systems Strong hands-on experience with:
