Sr. RHEL Systems Engineer, OT/SCADA

ON.energy

$110K — $140K *
Energy & Utilities
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 7+ years of senior, hands-on production RHEL/Linux engineering experience.
  • Expertise in container-native delivery using Podman and systemd.
  • Proficient in building reproducible, turnkey versioned RHEL images.
  • Experience in OS and image hardening to recognized baselines (CIS/STIG).
  • Familiar with patch and lifecycle management for offline environments.
  • Automation skills including Ansible and version control systems.
  • Strong Linux networking expertise, including firewall administration.

Responsibilities

  • Build and maintain a tailored RHEL image for SCADA needs.
  • Manage the SCADA container image from creation to security.
  • Run containers as systemd services utilizing Podman.
  • Implement OS hardening and define patching strategies for uptime.
  • Troubleshoot full-stack issues, escalating application-level cases.
  • Configure host-level networking and firewall settings.
  • Document runbooks for the OT team to define connectivity/security.

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
  • 401(k) with company match.
  • Paid time off and company holidays.
  • Professional development opportunities.
  • Growth potential within a mission-driven team.
Full Job Description
ROLE SUMMARY

NOTE: This position is a hybrid working environment from one of our 3 major US based offices: Houston, Miami, Reston VA.

The Senior RHEL engineer will own the OS and container platform behind our on-premises energy-management deployments. You'll build and harden the tailored RHEL image and the containerized Ignition SCADA workload running on industrial PCs across U.S. data-center sites, and act as our deep RHEL authority and L3 escalation point. This is a platform-engineering and expertise role - not field installation.

You will own our OS architectures, container builds and configuration, and the runtime that hosts Ignition, while the SCADA team owns everything configured inside Ignition (tags, screens, logic). On the network side, the host firewall and OS-level networking (interfaces, routing, DNS, firewalld/nftables) are yours, while the physical and site network beyond the host NIC belongs to Operational Technology (OT). Travel to third-party data-center sites is for troubleshooting and support only. The separate OT team commissions and deploys every machine, so you won't install systems in the field.

RESPONSIBILITIES
  • Build, version, and maintain a reproducible, turnkey RHEL image tailored to the SCADA host's needs (time sync, firewall/ports, storage, service ordering, resource tuning).
  • Own the SCADA container image end to end: Containerfile, base image, JVM, persistence, ports, hardening, scanning, and registry.
  • Run containers as systemd services via Podman and quadlets.
  • Harden the OS and images to a recognized baseline (CIS/STIG) and define a patching and lifecycle strategy for OT uptime and restricted/disconnected sites (offline/mirrored registry).
  • Troubleshoot full-stack - OS, container runtime, and application runtime behavior - remotely and on-site, handing off application-level issues to the SCADA team.
  • Own host-level networking and firewall configuration (interfaces, routing, DNS, firewalld/nftables, and port exposure for the SCADA container), and lead connectivity troubleshooting between the host and site infrastructure.
  • Document runbooks for the OT team and help define the connectivity and security posture.
  • Maintain the Windows image pipeline (Packer-based) in steady state once established: periodic patching, hardening updates, and image rebuilds.

MUST-HAVE QUALIFICATIONS:
  • 7+ years of senior, hands-on production RHEL/Linux engineering.
  • Container-native delivery: Podman, quadlets/systemd, building and owning container images (including packaging a JVM-based app such as Ignition), and registry management.
  • Reproducible, turnkey, versioned RHEL image building (bootc, Kickstart, Image Builder/osbuild, or Ansible-driven).
  • OS and image hardening to a recognized baseline (CIS/STIG).
  • Patch and lifecycle management for restricted/disconnected environments, including offline/mirrored content and registries.
  • Automation (Ansible) and version control.
  • Strong Linux networking and diagnostics: firewall administration (firewalld/nftables) and packet/connectivity tooling (Wireshark, tcpdump, ss, ip), plus containerized debug environments (toolbox).
  • Confidence operating as the RHEL authority, with strong documentation habits.

NICE-TO-HAVE QUALIFICATIONS:
  • OT/ICS or SCADA exposure and frameworks (IEC 62443, NERC CIP, NIST 800-82).
  • Familiarity with Ignition specifically.
  • Windows image automation (Packer) and Windows patching/hardening familiarity.
  • RHCSA / RHCE / RHCA certifications.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
  • Based in the Houston, TX area preferred for hybrid schedule environment.
  • Available to travel to sites for on-site support (20%), and to provide remote support for production issues.
  • Able to meet third-party data-center access requirements (background check, badging, host-facility protocols) and represent the company professionally on-site.

#LI-AD1

For US-based roles - What you'll get:
  • Competitive salary + annual performance-based bonus eligibility
  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance
  • 401(k) with company match
  • Paid time off and company holidays

For Mexico-based roles - What you'll get:
  • Competitive salary + annual performance bonus eligibility
  • Christmas Bonus (Aguinaldo): 30 days
  • Major medical expenses and life insurance
  • Paid time off and holidays (per local policy)

For all roles:
  • Professional development and growth opportunities
  • Opportunity to grow with a mission-driven team shaping the future of clean energy
  • Benefits vary by role and location and are subject to change.

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