Senior Linux Systems Administrator – Datacenter Infrastructure

Our client, a professional services firm located in Somerset, NJ, is looking to hire a Senior Linux Systems Administrator – Datacenter Infrastructure for a 6-month hybrid contract.  The consultant will be expected to work onsite in the Somerset office 2 days per week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

The schedule is as follows:

Standard Hours:

• Monday – Wednesday: 7:00 am – 3:30 pm EST
• Thursday – Friday: 10:30 am – 7 pm EST

Weekend Availability:

• Participation in bi-monthly Saturday production rollouts (remote or onsite; additional compensation provided).
• On-call rotation one week per month, covering:
• Weekdays: 19:00 – 07:00
• Weekends: Full coverage, including Sunday morning triage.

The consultant will oversee a robust estate of over 2,500 Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems deployed on HPE ProLiant hardware, supporting high-performance environments in multiple datacenters.  The client is embarking on transformative infrastructure initiatives.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead advanced administration, configuration, and performance optimization of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems.
• Design and manage RHEL KVM virtualization environments, including provisioning, troubleshooting boot issues, and fine-tuning for optimal performance.
• Oversee lifecycle management of HPE ProLiant hardware, including upgrade analysis, firmware upgrades, component replacements, and remote diagnostics via iLO.
• Design and execute robust processes for infrastructure patching, reboot orchestration, and content lifecycle management.
• Administer and enhance security posture through deployment and maintenance of EDR and SIEM agents, ensuring compliance with CVE remediation SLAs.
• Analyze and resolve kernel-level system bottlenecks and network latency, delivering actionable performance tuning strategies.
• Manage HPE storage platforms (Primera, Alletra), including SAN zoning, volume provisioning, LVM configuration, and fiber channel switch operations.
• Maintain critical datacenter services: NTP/Chrony, Elastic Stack, Puppet, Cobbler, Rundeck, Squid Proxy, DNS, and Postfix.
• Implement proactive monitoring using tools such as Nagios/Naemon, Prometheus, and PRTG, ensuring high availability and rapid incident response.
• Develop and maintain automation frameworks using Ansible, Python, Perl, and shell scripting to streamline operational workflows.
• Respond to service requests and incident tickets with precision, adhering to rigorous change management and production protocols.
• Provide detailed procedural documentation and remote guidance for external datacenter teams across geographically distributed locations.

Required Skills:

• Minimum 10 years of hands-on experience in enterprise-level Linux system administration and technical operations
• Prior experience in financial services
• Proven expertise in RHEL 7/8, including deep familiarity with KVM virtualization and system internals.
• Advanced knowledge of HPE ProLiant server architecture, diagnostics, and lifecycle management.
• Demonstrated proficiency in security operations, including EDR/SIEM agent management and vulnerability remediation.
• Experience with HPE SAN technologies, including fabric zoning, Primera/Alletra storage systems, and fiber channel networking.
• Working knowledge of Puppet and Cobbler for configuration and provisioning automation.
• Proficient in scripting languages: Python, Perl, and Bash; capable of developing scalable automation solutions.