Linux System Administrator

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is seeking an experienced Linux Systems Administrator who will be responsible for the engineering, implementation, and sustainment of enterprise Linux platforms that support SRNL research and mission operations. The role owns the secure, reliable, and auditable operation of Linux systems and supporting services across their lifecycle—standard builds, patching and vulnerability remediation, configuration management, monitoring/incident response support, and backup/recovery—aligned to DOE cybersecurity expectations and NIST control-driven governance. 

This role is for an experienced Linux administrator and the successful candidate is expected to work independently on complex issues, elevate team practices through automation, and partner effectively with developers and service owners to modernize deployments for both commercial off‑the‑shelf (COTS) and homegrown applications.

Responsibilities

• Engineer, deploy, patch, and troubleshoot production Linux systems (virtual and/or physical), including standardized build practices and disciplined lifecycle management to maintain availability and security. 
• Operate an OS patch and vulnerability remediation program with measurable outcomes (coverage, timeliness, rollback readiness), using automation and centralized tooling where appropriate (e.g., Red Hat Satellite for lifecycle-stage patching). 
• Build and maintain automation for configuration, patching, and operational tasks using Ansible; treat automation as a product (versioned, reviewed, tested) rather than one-off scripts. 
• Operationalize automation at enterprise scale using Automation Controller capabilities (RBAC, auditing, workflows, credential handling) to safely delegate and repeat administrative actions. 
• Implement security hardening and compliance validation aligned to applicable baselines (e.g., STIG/SCAP profiles), including routine OpenSCAP-based scanning, remediation, and evidence generation to support audits and continuous monitoring. 
• Configure and tune monitoring and alerting, perform root-cause analysis, and support incident response by investigating system-level failure modes (performance, availability, security signals) and reducing false positives/negatives through tuning. 
• Integrate Linux hosts and services with enterprise identity and authentication systems (e.g., AD/LDAP, certificates, SSO), applying least privilege and access governance expectations to both users and services. 
• Support developers and modernization: provide direct platform support to development teams, including provisioning and maintaining Dev/Staging/Prod environments, enabling safer deployments, and improving run-time observability for both COTS and homegrown applications. 
• Modernize COTS and homegrown applications: lead or co-lead modernization initiatives such as standardizing runtime dependencies, improving configuration management for COTS, enabling repeatable builds, and adopting containers/Kubernetes where they are a good fit for the workload and operations model.
• Own backup and recovery readiness for assigned Linux services by coordinating backups, validating restores, and participating in contingency and recovery exercises (including recovery point/time objective alignment where defined).

Key technologies and skills in scope

• Proven experience working managing RHEL (including Satellite), Ubuntu,  Ansible and Automation Controller, Bash/Python, VMware vSphere, SAN/NAS concepts, OpenSCAP/STIG, identity integration (AD/LDAP), backup/DR, monitoring/alerting/logging, and container/Kubernetes platforms where applicable.  

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree and 5+ years of Linux systems administration experience in production environments (mid-level benchmark), with senior consideration typically reflecting broader scope and leadership beyond that baseline. 
• Demonstrated ability to patch, troubleshoot, and remediate vulnerabilities and operational issues in heterogeneous enterprise environments. 
• Professional experience automating administration tasks with Ansible and scripting (Bash and/or Python). 
• Experience administering Linux in virtualized infrastructure (e.g., VMware-hosted Linux workloads). 
• Experience implementing monitoring/alerting and performing triage and root-cause analysis. 
• Hands-on experience supporting application environments across multiple lifecycle tiers (Development/Staging/Production), including COTS and custom applications; ability to partner with developers to deliver stable platforms. 
• Working knowledge of security and compliance practices aligned to NIST controls and STIG/SCAP-style baselines, including evidence-based validation.

Preferred Qualifications

• Red Hat Satellite administration experience for lifecycle content and patch management at scale (content views, lifecycle environments, Capsule concepts). 
• Experience in deploying, configuring, and maintaining Ubuntu Server environments for high-availability services and understanding secure server deployments, and automation using Ansible or Bash scripting. 
• Experience using Automation Controller to operationalize automation with RBAC, auditing controls, and workflow-based release/operations orchestration. 
• Demonstrated experience hardening systems and validating compliance using OpenSCAP/SCAP Security Guide profiles aligned to STIG (or similar baselines), including remediation automation. 
• Experience with identity integration patterns for Linux and applications (SSO, certificates, service authentication), including troubleshooting cross-system authentication issues. 
• Container/Kubernetes experience (deploying/operating production clusters or supporting workloads on those platforms), particularly where modernization efforts benefit from standardized packaging and orchestration. 
• Storage and recovery depth: experience with enterprise storage concepts and backup/recovery validation aligned to “restore works” expectations. 

"We put science to work!" 

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is a multi-program laboratory applying state of the art science and practical, high-value, cost-effective solutions to complex technical problems to protect the nation. Located at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken SC, the laboratory develops and deploys innovative technologies to address some of the nation’s environmental, energy, and national security challenges.

Battelle Savannah River Alliance (BSRA) is constantly assessing trends to provide the best possible benefits to our workforce. We also negotiate cost effective premiums that will meet the needs of our evolving workforce. 

Some of the *Benefits offered to employees include:

*Benefits vary based upon employment status

• Highly competitive Medical, Dental, and Vision options including HSA options with company provided seed
• Short- & Long-Term Disability (company paid)
• Life Insurance Non-Contributary 1X salary (company paid)
• AD&D Non-contributary 1x salary (company paid)
• Savings & Investment plan:
• • Qualified Non-Elective Company Contribution of 5% each pay period with immediate vesting
  • Company match 50 cents/dollar up to 8% (5 yrs. vesting in company match)
• Contributory Life Insurance up to 5x Salary with $1M Cap
• Contributory AD&D (employee, spouse and children)
• Paid Time Off
• Employee Assistance Plan
• SRNL offers a competitive relocation package to ease the transition process. Domestic and international relocation assistance is available for certain positions. 

For more information about our benefits, working here, and living here, visit the “About” tab at www.srnl.doe.gov.

BSRA is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. BSRA is also committed to making our workplace accessible to individuals with disabilities and will provide reasonable accommodations, upon request, for individuals to participate in the application and hiring process. Please email us at SRNLRecruiting@srnl.doe.gov with any questions regarding the hiring process or to request an accommodation.