Job Summary
The U.S. Department of Census is seeking a highly skilled and senior-level Linux Engineer to join our core infrastructure team. This role is responsible for the engineering, administration, and support of our large-scale Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) environment, which spans RHEL 7, RHEL 8, and RHEL 9.
A primary mission for this position will be to help plan, execute, and drive the enterprise-wide migration from RHEL 7 to RHEL 9. The ideal candidate must be a technical expert in RHEL system administration and possess a proven track record of managing complex OS lifecycle projects. This role requires extensive collaboration, and you will be a key technical liaison, supporting application owners by providing guidance, troubleshooting, and remediation support to ensure a seamless transition of critical services onto the new platform.
Key Responsibilities
- RHEL 7 to RHEL 9 Migration:
- Serve as a technical lead and subject matter expert for the RHEL 7 to RHEL 9 migration project.
- Develop migration strategies, including in-place upgrades, new builds, and application re-platforming.
- Actively partner with application owners to assess application compatibility with RHEL 9, identify dependencies, and develop test plans.
- Provide hands-on support to application teams during migration, troubleshooting package, library, and configuration-related issues.
- System Administration & Engineering:
- Manage the day-to-day operations of the RHEL 7, 8, and 9 server fleet, including provisioning, configuration, and decommissioning.
- Develop and maintain automation solutions using Ansible, Bash, or Python for patching, configuration management, and system builds.
- Manage RHEL subscriptions, repositories, and patching lifecycles using Red Hat Satellite.
- Support and Security:
- Perform system hardening and ensure compliance with federal security standards (NIST, FISMA, and DISA STIGs).
- Serve as a senior escalation point for all Linux-related incidents, performing advanced troubleshooting and root cause analysis.
- Monitor system performance, capacity, and health, implementing proactive measures to ensure stability.
- Create and maintain comprehensive documentation, including system diagrams, build guides, and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
- Participate in an on-call rotation for 24/7/365 operational support.
