Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Linux Infrastructure Developer
💰 $80,000 - $130,000
🎯 Role Definition
As a Linux Infrastructure Developer, you will play a critical role in building, maintaining and optimising robust Linux‑based infrastructure platforms. You will work across server, network, storage and cloud layers to design scalable architecture, automate configuration and deployments, ensure high availability and performance of critical systems, and collaborate with DevOps, security and applications teams to deliver operational excellence. Your contributions will directly impact uptime, agility and the ability of business units to deliver services.
📈 Career Progression
Typical Career Path
Entry Point From:
- Linux Systems Administrator
- Infrastructure Engineer (Linux/Unix)
- DevOps Associate (Linux support)
Advancement To:
- Senior Linux Infrastructure Developer / Lead
- Linux Platform Architect / Infrastructure Architect
- Head of Infrastructure / Director of Platform Engineering
Lateral Moves:
- Cloud Infrastructure Engineer
- Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)
- DevOps Engineer – Infrastructure Automation
Core Responsibilities
Primary Functions
- Design, implement and maintain enterprise‑grade Linux server infrastructure (Red Hat, CentOS, Ubuntu, SLES) to meet performance, availability and scalability requirements.
- Build and manage automation frameworks and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) for Linux infrastructure provisioning, configuration, patching and deployment.
- Configure and manage virtualization and containerisation platforms (KVM, VMware, Docker, Kubernetes) to optimise resource utilisation and application delivery.
- Develop and maintain monitoring, alerting and logging systems (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, Nagios) to ensure proactive infrastructure health and capacity planning.
- Hardening and securing Linux systems including firewall rules, SSH configurations, intrusion detection, access control policies and compliance with regulatory requirements.
- Perform system performance tuning, identify bottlenecks, conduct root‑cause analysis and implement corrective actions to maintain optimal service levels.
- Implement high‑availability and disaster recovery solutions including clustering, replication, backup/restore strategies, load‑balancing and fail‑over planning.
- Collaborate with network, storage and cloud teams to design service architecture that integrates Linux servers with network services, storage back‑ends and public or private cloud environments.
- Manage patching, upgrades and lifecycle management of Linux operating systems and related middleware, ensuring minimal disruption and high reliability.
- Write and maintain shell, Bash, Python or Perl scripts to automate repetitive tasks such as system audits, user management, log parsing and provisioning.
- Define and document deployment standards, run‑books, system architectures, service catalogue entries and operational procedures for infrastructure services.
- Participate in change management and release processes, ensuring proper testing, rollback plans and stakeholder communication for infrastructure changes.
- Support on‑call and incident response activities for Linux infrastructure, triaging issues, executing corrective actions and conducting post‑incident reviews.
- Assist in application onboarding, consult with development teams regarding infrastructure requirements, and ensure environments are provisioned to support application needs.
- Evaluate and implement new infrastructure technologies, tools and processes to improve operational efficiency, agility and resilience.
- Maintain and manage hybrid infrastructure environments combining on‑premises Linux systems and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) to support business growth and digital transformation.
- Ensure backup, storage and log management systems are correctly configured and routinely tested for data integrity, retention and continuity of service.
- Collaborate with security operations and compliance teams to implement security policies, vulnerability scanning, patch compliance and audit controls in the Linux infrastructure domain.
- Manage system capacity, anticipate growth needs, plan hardware/software refreshes and conduct performance modelling to align with business forecasts.
- Mentor and train junior infrastructure engineers, share best practices, conduct infrastructure reviews and promote a culture of continuous improvement across the team.
Secondary Functions
- Assist with ad‑hoc infrastructure or server automation requests across business units and internal teams.
- Contribute to the organisation’s infrastructure roadmap, drafting technology strategy for Linux platforms, cloud migration and automation capabilities.
- Collaborate with application, network and cloud teams to translate service needs into infrastructure deliverables and engineering tasks.
- Participate in agile ceremonies, sprint planning and backlog grooming for infrastructure automation and platform‑services enhancements.
Required Skills & Competencies
Hard Skills (Technical)
- Strong expertise in Linux system administration (e.g., Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, Ubuntu, SLES).
- Proficiency with scripting and automation tools – Bash, Python, Perl, or similar.
- Experience with Infrastructure as Code tools (Ansible, Terraform, Puppet, Chef) for provisioning and configuration.
- Skilled in virtualization and container technologies – VMware, KVM, Docker, Kubernetes.
- Solid understanding of monitoring, logging and alerting solutions (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, Nagios).
- Knowledge of networking fundamentals – TCP/IP, VLANs, DNS, DHCP, routing, firewalls as they apply to Linux platforms.
- Experience managing hybrid and cloud infrastructures (AWS, Azure, GCP) integrated with Linux environments.
- Familiarity with high‑availability implementations, clustering, replication, backup/restore, disaster recovery.
- Ability to tune performance and optimise Linux servers for CPU, memory, I/O, storage, virtualization workloads.
- Strong documentation skills and experience with release/change management processes and system lifecycle management.
Soft Skills
- Excellent analytical thinking and problem‑solving skills with strong attention to detail.
- Effective communication skills to liaise with infrastructure, applications, and business teams.
- Proven ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver under tight deadlines in dynamic environments.
- Collaborative mindset and ability to mentor junior engineers, promote best practices and continuous improvement.
- Adaptable and proactive, willing to learn new technologies and challenge existing processes.
- Business‑oriented: understands the business impact of infrastructure reliability, performance and cost efficiency.
Education & Experience
Educational Background
Minimum Education:
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Systems Engineering or related discipline.
Preferred Education:
Master’s degree or certification in Linux, DevOps or Infrastructure Architecture (e.g., RHCSA, RHCE, LPIC).
Relevant Fields of Study:
- Computer Science
- Systems or Network Engineering
- Information Technology
- Infrastructure Architecture
Experience Requirements
Typical Experience Range:
3‑5 years of hands‑on Linux infrastructure development, automation or systems administration.
Preferred:
5+ years of experience working in large‑scale enterprise Linux environments, building automated infrastructure platforms, hybrid cloud deployments and mentoring teams.