Sr UNIX/LINUX Systems Administrator

The Senior Linux Administrator serves as the technical lead and subject matter expert for the design, implementation, and management of the enterprise Linux ecosystem and core hybrid computing services. This role drives the strategic roadmap for Linux server deployment, OS lifecycle management, configuration management, and orchestration infrastructure. The Senior Administrator ensures the stability, security, scalability, and performance of the hybrid environments (on-premises and AWS) powering the mission-critical Banner ERP system and other core business applications.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Hybrid Server Architecture, Engineering & Lifecycle Management

• Analyze complex enterprise requirements to design, architect, and document highly resilient hybrid cloud (AWS) and bare-metal enterprise Linux server architectures.
• Lead the engineering, deployment, and end-to-end integration of enterprise Linux-based application systems and specialized software appliances.
• Provide expert tier-3 technical guidance through all phases of the server infrastructure lifecycle, ensuring scalable, predictable, and repeatable system designs.
• Establish and maintain Standard Operating Environments (SOE), gold images, and standardized templates across physical, virtualized, and cloud environments.

Automated System Operations, Observability & Maintenance

• Architect and implement modern observability frameworks, telemetry, and centralized log aggregation tools to ensure continuous 24/7/365 infrastructure monitoring and rapid incident resolution.
• Develop, govern, and perform sophisticated maintenance procedures, conducting deep-dive analysis of capacity trends, system performance metrics, and OS-level bottlenecks.
• Design and orchestrate automated patch management pipelines to test, deploy, and validate critical software updates and OS security patches with minimal downtime.
• Maintain dynamic asset inventories and programmatic reconciliations to ensure 100% backup coverage, immutable configurations, and monitoring compliance.

Advanced Identity Governance & Tier-3 Support

• Serve as the highest technical escalation point for complex user requests, operational anomalies, and critical systemic infrastructure issues.
• Enforce Zero-Trust security principles and modern Identity and Access Management (IAM) best practices by administering authorized access controls and conducting regular entitlement/least-privilege reviews.
• Deliver expert-level consultation, reference architectures, and runbooks to end-users, developer teams, database administrators, and technical colleagues.

Continuous Improvement, Infrastructure as Code (IaC) & Innovation

• Investigate, prototype, and evaluate emerging technologies, cloud-native services, and major open-source releases to align the infrastructure roadmap with enterprise goals.
• Drive an automation-first culture by utilizing tools like Ansible, Puppet, and Terraform to eliminate technical debt and wipe out time-consuming, manual, or repetitive operational tasks.
• Introduce system optimization standards and architectural shifts to continuously maximize system performance, service availability, and cloud-cost utilization.

Shared Systems Leadership & Operational Governance

• Participate actively in a rotating 24/7/365 on-call schedule to provide rapid response to critical system faults, security anomalies, and urgent high-severity incidents.
• Lead cross-functional integration efforts to unify central management platforms and standardize operational procedures across the entire enterprise IT ecosystem.
• Execute change coordination and risk management in strict compliance with enterprise ITIL frameworks and security policies.

Required Qualifications:

Operating Systems & Core Engineering

• Advanced Enterprise Linux Administration: Expert-level experience with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Amazon Linux (AL2/AL2023) in high-availability enterprise environments.
• Modern Systems & Services: Deep proficiency configuring and securing core enterprise services including Apache/Nginx, OpenLDAP/Active Directory integration, SSSD, NFS, Samba, and modern firewalls (Firewalld/NFTables).
• Network & Mail Services: Strong experience with DNS administration (BIND, Route53, InfoBlox) and secure mail transfer agents (Postfix).

Automation & Scripting

• Advanced Scripting: Enterprise-level proficiency in Unix shell scripting (Bash) to automate systems administration tasks and manage configuration enforcement.

Cloud, Storage & Infrastructure

• AWS Cloud Engineering: Extensive experience managing enterprise cloud infrastructure (EC2, RDS, Route53, S3, IAM, Lambda, VPC) with an emphasis on Linux workload optimization.

Data Protection, Observability & Governance

• Enterprise Data Protection: Expertise in enterprise-grade backup governance and recovery workflows utilizing tools like AWS Backup and Veeam Backup & Replication.
• Modern Observability & Telemetry: Experience designing and implementing automated monitoring, alerting, and log aggregation dashboards using platforms like PRTG Network Monitor, AWS CloudWatch, or Splunk.

Desired Qualifications:

• Package Management & Compilation: Proven capability in open-source software compilation, dependency resolution, and custom RPM package creation and repository management.
• Enterprise Storage & Block Storage: Solid understanding of enterprise storage concepts, multi-pathing (DM-Multipath), and modern cloud block storage (EBS, EFS) alongside physical SAN fundamentals.
• Systems Automation & Integration: Strong experience using at least one high-level language (such as Python or Go) to build custom automation scripts, systems integration utilities, and eliminate repetitive manual workflows.

Licenses and Certificates:

AWS Associate or Professional certifications preferred

Salary Range:

$99,000 - $110,000

Exempt/Nonexempt: Exempt

Physical Demands: General Office Environment

Special Instructions to Applicants:

Benefits Information:

Full Time Benefits

Life today is complex. That’s why Seton Hall University offers a comprehensive package of benefits and programs to help you simplify and enrich your life.

These benefits are important elements of your total university compensation package. Benefits include but are not limited to bundled medical, prescription, and vision insurance, dental insurance, and life insurance, and retirement plan. More information is available at https://www.shu.edu/human-resources/benefits.html.

Seton Hall University is located in South Orange, New Jersey, 14 miles from New York City. It is the oldest Catholic diocesan institution of higher education in the United States and is home to about 6,300 undergraduate and 3,700 graduate students. A vibrant and culturally inclusive community, Seton Hall pursues academic excellence and ethical development in a collaborative environment and prepares its students to be servant leaders in their professional and community lives. Seton Hall University is an equal opportunity employer. It honors diverse perspectives and welcomes employees from all faith traditions. In turn, its employees respect Catholic beliefs and values, engage in servant leadership, and support the University’s mission as a Catholic institution of higher education.