Senior System Administrator: Office of Innovative Technologies - UTK

The University of Tennessee Office of Innovative Technologies seeks a Senior Linux Systems Administrator to support Linux system automation, security, and infrastructure for academic and student information systems.

The Senior Linux Systems Administrator independently designs, administers, and supports complex Linux systems, networks, and databases that enable academic applications, the Student Information System, and related services. This role provides technical leadership for large-scale implementations, upgrades, security and vulnerability management, infrastructure automation, and operational reliability. The position serves as a subject-matter expert, leads service-area work, and provides work direction and mentorship to junior staff.

• Administer and maintain Linux operating systems, including security patches, kernel updates, OS enhancements, package repositories, compatibility, and performance monitoring.
• Implement and enforce security best practices, including SSH hardening, Ansible playbooks for system automation, firewall rules, security policies, secure configurations, vulnerability scanning, remediation, and configuration compliance.
• Provision, configure, and maintain Linux servers supporting Academic LAMP services and other applications.
• Deploy, configure, and maintain Linux virtual machines in Hyper-V, Azure, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), and other supported virtualization platforms.
• Maintain high availability, clustering, reliability, and failover strategies for supported services.
• Create, manage, and audit user accounts, roles, permissions, and access to applications and underlying Linux systems.
• Support Student Information System infrastructure, including server installation, patching, upgrades, performance tuning, and decommissioning.
• Advance infrastructure automation and AI-driven security enhancements, including Ansible-based provisioning, patch management, configuration-drift prevention, secure baseline enforcement, and automated vulnerability remediation.
• Standardize deployment workflows for core application stacks to improve consistency, efficiency, security, and lifecycle management.
• Lead and contribute to large-scale projects, implementations, and upgrades; mentor and train junior staff; and provide project leadership and work direction.

Required Qualifications

• Education: Associate’s degree in computer science or a related field.

• Experience: 10 years of direct Linux administration experience with an associate’s degree, or 14 years of direct Linux administration experience without the degree. 

• Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities:

  • Strong Linux systems administration knowledge, including scripting and Ansible.

  • Knowledge of backup and recovery procedures.

  • Working knowledge of networking, identity-management tools, load balancing, DNS, and DHCP.

  • General computer hardware knowledge.

  • Strong written and verbal communication skills.

  • Ability to support customers with a broad range of system and application issues.

  • Ability to work effectively with others and independently manage priorities, deadlines, and complex technical work.

  • Project Management and Junior staff mentoring 

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without need now or in the future for sponsorship for employment-based visa status.

Preferred Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, or a related field.

• Experience: 10 years in Experience supporting enterprise academic or student information systems and highly available Linux application environments.

• Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities:

  • Knowledge of Azure and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).

  • Knowledge of Ellucian Banner applications and supporting infrastructure.

  • Experience with AI-assisted operations or security engineering capabilities, including Ansible Lightspeed or AI Ops tools.

Work Location 

• Location: Knoxville TN

• Remote

Compensation and Benefits 

• UT market range: M16

• Anticipated hiring range: $100,000

• Find more information on the UT Market Range structure here

• Find more information on UT Benefits here

Application Instructions

To express interest, please submit an application with the noted below attachments:

• Resume

• Cover Letter