Freelance Linux Kernel Developer Jobs in Utah (NOW HIRING)

Job Title: Senior Specialist, Systems Administrator

Job Code: 39845

Job Location: Melbourne, FL; Rochester, NY; or Salt Lake City, UT

Job Schedule: 9/80: Employees work 9 out of every 14 days - totaling 80 hours worked - and have every other Friday off

Job Description:

We are seeking a highly skilled Linux Workstation/Endpoint Engineer to architect, secure, maintain, and continuously improve our enterprise Linux desktop platform. This role serves as the technical owner and design authority for Linux endpoint engineering, managing the platform as a product with defined lifecycle, service levels, and measurable outcomes. This role will partner with Infrastructure, Security, Identity, Networking, and End-User Support teams to deliver a secure, reliable, supportable, and user-centered Linux endpoint experience at enterprise scale.

Essential Functions:

• Serve as design authority and primary technical owner for enterprise Linux workstation architecture and standards.
• Define and maintain supported Linux distributions, kernel lifecycle strategy, and graphics stack (Wayland/Xorg), including compatibility guardrails.
• Build and maintain hardened OS images and zero-touch provisioning/enrollment workflows (Kickstart, preseed, image pipelines, first-boot automation).
• Own upgrade strategy, including in-place upgrade policy, rebuild criteria, pilot rings, and rollback plans
• Qualify and sustain hardware compatibility across laptops, GPUs, wireless chipsets, docks, and multi-monitor configurations.
• Track firmware, kernel regressions, suspend/resume behavior, and performance and stability trends with corrective action plans.
• Design and maintain enterprise identity integration (AD/LDAP, Kerberos, SSSD, offline authentication, MFA and conditional access patterns).
• Own endpoint security architecture, including full-disk encryption, Secure Boot, TPM-backed controls, key management, and boot-chain trust.
• Integrate and sustain endpoint security tooling (EDR, vulnerability scanning, compliance agents, logging, and telemetry).
• Define lifecycle governance: release cadence, support windows, deprecation timelines, and exception management.
• Maintain architecture documentation, runbooks, disaster recovery procedures, and break-glass access controls.
• Lead change and risk management for kernel, desktop environment, and major OS releases through formal CAB/change controls.
• Plan phased rollouts, risk assessments, rollback procedures, and post-implementation validation.
• Own Linux endpoint patching, repository management, package governance, and software distribution standards.
• Build automation and CI/CD workflows for image validation, policy testing, and deployment quality gates.
• Define SLIs/SLOs and operational metrics (build success, deployment success, incident volume, MTTR, compliance posture).
• Provide L3/L4 escalation support for complex endpoint incidents and lead root-cause analysis/problem management.
• Partner with Service Desk and Field Services to improve knowledge articles, handoff quality, and support readiness.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree and minimum 6 years of prior relevant experience. Graduate Degree and a minimum of 4 years of prior related experience. In lieu of a degree, minimum of 10 years of prior related experience.
• 4+ years administering and engineering Linux endpoints, preferably in enterprise RHEL/Ubuntu environments.

Preferred Additional Skills:

• Experience with Linux hardware enablement, qualification, and lifecycle certification.
• Experience with Linux image builds and provisioning via Red Hat Satellite
• Deep knowledge of Wayland/Xorg behavior, kernel strategy, firmware dependencies, and driver management.
• Advanced security background in Linux endpoint hardening, encryption, Secure Boot, TPM, and EDR integration.
• Experience implementing CIS/STIG controls, SELinux/AppArmor policy, and audit-ready baseline management.
• Working knowledge of DevOps/IaC and CI/CD practices for endpoint engineering pipelines.
• RHCSA/RHCE or equivalent Linux certifications strongly preferred.
• Strong analytical, organizational, stakeholder management, and documentation discipline.
• Proven ability to design practical, scalable solutions to complex endpoint challenges.
• Experience supporting GPU-enabled engineering/scientific workloads is a plus.
• Familiarity with ITIL incident/problem/change processes is a plus.
• Demonstrated experience designing, building, securing, and operating Linux workstation images and deployment workflows at scale.
• Strong automation/configuration management experience (Ansible, shell/Python automation, image pipeline tooling).
• Strong scripting and troubleshooting skills (Bash and/or Python) with emphasis on maintainability and reliability.
• Strong understanding of enterprise identity and authentication integration (AD/LDAP, Kerberos, SSSD, MFA patterns).

In compliance with pay transparency requirements, the salary range for this role in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington, and the Greater D.C, Denver, or NYC areas is $91,500-$170,500. The salary range for this role in Colorado state, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New York state, and Vermont is $79,500-$147,500. This is not a guarantee of compensation or salary, as final offer amount may vary based on factors including but not limited to experience and geographic location. L3Harris also offers a variety of benefits, including health and disability insurance, 401(k) match, flexible spending accounts, EAP, education assistance, parental leave, paid time off, and company-paid holidays. The specific programs and options available to an employee may vary depending on date of hire, schedule type, and the applicability of collective bargaining agreements.

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