Linux Entry Level Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

At ULA the System Administrator 2 - Linux is an entry-level to early-career role responsible for supporting the day-to-day administration, maintenance, monitoring, and troubleshooting of Linux systems in a production enterprise environment. This position works under the guidance of senior engineers and architects to help keep infrastructure stable, secure, and operational.

The role includes supporting Linux servers, assisting with patching and upgrades, monitoring system health, reviewing logs, managing user access, documenting work, and helping resolve operational issues. The ideal candidate brings strong foundational Linux skills, a willingness to learn, and a professional, team-oriented approach to day-to-day infrastructure support. Experience with HPC environments is helpful, but Linux administration remains the primary focus.

• Support the administration, maintenance, and day-to-day operation of Linux servers and related infrastructure.
• Monitor system health, availability, scheduled jobs, and basic performance indicators, and escalate issues as appropriate.
• Review system and application logs to identify errors, failures, or abnormal conditions.
• Assist with patching, upgrades, system maintenance, and routine operational tasks.
• Help manage user accounts, permissions, and access controls in accordance with team processes.
• Support backup verification, recovery tasks, and operational checks.
• Troubleshoot basic to intermediate Linux system issues and work with senior team members on more complex problems.
• Document system changes, procedures, troubleshooting steps, and operational activities.
• Participate in incident response, support escalations, and team operating rhythms such as status meetings or daily tag-ups.
• Assist with automation, scripting, or repeatable operational tasks where appropriate.
• Partner with teammates across infrastructure, network, security, and support teams to resolve issues and improve service reliability.
• Provide support for HPC-related systems or workloads when assigned, under guidance from senior staff.

Required Education

Bachelor

Required Years of Experience

Minimum of 2 years of related work experience

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) field from an accredited college or university.
• Four years of directly related exempt work experience may be used to satisfy the bachelor's degree requirement.
• Foundational Linux administration skills (e.g., users, permissions, services, storage, patching, logs, monitoring).
• Experience with Linux CLI and common distributions (e.g., RHEL, Rocky, AlmaLinux, Ubuntu).
• Basic troubleshooting skills and ability to follow procedures and escalation paths.
• Understanding of system operations: monitoring, backups, scheduled jobs, and server health.
• Basic knowledge of networking, storage, and security concepts in Linux environments.
• Ability to perform routine admin tasks with guidance and document work clearly.
• Strong communication skills (written and verbal).
• Detail-oriented, dependable, and able to follow processes.
• Team-oriented with willingness to learn and take feedback.
• Sound judgment on when to troubleshoot independently vs. escalate.
• Ability to obtain and maintain active DoD TS/SCI is required. US citizenship is required.

Preferred Qualifications

 Hands-on Linux experience (internships, coursework, homelab, or prior roles) 
Familiarity with enterprise Linux (e.g., RHEL or similar) and package/service management 
Basic scripting or automation experience (Bash, Python, or similar) 
Exposure to enterprise tools (monitoring, ticketing, documentation, change management) 
Familiarity with virtualization, cloud, or storage platforms 
Exposure to HPC or clustered environments is a plus 
Entry-level certification (RHCSA, Linux+, or similar) is a plus 
Exposure to scripting/automation (Bash, Python, Ansible) is a plus 
Familiarity with virtualization, cloud, or HPC environments is a plus
Understanding of core admin tasks (users/groups, permissions, storage, log analysis, backups) 
Exposure to configuration management or automation concepts 
Organized, dependable, and able to manage multiple tasks 
Collaborative, professional, and patient when supporting others